The formula is simple: to push the most disappointing orbital nonsense into your picture as quickly, as colorfully, as fast as possible, which will hook you so much that you won't even notice that you haven't put your phone down for several hours.
Generation Z doesn't really spend time watching TV, reading newspapers, consuming traditional media anymore, and surprisingly, YouTube, which was once the most popular video sharing site on the Internet, has lost a lot of its popularity. If we look back, 5 years ago all teenagers wanted to be "vloggers" and "videographers", which resulted in meaningful and valuable content, in addition to many brainstorming attempts. Perhaps it can be said that the primary goal of a kid who dreams of being a "videographer" back then was not to monetize his content, but to become popular by entertaining himself and others. Today, if even traces of this purpose can be found, this has completely changed. Even back then, we could see an example of how this does not have such a good effect on everyone, and it is not certain that the best attempt at self-improvement for a 10-year-old child is to upload videos of himself to YouTube without verification, but what is happening nowadays is quite amazing and disappointing at the same time. This was greatly influenced by the new teen favorite social platform, TikTok, and the fact that "influencers" changed the habits of social media content production.
It has replaced the creation of value, the entertainment of others and yourself, a lifestyle that creates a false image of the content creator, who can put his face on the market in any way, in order to gain as many followers as possible, and thus get sponsorship opportunities from big companies, which bring a nice sum to the house. TikTok's algorithm lovingly facilitates this, since compared to previous video-sharing sites, you no longer have to search for videos, you don't even have to click on them or start the video, but the algorithm throws in one after another the most meaningful short, attention-grabbing content. This is a terribly addictive thing, since in the fast-paced world it is becoming more and more difficult to hold one's attention, and on this miracle site, 15-30 second contents are the trends, with which the user has nothing else to do but spin and spin. In a very short time, a lot of information can be processed in this way, which completely moves the user's stimulus threshold. No one will want to watch a longer, 10-15 minute short film about anything, because in that time you can watch up to 100 videos on TikTok, and they are much more stimulating. Making amateur videos at home has grown from fun to a serious and profitable job.
But how useful is it for the market and how useful is it for the young society?
What is easier to determine is that the market is brutally benefiting from the opportunities provided by the new media weapon, since the platform is hugely popular among young people and young adults. "TikTok addiction" is proven by the fact that every tenth young person in this age group spends more than 5 hours a day on the platform - making it the most important and effective platform for reaching teenagers and young adults today. The second and third most popular platforms are YouTube and Instagram, which also share videos, but only every fifth young person spends at least 2 hours a day on them. Tiktok is often a social program, about 71 percent of Generation Z watch videos together with their friends.
There are influencers on the Hungarian market who have nearly 1 million followers on TikTok alone. If a company wants to sell a product, it can easily do so with such a content producer, as practice shows that they are happy to advertise anything without further ado in exchange for a suitable consideration. The success of selling merchandise advertised by influencers lies in the fact that, due to their personal connection, followers are more likely to buy a product or service advertised by their favorite tiktoker than one they see in a simple online or TV advertisement.
What impact does it have on young society? If I had to express this very curtly, in one word, then the appropriate term would be stupid. They shove whatever they want down people's throats. And the fact that we don't have to do anything but babble and move on to the next video with a flick of the wrist, educates bigots to great comfort and laziness. In short, it is a set of humorous or even scandalous contents rich in stimuli. This results in
young people can't sit and watch a 45-minute class, since 5 hours of tiktok a day causes such stimulus satisfaction that they absolutely can't pay attention to a certain topic for more than a few minutes, and in their imagination they have already "spinned on" a hundred times.
There has already been a case, moreover, in Hungary, where a popular trans influencer performed a sexual act with his partner on live broadcast, in front of more than 10,000 viewers. Of course, the broadcast was later shot down, but the incident was witnessed by many minors, as you can officially register on the platform from the age of 13. This is absolutely unacceptable and outrageous.
Of course, there are counter-examples, as traces of valuable and instructive content can also be found on the platform. Everyone wants to take advantage of the newly bursting interface with a smart algorithm, but we should pay attention to what consequences this may have. Everything is free, but not everything is useful. It is not right that children develop a role model attitude that encourages them to earn a lot of money from the comfort of their homes by selling their faces. Parents have a huge responsibility to limit their children's social media activities and spending time in the right way so that it is not harmful to them.
Author: BM
