JAKARTA, Dec 21 (Jakarta Post/ANN): As the world’s most popular social media platform for Generation Z with more than 1 billion global active users and more than 240 million users in South-East Asia, according to a TikTok press release on Sept. 30, 2021, the social media platform has significantly influenced the way many Gen Zers communicate, think and understand the world.
South-East Asia is no exception to this global and viral TikTok wave and so far, the video-sharing app has not faced direct regulatory threats in the region, although it is banned in several countries, such as China and India.
There are both risks and opportunities in this, as discovered by a 2021 TechCamp alumni project.
The project, the first of its kind in South-East Asia, aimed to understand the information flow on TikTok for Gen Zers in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Based on interviews with TikTok creators, the platform offers powerful editing features that make it the easiest way to produce creative and engaging content in comparison to other popular social media platforms.
It has empowered them to use their imagination to create something different to bring fun and joy to their virtual community, from posting cultural stories during festive seasons to starting new trends that could easily go viral.
Taking full advantage of the newer features on TikTok has helped creators connect with fellow Gen Zers and keep up-to-date on generational trends and activities.
This has cemented a very dominant position and strong brand recognition for TikTok among Gen Zers, especially during the global pandemic, when many relied heavily on it for communicating with their peers while schools and universities were forced to close down for a substantial period of time, especially in South-East Asia (SCMP reported).
To some Gen Zers, TikTok has provided a spiritual lifeboat for missing these important months of “normal life”, especially for airing grievances on certain issues.
The interviewees indicated that their TikTok presence did not start off by focusing on social topics, but that this happened as a byproduct of their creative expression.
Some creators have fully utilised the platform to voice their dissatisfaction, from sharing their experience with sexual harassment to lockdown fatigue.
The TikTok algorithm helps promote trending videos, and many have joined such trends in the hope of gaining viral status when voicing their own experience with such topics. TikTok may not have aimed to be an "informational platform" by default, and rather focuses more on entertainment and nonpolitical subject matter.
However, it cannot control its users from pursuing social justice, a trend that will likely accelerate as its Gen Z user base grows. Inspired by how TikTok has made some of their North American peers rich, some Gen Z TikTok creators in South-East Asia have become famous and wealthy by becoming influencers.
To get paid on Tiktok, according to Business Insider, content creators must be 18 years or older, meet a minimum threshold of 10,000 followers and have gained at least 100,000 views in the last 30 days.
They can also make potential earnings from affiliate marketing for other brands. Exposed to such an opportunity to make money at a young age, it is quite likely that creators may view the values of traditional schooling differently, especially when most education systems have not caught up with their instincts as digital natives.
This should be a matter of concern for policymakers in South-East Asia, so they can better understand how education systems can better integrate these talents to reach their fullest potential as part of the workforce, especially since the gap in worldviews between Gen Zers and previous generations has never been wider.
There is a growing risk that a platform as addictive for youth, as TikTok could have adverse impacts on their mental health as the line between virtual and real becomes more blurred, according to the China Internet Report 2021 by SCMP Research. Social media has also, unfortunately, democratised hate speech.
Interestingly, the report has found no deliberate misinformation attempts on TikTok according to the fact-checking mechanisms it used, with most content found to be opinion-based.
It did find, however, that when speaking out on issues that could be, whether rightly or wrongly, divisive by nature, TikTok’s Gen Z creators in Southeast Asia said that such hate speech, sometimes crossing into other platforms, had caused them significant mental health distress.
On the other end of the spectrum, some Gen Z creators have found support for their opinions from fellow TikTok creators. Acknowledging the severity of the impacts on the mental wellbeing of many of its users, TikTok has partnered with the Malaysian Health Ministry, as well as Singapore’s civil society to promote mental wellbeing for its users.
It remains to be seen how effective these measures are in handling these challenges, and to what extent they impact the overall wellbeing of Gen Zers in the long term.
With many young people who are or will become eligible to vote embracing the TikTok wave in Southeast Asia, it is undeniable that the next battleground for votes will likely involve TikTok.
Interestingly, the SCMP report has found that the general sentiment toward government issues was largely neutral, as observed in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, but one exception the “kerajaan gagal” (failing kingdom) discussion in Malaysia.
Will TikTok change our political landscape and reward the more digitally savvy political forces with ies?
Malaysian politician Syed Saddiq seems to be banking on this trend by actively communicating complicated political issues with younger people on TikTok, particularly Gen Zers. TikTok is not going away anytime soon.
Quite the contrary, it will take part in important Gen Z developments in the region over the next decades.
With the increasing number of people using TikTok to speak directly to the younger generation, more needs to be done to ensure that it is not be abused and turn into a hotbed of fake news and misinformation that have divided societies and democracies. -- The Jakarta Post/ANN
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