TikTok is expected to reach 1.2 million active users in the year ahead. The app is working hard to foster new talent and increase its efforts to support its creator community. This includes helping talent to find innovative ways to connect to their audience and to cultivate best practices to take their videos to the next level.
Here’s a quick overview as to how the company aims to make good on this mission.
The Black Lives Matter movement & algorithmic bias
In 2020, specifically in the wake of Black Lives Matter, platforms like TikTok were confronted on issues of biases and content suppression. There were reports of videos being removed, muted, or hidden from followers due to their support for the movement. Additionally, there were instances where community guidelines had been unfairly applied.
Many people began to show support for Black creators by taking action through dedicated programs. Facebook, for instance, launched a Black creatives program in August and gave $25 million to Black creators via Instagram and Facebook. YouTube made its multi-year commitment to Black creators earlier this month with its #YouTubeBlack Voices funding.
TikTok for black creatives incubation program
TikTok launched the TikTok Black Creatives incubator program, which will invest in Black artists and creatives. The initiative follows on the heels of the platform’s focus on Blackout Tuesday and the #ShopBlack campaign to boost Black-owned businesses this past fall. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company launched an online hub that provides support and education to Black business owners.
“This program is intended to identify, support, and elevate the next generation of culture-driving Black creators and artists by giving them the often-hidden tools and opportunities that can help them transform their creativity into successful careers,” shared Kudzi Chikumbu, Director of Creator Community at TikTok in a statement to TIME Magazine.
The three-month program per the official announcement100 Black music and creators will be able to have their voices heard by participating in town halls alongside celebrities and entrepreneurs.
The process of becoming a creator is simplified
More broadly, TikTok hopes to make 2021 a year where anyone’s aspirations to create can be achieved without pressure or complexity.
“While becoming a creator is as simple as tapping a few buttons, thriving as a creator takes time, dedication, and some education. With the different tools, analytics, effects, and creative ideas to balance on a TikTok account, making a strategy for creating content can be daunting,” the company shared.
The platform’s solution? The platform’s solution? A one-stop shop education hub that provides all the basics for six key categories:
- TikTok: How to Get Started
- TikTok Creation Essentials
- TikTok Foundations for Success
- TikTok Content Strategy
- Safety Guidelines and Community Guidelines
- Get Paid To Create
Each category includes video tutorials and insights that will help you add to your TikTok Toolkit. They also address important questions such as how to establish a presence and how to get paid to make videos. The resources aren’t only for beginners. “For avid or even expert TikTok creators, the Creator Portal will also feature articles that help interpret community trends, dive deeper into the use of sound and music, and spotlight creative effects, helping to inspire and diversify content creation,” the announcement added.
In tandem, TikTok created the @creatorportal account, which will showcase faces from the video creation platform’s community including @coachmichelle, @flossybaby, @lgndfrvr, @siennamae—and share videos on how to join them.
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