Jake Sweet just wanted to have fun with his friends, and so he began making videos in November 2018. However, when he saw that his videos have garnered tens of thousands of views, Jake threw himself into the addictive social media platform. But when he isn’t making videos for TikTok, he’s your regular student working to earn a degree.
TikTok is a Chinese-owned social media app that allows you to share short videos. The international version of the app has more than one billion users. In 2019 it was the second-most downloaded app globally, after WhatsApp.
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What sets TikTok apart from other social media platforms is the way it finds videos for you. As well as seeing videos posted by friends, users are recommended videos by the company's software algorithm.
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And this explains a big reason for TikTok's appeal. In theory anyone can become "TikTok famous" - you don't have be a reality-TV star, or celebrity sportsperson to make viral videos.
On other social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram, it is already guaranteed that you can earn money through advertising revenue and paid promotions. But can the same thing be said if you’re an influencer on TikTok? Can it make you rich? Here’s a short answer from BBC’s article:
Jake earns a small but steady income from TikTok which helps him at university - it's enough for things like groceries. But most of the money he makes gets spent on props for his next videos, he says.
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But he gets lifestyle perks like party invites, and the experience of being a social media celebrity.
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Influencers can generate an annual income close to £20-25,000 ($26-$32,000) if they build a following of more than two million on TikTok, Armoo reckons, from paid content, appearances and merchandising.
And there goes our answer. We can earn money from TikTok, but don’t expect it to be as big as the influencers in YouTube are making.
(Image Credit: BBC)