Press Agencies Using TikTok as a Means to Approach the Public

The survey findings of Research Company Ypulse in 2020 showed that 26% of Gen Y (born between 1981 and 1996) received information through TikTok. This figure went up to 51% with Gen Z(6). TikTok is a social media site that attracts young generations, especially Gen Z (those born in the Internet era between 1997 and 2012). TikTok has also gained the attention of the press as a new platform. Big press agencies around the world are taking advantage of this social platform, such as Vogue Italia – an Italian fashion magazine (account @ vogueitalia), MSNBC – a USA cable TV channel (account @msnbc), The Dallas Morning News – a daily newspaper in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas (account @dallasmorningnews), etc.

TikTok uses artificial intelligence (AI) to note users’ hobbies and to suggest and individualize types of videos suitable to each user. This increases people’s curiosity about the application. Tracking users is an indispensable factor that makes the experience of the product more interesting. TikTok’s great success is that it’s use of AI has a positive approach to controlling what people watch on the platform, which is an underlying strength of social media. In the future, this will be an opportunity for press agencies to understand the public’s needs so that they can provide appropriate information.

TikTok also has an effect on the public’s behavioral decisions, especially the young public group of Gen Z, toward the products of press agencies because this platform mainly focuses on short-form video content which is easier to use and more likely to go viral than other social media. According to the latest report of We Are Social, published in October 2021, the number of Tiktok users above age 18 in Vietnam is 39.65 million which shows an increase of 5.4 million people in a short time. The figure of 39.65 million users ranks Vietnam in sixth place globally in the number of TikTok users after the United States, Indonesia, Brazil, Russia, and Mexico (7). The multiplying growth of this platform poses a challenge to press agencies. This is, if they want to survive and develop, they cannot keep their traditional approach and stand outside the trend. Instead, they have to change their mindset and take appropriate actions to respond to the development of the public orientation.

Recently, press agencies have created accounts on TikTok and updated their news products in the form of one-minute videos to approach the public, interact with them, distribute news, respond to them directly and explore new sources of content. One issue that press agencies have to take into consideration is that they should highly value TikTok, continue to maintain and develop their use of it as a communication channel, communicate with the public effectively, and have strategic plans for using TikTok in the future.

2. The reality of press agencies using TikTok to approach the public

The Vietnamese revolutionary press is facing both opportunities and challenges. Social media has significantly affected the way the public responds to information as well as changed the working methods of journalists and press agencies both positively and negatively. In response to the demands of the digital era, to survive and develop, the press agencies around the world in general and in Vietnam in particular have to change dramatically. World-renowned press agencies such as The Washington Post, NBC News, USA Today, ESPN, CBS Sports, The Dallas Morning News, BBC, Kyra TV, Tagesschau, and 20 Minutes have already appeared on TikTok. In Vietnam, VTV24, Vietnam Plus of VietNam News Agency, Thanh Nien Newspaper, and dozens of other press agencies have explored TikTok since 2020. Thanh Nien Newspaper with more than 1 million followers and VTV24 with more than 4 million followers are the agencies that have succeeded in using TikTok, in terms of both advertisement profit and information content.

TikTok has the potential of helping press agencies to approach the segment of the public who less frequently access other traditional mass media such as newspapers, television, or radio. On TikTok, the distance between the press agency and the public is just through some “touches” or “clicks.” Users can simply interact with the press products by using “like,” “save videos into favorites,” “comment” and “share” buttons which are vertically arranged on the right of the device screen. Especially, to accurately identify the public’s hobbies and tastes, TikTok has used AI to create the “For You” feature which includes personalized and optimized content for each public group. Specifically, if the users like, comment or share videos related to political news, they will see more videos of this content on their newsfeed. To cope with that reality, press agencies have to be aware of the changes in the way the readers get the news and the way the news should be broadcast in the novel media ecosystem.

Currently, several press agencies which have pioneered in exploring TikTok and have a high interaction rate are The Washington Post with more than 1.4 million followers and ESPN sports channel with more than 24 million followers. For example, one of ESPN’s products named “How high can Jadon jump?” had a record number of interactions with 9,372 likes, 5,026 comments, and 13,000 shares (8).

Personalization allows TikTok accounts of press agencies to understand the public’s favorite content over time, hence they can create their strategic direction as social media is increasingly developing. For example, the TikTok account of NBC, an American television broadcast network, which provides a variety of news and updates on the latest news about social life, has attracted a great deal of the public’s attention. They can express their own opinions and respond to opposing viewpoints through direct comments under each video. Recently, the video named “NYU Commencement (Taylor’s Version)” has attracted 360,600 likes and Figure 1: The TikTok account of @ESPN Sports Channel with 24 million followers (9).

TikTok has impressed the public by providing a new feature known as “Duet” of responding to the products of press agencies. Duet on TikTok is a way the public can combine the content of their video and others’ videos to create one single video which includes two different contents. This interesting feature was favored and widely used by the public thanks to its high rate of connectivity which helps them express their personal attitudes and opinions towards the products of press agencies.

The utmost objective of the press is to serve the purpose of mass communication and to approach the public of all ages and social classes on all its platforms. The more platforms are explored, the more widely the news can be spread to the users. TikTok is the social media of younger generations, and also a channel for the press to interact with them. Young people can become “loyal readers” of press agencies in the future.

Sixth, it is advisable to explore the Livestream feature on TikTok.

Livestream or “live broadcast” has always been an interesting experience for many social media users, so media channels often choose it to approach the public. Livestream can be a way for press agencies to increase the approach and interaction index with their public.

In addition, TikTok Live also offers a supporting resource of thousands of effects and labels which are updated weekly. Thanks to that, press agencies can freely live stream and interact with the public most vividly. Furthermore, TikTok Live has the Co-Host feature which allows people to invite a friend to join their Livestream. This feature helps press agencies to attract and interact with the public more easily.

Seventh, it is suggested that creativity contests should be organized.

Press agencies should frequently organize creativity contests which encourage the public to make creative videos on TikTok, and then share and spread their videos on their accounts. For example, Thanh Nien Newspaper has implemented this strategy successfully through the contest “Covid Dance.”

Eighth, it is recommended that measures should be taken to quickly prevent toxic and harmful content.

To develop a healthy and safe social media, press agencies need to raise the public’s awareness, orient mass communication, implement policies to manage the use of social media, and ensure the legal issues of the host countries.

There should be a mechanism to monitor, detect and request social media to quickly remove videos with malicious content that affects national security and sovereignty, as well as the healthy development of children who make up to 25% of the total number of TikTok users(15). The offenders must be strictly punished under the provisions of the Cybersecurity Law, the Criminal Code, and related decrees against individuals who distribute malicious videos on TikTok. While effective solutions to control social networking platforms have not yet been implemented, users need to be aware of self-protection. Families, especially, should pay attention and supervise their children when they are accessing content on the Internet.

Ninth, press agencies and journalists should constantly strive to meet the new requirements.

Press agencies need to be supported to invest in building infrastructure and technology platforms to manage their online editorial offices; warned early of security risks; and offered timely remedial solutions. The State also needs to develop mechanisms and policies to develop linkage models between the press and digital technology companies, telecommunications carriers, advertising businesses, and cross-border content distribution platforms.

Fewer and fewer viewers want to spend 45 minutes watching news programs on television, so if TV stations split news stories and reports and upload them to digital platforms, the number of viewers will certainly increase because this approach is more accessible for young users who are regularly active on social networks. Digital platforms will help press agencies interact directly with their audience, understand who their audience is, and accurately measure the effectiveness of their message. However, to do that, nowadays press reporters should not only have expertise and foreign language proficiency but also technological skills to optimize digital tools. More importantly than ever, press agencies and journalists need to make constant efforts to update their knowledge of journalism in the Industrial Revolution 4.0, be ready to take on challenges, and go in company with trends to grow and develop, while still keeping the fire of the revolutionary press alive./.