is your teen texting about this?

Nine things I learned as an old person on TikTok

TikTok is the hottest app of the moment now that everyone is in quarantine, but the teens have known about it for a while now. I started this deck six months ago as a Lunch & Learn about the role psychology plays in strategy, but it quickly turned into something else. I was fascinated by TikTok and its success, especially given its similarities to the now-obsolete Vine. I theorized that TikTok became popular because of a very specific set of cultural and socioeconomic factors, which made it practically tailor-made for Gen Z (particularly quarantine life, in which everything is absurd and there are no rules), everything from Dadaist influences to the wholesome sense of humor that this teens are embracing now more than ever.

So here is everything you need to know about TikTok and its relationship to Gen Z, from a strategist’s perspective — what it is, where it came from, why it’s popular, and why that matters.

Hot tip: Make sure you read my notes in the comments for context; just click the three dots and select “open speaker notes”

Originally published at https://www.jayemsey.com on April 16, 2020.