TikTok: A new news media outlet?
How major news companies are reacting to TikTok's new platform and how it impacts the future of journalism
In the foreseeable future, it is looking as if TikTok will be one of the main media sources that provide news to millennials and Generation Z that will be worth the time and investment.
TikTok is a social platform that has half a billion active users worldwide. 60 percent of TikTok’s U.S. users are between the ages of 16 and 24. The app has numerous news outlets that use the app to engage with their young users, including the Washington Post, NBC News, and the Dallas Morning News.
Experts believe that this will be a trend due to the fact that TikTok is growing at a rapid pace. The news industry is vying for the attention that the next new generation needs, so publishers need to focus on TikTok to take advantage of the rising popularity.
If somehow TikTok passes through without having a major news impact, the impact on journalism will be buying to try and find a new source or platform for news. According to a study by the Pew Research Center, about one in every five Americans gets their news from social media.
A way that might prevent TikTok from being a trend is always creations and innovations of new apps and technology in the coming future. The future of news will be bigger but also smaller in the way that we can consume our news.
If TikTok doesn’t materialize, the impact on journalism will be grasping for the younger generation’s attention span. This also corresponds to how TikTok would pass through without having a major news impact. Thus, TikTok could be the stepping stone for the young adults that get their news and how journalism will impact it.
TikTok is the way that most young adults and children get their news from. Numerous news outlets have stepped up and made a connection with TikTok following as they try to engage with the new wave of audiences. In the future, it will be observant to see how TikTok progresses and how news companies will step through in this new wave of media and for the future of journalism.
