Using TikTok

Once you download TikTok, you will be presented with a number of different features to play around with.

‘For You’ Section

When you open the app on your phone, a video will start playing right away without you even selecting one. The videos that play automatically are featured videos, labelled ‘For You’.

The ‘For You’ section suggests new content to users based on the kind of items they have viewed and liked in the past. It is a customised collection of videos that TikTok has curated to meet your interests and taste.

‘Following’ Section

You can also switch to the ‘Following’ section to see videos from the people you follow - maybe you’ll follow friends, popular TikTokers or just people who amuse you.

Clicking on the ‘Home’ button in the bottom left corner will load up a new video.

Searching in TikTok

To explore further in TikTok, there will be a magnifying glass icon next to the ‘Home’ icon. Here you can search keywords and hashtags, as well as explore what’s trending.

Once you have found a video you like, you can search further. You can see likes (in TikTok’s case, ‘hearts’, like Instagram) and read comments. Along the bottom of the video, you can find the user’s name, caption, and the name of the song that’s playing. Captions tend to contain more hashtags that you can explore by clicking on them.

Music in TikTok

TikTok has a library full of clips of popular songs, but users can also use their own recordings, otherwise labelled as ‘Original Sound’. This can be anything from the person talking, to an alternative edit of a song.

You can click on any song to see more videos of that song. Often, certain songs will spike in popularity and therefore, trend. So it is vital that you research this and think of ways to apply it to your business.