TikTok is now the most popular website

As mentioned previously, avoiding such sites may be limiting for us media producers
such as I who have never been on tictok or twitter, detest fakebook and have never shot even a single frame of vertical video with my phone. I automatically rotate it without consciously thinking about it..
Do you guys know if tiktok is mostly youth or do significant numbers of seniors even dabble there as with fakebook?
 
It's mostly for youth by default because of how much time they spend on their phones and social media, but I'm sure plenty of tech-savvy seniors engage, whether they are family/friends of TikTokers or executives in various businesses.

Even if you never use it, you probably want to learn a little about it to make yourself smarter, maybe more well-rounded in the video world.
 
firehawk said:
As mentioned previously, avoiding such sites may be limiting for us media producers
such as I who have never been on tictok or twitter, detest fakebook and have never shot even a single frame of vertical video with my phone. I automatically rotate it without consciously thinking about it..
Do you guys know if tiktok is mostly youth or do significant numbers of seniors even dabble there as with fakebook?
Click to expand...
Surprisingly there are a fair amount of old folks but it is primarily young. One's perception of what exists is skewed because it uses an algorithm, that only shows you what it thinks you like based on your history, bio, etc. So if you watch teen twerking videos... ;-)
 
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Abe, to play along with the modern times theme - what would one produce on Tik Tok in terms of making a profit? Is there a business model outside of the YouTube model of ad revenue sharing based on popularity?
 
TikTok doesn't pay. You have to generate your own sponsors. If you're popular, they'll come for you.
 
Most businesses don't use TikTok to make a profit from TikTok.

You produce content there to stay relevant and for the potential exposure.

___

So in your case, Bassman...you film sports sometimes, right?

You would start off by making short & simple videos like this from all of your content and slowly building up a channel. All kinds of creative, bite-sized pieces.

https://www.tiktok.com/@lsutigerfoot...from_webapp=v1

I know the above is about the NFL, but the point for you would be to possibly have another high school in your state see some of your work and say, "Hey, why don't we reach out to this guy for next season?"

Modern entrepreneurs try to leave their fingerprints everywhere because you never know who's watching or might be interested, you know?
 
Wait until some of you old folk find out how ASMR took over YouTube...lol.

The one below, Gibi, is one of the queens in the game right now. I actually messaged her team once telling her about Panasonic's AF when she publicly asked her viewers to bear with her while she figured out her new camera's AF (GH5 or GH5S, IDR which one), but they never answered.

They probably thought I was insane once I started getting into Japanese conspiracy theories...

LOL, just kidding, I didn't mention that, but I did tell her about the AF.

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Big money in ASMR right now.

If anyone actually watches that entire video she's really funny.

15M views in 7 months...pretty legit.

 
I love the two comments from Matt and Doug! NoBro, isn't it a bit tired to think that these platforms are for extended advertising for your own business? Wouldn't my time be better spent trying to contact the decision makers in the sports organizations rather than hoping they might be on Tik Tok? Just seems like a lot of busy work producing content for the ether. My younger cousin tried to get me to do this a few years ago and I just saw it as entertaining people who would not ever spend any money nor get me a job. Seriously, tell me I am wrong :)
 
Yeah, I mean...the world's a big, beautiful sandbox and we all push sand around differently.

You might see no point in TikTok and could and probably are completely right about it being a silly waste of time for your particular line of work, but in my head I was thinking I would be thrilled to make 250-275 short clips (about a year worth of clips) with music say from 10 different sports from the season (or just one sport) and upload them every day and build a page on there, build a presence for my brand.

Reaching out to decision-makers is a given in life/work...this is just extra stuff on the side. And there's a lot of different extra stuff on the side people do but some don't do any at all and are just as or more successful and that's cool, too.
 
For promotion of one's own business and career, one needs all the major social nets - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok. It can be the same content on all of them but the showcased product gives a certain gravitas to its creator.

Just an MO.
 
Bassman2003 said:
Abe, to play along with the modern times theme - what would one produce on Tik Tok in terms of making a profit? Is there a business model outside of the YouTube model of ad revenue sharing based on popularity?
Click to expand...

Well, you could try to make your own channel. But that's not really about being a video producer, it's about being on-camera talent.

I was thinking more in terms of producing social media content for the clients I service. The people who are already disseminating videos on YouTube and Instagram. It would be smart to understand what works well on the platform in case I'm asked to produce for it or if I want to suggest to a client to start putting stuff there.

i mean, the point to me is the audience. If tiktok is literally the most popular site in the world right now, and it's a youth audience (which is more highly valued by advertisers for a reason), it seems smart to wrap your head around it. And also to try to understand changing patterns of popular viewership and the film language that people have become accustomed to
 
In my opinion, unless there is someone on this forum who can standup and honestly say "I'm making great money doing videos on social media", I think this whole conversation is utter bullshit. Show me the money or sit down and shut up . . . (not directed at anyone in particular) :-)
 
It's good to know someone is making a go of it. Your opinion/advice/commentary carries actual weight on the topic.
 
I might add that the client strategizes their video needs and distribution, not I. I've been working for them for a few years. I know they've been producing videos for at least a decade or two. I'm not sure where it all went before, but probably just to their website and/or youtube.

Their producers dictate the formatting to me re: aspect ratio and duration, etc. Typically we shoot 16x9, protect for 9x16. Some stuff is shot 9x16 with a sideways camera.

A couple years ago, everything they put on instagram was square aspect ratio. Then they transitioned to 4x5, but at first their social media team consistently posted my 4x5 edits in square format, chopping off the top and bottom of my videos. (Unbelievable.) And they never want to take down a video and replace it even if they screw it up because of views and/or release scheduling.

Now, the majority of videos posted to their instagram are 9x16. A smaller number are 4x5 when the subject matter is especially difficult to crop to 9x16. And a very few are 16x9 for the same reason.

Until late last year, they aimed for 1-minute edits for Instagram. Then they started aiming for 30 seconds. (These are often cut down from longer 3- or 5-minute edits that play on their website, youtube, and on projections at their venue. But sometimes the original edit is also under a minute.) They make longer videos as well, 10- to 30-minutes, depending on the content and these play in full on Instagram, formerly IGTV. (Gallery tours will be that long.)

So, largely I'm given a lot of direction in making these videos for them. But I give them creative and format/style input as I see fit, and it obviously makes me more valuable if I understand the medium and the platform better and how to succeed on it. So, that got me wondering about how TikTok works since it seems so ascendant and the client has started using it as well. (They also put Chinese-language videos on WeChat, but those are produced by their Chinese staff, or are just subtitled versions of what we put on Instagram.)

I have a different client who produces dance and music videos and photos. I just shot a little music video for her and I'm advising her to cut it up into as many 15- or 20-second chunks as make sense and to put those on TikTok and Instagram. Those can link to the full video on youtube or vimeo. Amazingly, a 3.5-minute music video is beginning to qualify as long-form...
 
ahalpert said:
So, largely I'm given a lot of direction in making these videos for them. But I give them creative and format/style input as I see fit, and it obviously makes me more valuable if I understand the medium and the platform better and how to succeed on it. .
Click to expand...

That right there is key. I could see producing social media content for a client who already knows what they want and so all I have to do is turn it into reality. That is different from how I envision most social media content is produced.
 
This is an interesting discussion. And while I was dismissive of the topic, I do believe social media sites play a role in modern media and jobs, I just have not really dedicated many resources to it.

1) I film a lot of youth sports or artistic endeavors like dance shows, concerts etc... While most of the world seems to not have any issue with posting everything everywhere, I still believe in some personal privacy and respect. Just because I was asked to come film something does not mean that group or individual wants bits and pieces broadcast all over the web shamelessly for MY benefit. Yes I might be missing out on some buzz, but that leads me to my 2nd point -

2) As Doug mentioned - where is the money? I have a friend whom I film a lot of sports with and he wants to go after the buzz in the hopes of someday generating ad revenue over his broadcasts. He tracks retweets and the like. (This is not YouTube views but Norbro's scenario of releasing clips into the wild in the hopes they pay off). So far the small business owners he approached did not see this resulting in more visitors to their restaurant etc... He has dug up some advertisers for live stream broadcasts. Though I would consider that old world advertising. It just all seems like playing around for the most part.

3) At this point in time, I think everybody is so over social media in terms of it having an impact. That is just my opinion. One can't be everywhere all of the time which is how the maintenance of a social media campaign appears to me. I am too much of a one man band which means I need a lot of time just to complete all of my jobs. Buying advertising seems like a better approach from a time perspective.

It does not go unnoticed to me that Facebook changed its corporate name. This is a signal to me that they see a new direction is the only way forward.
 
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