Picture: Getty / Noah Seelam
TikTok fascinates millions of people with short videos. Older people have also been using the social media platform for a long time, which also changes the content of the platform. And now politics is also on the channel.
If Broccoli-eating cats or dancing medical teams: TikTok is extremely popular not least because of the corona crisis. With the mobile short videos, some people pass the time in isolation. They each last less than a minute, are easy to create and can be edited with effects such as time-lapse or slow motion.
The endless content is shared with the community, you don’t need followers. The algorithm determines the selection of posts that users see. It is pure entertainment, a digital stage for everyone.
Not so long ago, TikTok was considered an app for teenagers, whose fascination was noticed by adults, shaking their heads, or even viewed critically. From time to time the Chinese app’s lack of data protection was criticized.
But since the virus has forced people to stay at home, the target audience has changed, not only has it become more numerous, it has also grown older. According to the analysis company App Annie, TikTok was able to generate more downloads in the first quarter of 2020 than WhatsApp, Instagram and Co. The total number of downloads is approaching the two billion.
It is the new number one among (non-gaming) downloads. The app is now available in over 150 countries. According to a study, the average service life of TikTok also increased from February to March increased by 27 percent – similar to other social media.
Neither cocktail bars nor tropical beaches
TikTok suits the isolation, because it is an indoor platform, where the filming is mainly in your own four walls, while influencers pose on Instagram against a backdrop of cocktail bars and tropical beaches.
«TikTok has always been about being 15 years old and staying at home. That is the background. And now everyone has to stay at home! So TikTok was made for Corona. Not deliberately, but it was basically made for it, »says David Nichols from the University of Melbourne to the «Guardian».
At TikTok, staging is less important than authentic content and creativity. It’s about being weird, this works like a pressure valve for the people currently locked up. Humor and absurdity have always been the answer to existential situations. This makes TikTok the perfect platform to cope with a pandemic: it is almost therapeutic.
For example, 30-year-old Francesca (name of the editor known) can hardly keep her hands off the app since personal contact with other people was restricted due to the lockdown. She was almost addicted, she says.
“You usually experience funny moments at work or after work, but there are hardly any of them at home.” TikTok is now jumping into the breach for them. “The videos make me laugh – and that’s very important now.” She raves about the wide range of contributions that you can create yourself – whether dance, comedy or other forms of original performances.
Politicians discover the platform for themselves
In the current crisis, TikTok is not just entertainment and encouragement. The platform is also being discovered by politicians and is increasingly being used as a communication channel to convey the measures to young people. A target group that does not always adhere to the guidelines, as published by the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG). These young people can hardly be reached via the SRF newsreel, and they are also difficult to catch on Facebook.
The BAG has also been communicating via TikTok since the beginning of April, as it is called on request. “The popularity of this social network is growing rapidly – especially among young or very young audiences.” The aim of the communication is to inform the entire population about the new corona virus. “It therefore seemed appropriate to integrate this network into our social media communication.”
For example, TikTok also works with WHO, the World Health Organization. It now has over a million followers and its livestreams reach several million users. Cooperation also takes place with the Red Cross organizations in Italy, France, Austria and Germany.
And of course, TikTok has also recently been used to make fun of politicians, especially Donald Trump. once he sounds like a drunk in the club, another time he recommends and the TikTokkerin and comedian Sarah Cooper, disinfectant against the virus to inject. The videos were clicked millions of times.
How uncool when parents crash the party
In the longer term, the political component should change the image of the platform – give it a new voice. TikTok was previously not exactly known for dealing with social issues.
So there have always been reports of posts from homosexual, fat or disabled people from the platform discriminated against by limiting their range. There have also been repeated allegations that issues that are politically sensitive to China are difficult on the platform. A suspicion, which the operators, however, decisively reject in comments to the address of «Bluewin».
TikTok always denied any political censorship by instruction from China. After the public outcry, the platform changed its approach and adjusted the moderation guidelines. But as long as TikTok is wholly owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, which is subject to the local laws and political leadership, it is difficult to completely refute any suspicions of influence.
The politicization of the platform is likely to become a new challenge in terms of reach control or censorship. However, TikTok seems to shy away from dealing with this – similar to other social media operators.
When asked whether it is possible, for example, that Trump-critical content is particularly pushed, the press department replies in writing and rather evasively that the app still sees its mission in the inspiration and enrichment of people. She wants to “give them a creative home and offer them an authentic, entertaining and positive experience”. Content that is funny, contemporary and entertaining is successful on TikTok. This also applies to content that relates to people in public life – just like Trump.
Nevertheless, what was once a platform for uninhibited free play, detached from the worries of the outside world, is now directed more towards the outside. The youngsters who were there first will hardly like this, the app may even lose popularity.
12-year-old Ingrid, a big TikTok fan right from the start, says: “If my father would start posting dance videos, I would be really embarrassed!” TikTok is made for people under the age of 30, older people have no business there. If one day the adults get the upper hand, Ingrid can well imagine that the youngsters will turn their backs on the platform.
There is nothing cooler than celebrating a party, and suddenly the parents appear. There has always been only one solution: move on and search for new places.
The Coronavirus Crisis: A Chronology
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December 1, 2019: A patient who is later to prove to be the first documented 2019 nCov case is examined by doctors in Wuhan, China.
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January 2, 2020: It is confirmed that 41 of hospital patients in Wuhan, China are suffering from the 2019 nCoV. 27 patients were directly exposed to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market.
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January 9: The World Health Organization confirms that the novel coronavirus has been successfully isolated by one person.
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January 20: Sudden increase in the new lung disease: The disease has spread outside of China for the first time. Three people have already died of it. South Korea also reports the first case.
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January 31: Ten Swiss want to leave China. The BAG provides information on the “logistically challenging” return flight by the Swiss from Wuhan.
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February 5: The “Diamond Princess” is anchored in Yokohama. There are also two Swiss on the cruise ship, which is quarantined in the port of the Japanese city of Yokohama. There are at least ten confirmed cases on board.
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February 7: Doctor Li Wenliang dies. He was known because he had apparently already warned on December 30 of the new coronavirus variant (return of SARS).
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February 21: Italy confirms 17 cases, bringing the total number of people infected to 20. The authorities also report the first death, a 78-year-old man dies from Covid-19.
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February 25: “It was only a matter of time, now the time has come”: A 70-year-old man from Ticino has tested positive for the new corona virus, as the authorities inform.
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February 28: Federal Council prohibits all major events: Due to the rampant corona virus, the Federal Council prohibits all major public events with more than a thousand participants. According to the Department of the Interior, the ban is valid until March 15 and was imposed due to the special situation.
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February 29: First Covid 19 death in the United States. US Vice President Mike Pence heads the crisis team there.
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March 1: The session of the federal councils starts with some restrictions. National Council President Isabelle Moret (FDP / VD, right) prohibits members of the Council, including Magdalena Martullo-Blocher (SVP / GR, left), from wearing masks.
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March 5: The first coronavirus death in Switzerland: a 74-year-old woman who was treated at the University Hospital in Lausanne dies. She suffered from a chronic illness.
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March 8: Italy takes unprecedented measures to curb the spread of the virus. In the north of the country, a basic entry and exit ban applies until April. The economic metropolises of Milan are also affected (in the photo, the city’s main train station).
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March 9: The stock exchanges are descending worldwide; trading in New York has even been suspended. There are losses in the billions.
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March 11: The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified the spread of the coronavirus as a pandemic. Given the worldwide spread of the pathogen, he was “deeply concerned” about the “alarming level of inactivity” in the fight against the virus, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Geneva.
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March 13: UEFA has suspended matches in the Champions League and Europa League due to the coronavirus crisis. All matches for the next week have been canceled, UEFA announced.
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March 13: The Federal Council significantly tightened the measures in the fight against the corona virus. Events with more than 100 participants are now prohibited, and face-to-face classes in all schools will be stopped until the beginning of April.
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March 15: The federal councils cancel their spring session in view of the rapid spread of the virus.
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March 16: The Federal Council classifies the situation in Switzerland as an “exceptional situation” – this is the highest of three possible levels.
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As of March 17th at midnight, Switzerland is practically in a state of emergency. All shops, restaurants, bars, entertainment and leisure facilities will be closed until April 19. Except for health facilities and grocery stores. All public and private events are prohibited.
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At the Swiss borders with Germany, Austria and France there have been controls again since March 17th. On the borders with Italy, such were already introduced on Friday, March 13th.
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March 17: The EU also closes the external border. Specifically, all trips between non-European countries and EU countries are suspended for 30 days.
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March 18: The vote on the immigration initiative has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Federal Council has decided not to hold the federal referendums scheduled for May 17. (Icon image)
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March 19: Italy has reported more deaths than China in the corona virus pandemic, making it the country with the most officially reported deaths in the world. So far, 3,405 people have died, the Italian civil defense said on Thursday in Rome. The number of deaths in Italy rose by 427 in one day.
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March 20: In the public space – for example on the street, at the lakeshore or in parks – any gathering of people of more than five people is now prohibited. Failure to observe this rule will result in a fine.
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March 22: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has to put herself in quarantine in the Corona crisis. She was in contact with an infected doctor.
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March 23: More than 15,000 deaths and increasingly stringent exit restrictions for around 1.7 billion people around the world – a feeling of panic is spreading worldwide in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. More than 50 countries and areas therefore restrict their citizens’ freedom of movement.
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March 23: In March 21,000 companies applied for short-time work for 315,000 employees. The Swiss leading index SMI fell 5.37 percent on Monday to 8,160.79 points.
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March 24: The Tokyo Olympics are postponed to 2021 due to the corona pandemic. The International Olympic Committee and the Japanese hosts agreed on Tuesday, the IOC said.
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March 25: Spain is the second country in Europe to report 3,434 more deaths than were recorded in China. The US Senate has passed an economic stimulus package worth billions to mitigate the economic consequences of the crisis.
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March 29: With over 140,000 more infections are now known in the USA than officially recorded in any other country in the world.
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March 30: According to the Federal Office of Public Health BAG, 15,475 corona cases have been confirmed in Switzerland. A total of 295 people have died as a result of Covid-19.
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April 5: In a television speech, Queen Elizabeth II called on her people to persevere and be disciplined in the coronavirus pandemic. Apart from the Christmas speeches, it was only the fourth such speech by the Queen, who had been in office since 1952.
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April 7: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is now being treated in the intensive care unit of a London hospital for his Covid 19 disease.
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April 8: In Switzerland, measures against the pandemic are extended by one week and now last until April 26. The Federal Council (in the picture: Federal President Simonetta Sommaruga, Minister of Health Alain Berset) holds out the prospect of initial easing for the period thereafter.
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April 9: The number of Sars-CoV-2 cases detected worldwide has exceeded the 1.5 million mark. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects the worst economic impact since the Great Depression of 1929 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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April 12: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been released from the hospital. “I left the hospital after a week today,” he said in a video message posted on Twitter. The state health service NHS (National Health Service) saved his life.
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April 14: Austria takes the first step back to normal. Smaller shops and hardware stores are allowed to open again, but customers must wear mouth and nose protection.
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April 15: US President Donald Trump stops paying contributions to the World Health Organization (WHO) and accuses it of “poor handling and cover-up”.
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April 16: One month after the extraordinary situation was announced, the Federal Council presented the first relaxation of the lockdown. From April 27th, hospitals can again carry out all interventions, hairdressers, hardware stores, garden centers, flower shops and garden centers reopen under hygiene requirements.
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April 17: The Chinese city of Wuhan surprisingly corrects the number of corona deaths by around 50 percent. According to this, a further 1,290 people died of Covid-19 in the central Chinese metropolis where the pandemic started. The total number of deaths in Wuhan increases to 3,896.
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April 18: According to experts, holidays abroad will hardly be possible this year. Christian Laesser, Professor of Tourism at the University of St. Gallen, assumes that there will be restrictions on trips abroad until 2021.
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April 19: The Institute of Virology in Wuhan defends itself against US accusations of being responsible for the coronavirus pandemic. The US secret services suspect that Viruds did not pass to humans from a wildlife market in Wuhan, but comes from an organic laboratory outside the metropolis.
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April 21: Now the Munich Oktoberfest is also falling victim to the corona pandemic: The largest public festival in the world will be canceled this year, as Mayor Dieter Reiter and Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder announced at a media conference.
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April 22: The BAG now recommends tests for all patients with symptoms of Covid-19. So far, only people with previous illnesses and hospital patients have been tested, as well as health personnel. The expanded criteria are part of a new test strategy during the gradual opening of the lockdown from April 27.
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April 23: The corona crisis broke out the biggest slump in economic activity in Switzerland since 1975. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) expects the gross domestic product (GDP) to fall by 6.7 percent this year, as it reports. That would be the sharpest decline since the 1975 oil crisis.
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