CS371 Blog Post 2 - Ashley Pirillo

After reading through some of the extra resources for Unit One, I felt compelled to talk on the social media application, TikTok, as the use of it has become a crucial part of my day. Though it is most understood as a platform for entertainment, it can also be used as a search engine and this was expressed as a common theme in the New York Times article written by Kalley Huang. She outlined an example of a student, Ja'Kobi Moore, who realized she needed to obtain a letter of recommendation from a teacher and since she had never asked for one before she went to TikTok for guidance. 

I have done this many times because there is just something about the visual aspect of TikTok videos and being able to see the faces and bodies of people who you can relate to. Maybe it is because it feels more personal than just a Google search. Content like Recipe Videos or Try On Hauls are preferable seeing as though you are able to see everything for how it is. You can compare your final product to the recipe video or you can compare yourself to the person in the video in order to identify what size you may be for certain items of clothing. TikTok videos are brief but successfully intrigue us enough to keep our short attention spans occupied.

Circling back to Moore's situation, as I was actively searching for a job, I used TikTok to find helpful tips and templates for cover letters and resumes. Similarly, I found excellent interview questions and sample answers to help prepare myself. You can find quite literally anything on TikTok and that is why many use it as a tool for finding information and not just for the entertainment aspect. It just feels more relatable than something posted on WikiHow and with that being said, I know that I can confidently say that I use TikTok as a search engine more than I use Google. Though there are set expectations, we the users, control how we use social media.

Comments

  1. PoojaOctober 4, 2022 at 7:02 PM

    Hi,

    Great post! After reading The New York Times article, I also agree with your ideas about using TikTok as a search engine providing users with a far greater reach and opinions than we have found through Google search. The shift in communication is also an aspect that has changed. I thought about how we are quick to search on TikTok and the effects it has on our daily practices. This shift also has changed the way we pass on information. For example, if a friend or family member asks you a question about a specific topic, we can quickly send a TikTok video in the app instead of forwarding them a Google link. Therefore, the means by which we search have changed, as also the way we share.

    Thanks,
    Pooja S.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Alexandra RemmlingOctober 12, 2022 at 8:33 AM

    Hey, I really enjoyed reading your post and I can relate to many of the things you touched upon. I often find myself using Tik Tok as a search engine over Google. I find it to be a lot more personal and realistic than a generic Google search. I will also share Tik Tok's with my friends and family if I think the information would apply to them whereas I wouldn't do the same with other search engines.

    ReplyDelete

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