I've been hearing so much about TikTok, I had to check it out for myself. And by check it out, I mean read through the entire Privacy Policy and scroll through the app with an analytical mindset.

Here are some takeaways from the Privacy Policy and the App itself:

Privacy Policies: Everybody reads through the privacy policy each time a company updates it, right?

NOT.. Who the heck is going to spend the time reading through it each time it’s updated... Well, I took a bit of time to at least read through the TikTok privacy policy since I’ve heard so much about it. So here’s the thing.. Everything in the privacy policy looks normal.. Like every other social media platform’s privacy policy. Though the big argument here deals with the Chinese government.. Any company in China is essentially still owned by the Chinese government. Meaning that even though there is a company working hard to build the absolute best algorithms for you to see the very best content, this data is still on the line of being analyzed by the Chinese government. I’m not going to go into some rant about the Chinese government, other than they’ve always been pretty darn good at getting a lot of information anyway.

The world is becoming more and more connected as we progress with technology and social media. It is always scary getting on a new platform (That is if you’re in your late 20s+. The younger you are, the easier it is to get on these platforms and have less thoughts linked to possible repercussions). In all, I feel that TikTok is doing an incredible job at providing people with a platform to create amazing social media content. Yes, your data might be at risk, but it’s at risk all the time with every platform. You can live off the grid, or in the grid - there really isn’t a middle ground nowadays.

Producing content and reaching a large audience:

The newer a platform is the easier it is to reach a larger audience quicker - the algorithms are just starting to understand what works and what doesn’t.

Older platforms like facebook and Instagram have algorithms that have been in place for an extremely long time, meaning that you have to diligently play into the algorithms to gain a large following and/or spend a tremendous amount of time on the platform.

Social media platforms are free to get people onto them with a low barrier to entry. In order for the platform to continue providing incredible content, grow their team, build their algorithm, etc they need to make money. It makes sense for them to make money via advertising. You don’t have to pay anything monetarily, you just have to pay with your time (having the ads come up on your screen).

A big thing that TikTok does to keep you on it’s platform:

One thing that really stuck out to me with TikTok is when you try to back out is that you need to click the “Exit” button TWICE to exit. This is extremely interesting because even though a user decided to back out, TikTok is taking one more chance to keep that user engaged. I believe this will have people using the app for longer periods of time.

Just like every platform, TikTok will have fewer ads now than it will in the future. Currently, the goal is to get as many users on the platform as possible. Over time, they will begin to increase ad placements so that the users will see more ads and they will receive more money in ad revenue (as more companies begin to advertise on the platform).

IG: www.instagram.com/michael_ostrow