TikTok Intros Top 100 Video List, Pushes ‘Hotbed of Talent’
TikTok North America and Australia general manager Vanessa Pappas, praising the “diversity and amazing content” of the app, noted that, “TikTok has become a hotbed of talent, and there’s so much discoverability on the platform that it can be used as this mechanism to discover new voices.”
Teens now seek to be “TikTok famous,” which simply requires that they “tap into the right trend or do the right dance at the right time.” “There’s something really attainable about TikTok fame,” explained Pappas. “Anyone can post a video and it can be seen by hundreds or millions of people.” One example is Noen Eubanks, who made his first video a year ago and now has seven million followers.
Pappas reported that the company is now thinking about how to help creators make money. “Monetization is something we hear often,” she said. “We’re at the beginning stages of exploring different models and ways we can connect creators with brands and opportunities.” One move is a marketplace that “connects creators to brands.”
Pappas also pointed out that this new generation of creators is “being born in ways we haven’t seen previously.” “TikTok is about being yourself, warts and all, and this new generation of creators is really embracing that,” she said.
With regard to the criticism that, because TikTok is owned by Chinese company ByteDance that its employees are pressured to censor politically sensitive content, Pappas stressed that, “everything from the U.S. market is driven from the U.S. team,” which doesn’t do any censorship.
See the full story here: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/09/fashion/tiktok-stars-monetization.html