In the more recent years of the 2020’s the app TikTok has grown impeccably, from having its own shop to it’s own award ceremonies. But the question people are asking now is ‘is TikTok the new Google?’. Are people trusting the information they find on TikTok more than the information they find on Google?
The app TikTok was created in 2016, however formerly coming from the app Musically. Musically was an app for lip-synching to music videos and making cool and funny videos and experimenting with transitions on a phone. When TikTok first started in 2016, the app was very similar to Musically in the way it would be used as a dancing app or a singing app. In the more recent years the app is now full of recipies, information videos and sometimes even full movies. It is very easy to find information on TikTok. For example, if you are watching a TikTok video and you have a question about or related to said video, TikTok will put the exact question you are thinking of at the top of the comment section for you to easily press on it which takes you to a separate page full of answers. Some may say it is easier just to go on this tab instead of opening a whole different app to ask one question. Why do that when it is all in front of you already? This therefore relates to this younger generation being known as ‘lazy’. A survey says that over 40% of Gen Z prefer using TikTok over Google. This may be due to the fact that they can see proof and evidence on TikTok videos rather than searching on Google and seeing some words written on a website with no proof or evidence. There is also the belief that people believe what they can see not what they can hear, hence TikTok ‘videos’.
Whilst comparing TikTok to Google as a search engine, TikTok’s algorithm is particularly specific, meaning that if you were to search a question on TikTok, many more questions and videos relating to the question would appear, therefore you would be more educated on that subject. Whereas with Google you would ask a question one by one to get a few answers. With TikTok you would get hundreds of videos related to that subject. On average Gen Z users spend 1 hour and 16 minutes on TikTok per day, which is more time than any other app. Since they are on this app so much longer than anything else, it is expected that they would use it as a search engine, rather than Google where Gen Z uses it is 25% less than the generation above.
From interviewing someone who is 18 years old about the subject, she said she spends 10 hours roughly on TikTok a day and she enjoys it much more than Google as a search engine as it’s “much easier and quicker and I prefer looking at videos rather than a website as I feel like I will understand the information more”. I then proceeded to ask when does she use Google? “Only for university work as Google gives me more detailed information on my subjects which TikTok cannot”. I then asked if she thought TikTok is a different app to when it first started. “Yes, I think so. It used to be a dancing app and now it’s mostly life hacks and practically a combined app of loads of other apps”. From this interview it is said that although TikTok gives quick and easy videos that answers questions, they are brief and cannot guarantee further detail, whereas Google can do that and can be used to access documents and books that cannot be accessed through TikTok. As well as TikTok being a replacement as a search engine for Google, it is also a “combined app of loads of other apps” meaning that it has elements of Youtube, Amazon, any messaging service.
Overall, TikTok seems to currently be the most popular app and useful according to Gen Z, but Google is still relevant in finding in depth information or other recourses for research. With TikTok’s growing popularity, it is expected for it to make many more advances in the future and screen times for younger generations are expected to rise in the upcoming years. So, is TikTok the new Google? In some ways yes, especially in the younger generation, however Google will still be the ultimate search engine to find in depth information.