Nigerian TikTok star Charity Ekezie uses hilarious skits to dispel ignorance about Africa: Young African voices are gaining popularity on social media the world over, using these platforms for comedy and political debate – and often for political debate that’s also funny. One of the new generation of TikTok celebrities in Africa is Charity Ekezie, …
How a little-known far-right candidate manipulated TikTok to rise to the top in Romanian election: A far-right independent candidate called C?lin Georgescu is leading the race to become Romania’s next president. He took a shock lead in the first round of voting by securing 22.9% of the vote, followed by centre-right opposition leader Elena Lasconi …
TikTok in Kenya: the government wants to restrict it, but my study shows it can be useful and empowering: Every day, 750 million people around the world engage with Tiktok – the short-video sharing app. Kenyans are among its top users. According to a Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2023, 54% of Kenyans sampled used …
Digital platforms like TikTok could help China extend its censorship regime across borders: Primakov / Shutterstock China’s drive to expand its influence through soft power mechanisms like censorship is coming into sharper focus, especially under Xi Jinping’s leadership. Recently, the social media app TikTok has become a prominent symbol of this global strategy. The platform …
The Hesitant Fiancée: this painting is helping women to express their rage on TikTok – here’s the story behind it: You might have seen this painting making the rounds on TikTok. Maybe you’ve even made a video responding to it. A young woman in a Victorian wedding dress is staring down the viewer with disdain …
Viral TikTok raises concerns about a commonly prescribed contraceptive – what you need to know: A viral TikTok video by online influencer Morgan Roos has panicked some users of a commonly prescribed injectable contraceptive called Depo-Provera. In the video, Roos said she was shocked to learn the contraceptive she had been using for ten years …
Stoicism on Tiktok promises happiness – but the ancient philosophers who came up with it had something very different in mind: Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor and one of TikTok's favourite Stoics. Cris Foto/Shutterstock I don’t know about you, but my TikTok is full of influencers telling me I should be a Stoic. You …
‘Bone smashing’: broken bones, tooth loss and blood vessel damage are just a few of the harms of this bizarre TikTok trend: There's no evidence 'bone smashing' can permanently alter your face's appearance. Kyryk Ivan/ Shutterstock The internet never ceases to amaze when it comes to the bizarre health crazes people are willing to try. …
Shadow work: why you should be cautious of the TikTok self-help trend: Melinda Nagy/Shutterstock I doubt the psychologist Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961), in all his prescience, would have predicted that his work would one day fuel a TikTok trend called “shadow work”. Life coaches and self-help gurus on the platform promote the exploration of shadow …
How often do you think about the Roman empire? TikTok trend exposed the way we gender history: Andrej Maculskij/Shutterstock How often do you think about the Roman empire? This question, posed to men by their partners on social media app TikTok, has led to a storm of viral videos. Women are amused to discover the …
How BookTok trends are influencing what you read – whether you use TikTok or not: Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock If you’ve been in a bookshop recently, you may have seen references to BookTok – whether it’s stickers on books or whole tables dedicated to “BookTok favourites”. BookTok is a community on the social media app TikTok. Creators …
China: the rise of TikTok sister app Douyin as a powerful consumer tool: Chinese people are increasingly using TikTok’s sister app as a way to complain about products and are finding it a powerful asset. Our research shows that Douyin, which is produced by ByteDance the same company that owns TikTok, has become influential in …
China could be harvesting TikTok data, but much of the user information is already out in the open: Experts have been considering whether TikTok is worse in terms of privacy or security than other, US-based apps. Shutterstock / Primakov The social media app TikTok has been a focus for concerns that the Chinese government could …
TikTok bans: what the evidence says about security and privacy concerns: The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, recently hinted that he may ban the social media application TikTok from devices used by government employees. His comments follow similar bans by the European Commission and US federal government. In the EU and US cases, security concerns …
TikTok ‘mascara’ trend: young people have used codes to talk about sex for generations: Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock Social media has long been a place for makeup enthusiasts and beauty gurus to discuss trends, but that’s not why TikTok users are currently talking about mascara. Young people are using “mascara” as a code word for talking about sex, …
TikTok really could be a factor in the rise of tics among young women – but its real cause is this medical condition: Peter Snaterse/Shutterstock A recent Channel 4 TV programme, Britain’s Tourette Mystery – Scarlett Moffatt Investigates, promised to explain why there has been an increase in the number of people, mainly teenage girls, …
Go glammas! How older people are turning to TikTok to dispel myths about ageing: Ranta Images/Shutterstock During lockdown, my 65-year-old mother did something that actually shocked me. She started going on to TikTok so she could watch and follow her favourite “Dancing Dadi” – which means grandmother in Hindi. I was genuinely taken aback to …
SHAREit ranked as a leading global media publisher; joins giants Google, Facebook and TikTok: Chanel Hardman Country Director SHAREit Seeing explosive growth, SHAREit has ranked 4th globally after Google, Facebook and TikTok in the recently released AppsFlyer non-gaming Retention and IAP Index report across all categories. In Africa, the app has placed 8th in the …