TikTok: What is it and How does it Work?

TikTok is the social network of the moment. Initially known and used only by teenagers, over time it has also conquered the adult public: many influencers and TV personalities from Instagram have migrated to this platform in search of new and fresher content.

Today TikTok, although it is no longer a novelty, continues to break records: in April 2022 it had become the most downloaded app since its creation: as many as 3.5 billion downloads. It was the most downloaded ever in 2021 and probably will be in 2022 as well.

If, despite its popularity, you still don’t know TikTok, you might be interested in understanding how it works.

To answer all the questions, the editorial staff of Money.it created a detailed guide on TikTok: how to use it, how to make videos with effects, how to add music filters, and useful info on how privacy and security. Below you will find instructions for taking your first steps on the platform and sharing your videos.

Why Join TikTok?

TikTok is a social media app that allows you to record videos with background music, create photo carousels, make Stories and live videos.

It used to be called Musical.ly, but the platform shut down in August 2018 and forced its users to migrate to the new TikTok. Basically TikTok is the former Musical.ly, and at first sight it might remind you of Dubsmash (the very popular app a few years ago that allowed you to make short clips in lip sync), but it goes further .

In fact, in addition to lip sync videos on TikTok you can create many different contents: videos with background music, photo carousels, live videos and stories, like those of Instagram. The contents created on TikTok can be saved on the phone and shared on other social networks, such as Instagram, both as posts and as stories.

TikTok is liked because it stimulates talent and creativity, and is perfect for those who are fed up with Facebook and Instagram and are looking for entertainment from a social network.

The fact that the social network has hundreds of millions of subscribers, then, gives it the opportunity to become very popular and build a following of millions of followers.

Using TikTok: how it works

Before seeing in detail how to subscribe to TikTok and how it works, we specify that everything that was on Musical.ly is now on TikTok, which is why those who subscribed to the app before the rebranding can continue to access TikTok with the same account.

Having said that, let’s now see how to start using it.

The first thing to do is download the app on your smartphone. TikTok is available for free on App Store and Google Play Store, and is represented by a neon colored music note icon on a black background. Once the app is installed, just open it to immediately see the videos being played uploaded by other users, and you can choose between "Follow" and the recommended ones "For you".

In the "Followed" category, as the name implies, it is possible to see the videos of users who follow each other, while in the "For You" category the videos that are seen are those chosen by the platform’s algorithm.

You will not be able to share a video until you have created your account.

How to create an account

To make videos and use all TikTok features you need to register or log in with your account if you already have one.

To create an account, you must enter your email address or telephone number, or choose to log in via your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Instagram account. This option is certainly more convenient and faster, but for greater security it is better to not associate two accounts and create a TikTok account from scratch. Then enter your date of birth to continue. The age limit for using TikTok is 13 years old.

At this point you can set up your profile page, which is very similar to that of Instagram: there is a round profile photo with a "+", on which you can press to add a Story, the feed of uploaded videos, an icon at the top left to find new friends to follow and at the top right for Settings (account management, privacy, notifications, help center). Under the username you can see the number of followed users, the followers and the number of "likes" obtained.

On your profile you can find four menus: the first on the left is the one that contains your videos, the second on the left, represented with a padlock, is the section of your memories, i.e. where you can see the contents you have shared in the past; in the third from the left there are the videos that have been saved and in the last one there are the videos that have been "liked".

Once the profile has been created you will also be able to access the main page of the app, i.e. the Home section, where a new video will be immediately proposed. The bottom toolbar has five sections: the first on the left is Home, where you can see videos in the "Followed" and "For You" categories; the second on the left, represented by a flash, is the section that sends to TikTok Now, a new app created very similar to BeReal; the central one, represented by a "+", is the section for creating a new TikTok; the fourth from the left is instead the one to see your own notifications and the stories of the profiles you follow; while the last one on the right is the your profile icon. Finally, at the top left, there is a small TV, pressing there gives access to live video.

On the home screen, when you watch a video, you can see some icons on the left, arranged vertically below. The first represents the profile of the person who uploaded the video, the second is the icon to "like", the third is the one for view comments, the fourth is the one to save the videos and the fifth one is the one to forward the video to someone, both on TikTok and on external platforms. The numbers under each icon represent the number of times the action associated with it has been performed.

How to make and upload videos to TikTok

At this point we move on to the most interesting part: the creation of videos. Making a video on TikTok is very simple: just press the central button with the [+] symbol, press Allow access to the camera and microphone and confirm with OK.

When opening the camera we can choose the recording mode between normal and selfie, just like on Instagram.

Please note: in addition to creating a video from scratch directly from the TikTok Camera, you can upload an existing video or photo on your phone and then edit as desired. To do this, press the icon at the bottom right next to the red button. You can see that it shows a photo from your roll in preview: click and then choose whether to upload a video or a photo (or even more than one, in multiple mode).

Add a sound: Here you can choose the music for your video. You have playlist available divided by category (eg: Global Hits, Popular, Viral...) but you can directly choose the song to add by typing the title or artist in the Search bar. Once you have found the desired song, press the check mark that appears on the right.

Once the background music has been inserted, from the camera screen you can cut the sound anywhere in the video. Just press the music note with x icon that appears in the list of symbols on the right.

The playback speed can be changed: the music, and therefore the lip sync, will go faster or slower according to the selected key (1x is normal, while 2x, 3x are faster). To record the video, press the central red key.

Add effects and filters: to add effects, press the three circles icon on the right. To activate and deactivate the beauty effect, press the magic wand icon. You can record both in normal mode and in selfie: the key to do so is the camera button at the top right.

Once finished click Next.

To take a video without holding down the recording button you must use the timer function. Press the clock icon with the number 3 and then on Start countdown. Once activated, the video will start recording automatically after a few seconds.

If you don’t like the uploaded video, you can delete it and make a new one. To delete a video from TikTok open it and press the three dots icon on the right, scroll to the carousel that appears at the bottom and press Delete. Always with ... you can activate features such as duet, save in your favourites, comments and live photos.

Is TikTok safe?

As we said above, it is clarified in TikTok’s privacy policy that you must be at least 13 years of age to use the app, although this limit can clearly be circumvented by entering a false birth date.

The accounts are public when they are created, however it is also possible to enter the settings and make your account private, so that your authorization is required to be added by new followers.

Among the settings dedicated to privacy we find the possibility to activate the mode to filter the inappropriate contents; the Off/Friends mode to be able to send messages only if you follow each other; setting up a private account so that all videos can only be seen by the creator and accepted followers. With a private account, you can approve or deny user requests and limit incoming messages to followers only. Note that even with a private account, your profile photo, username and bio are visible to everyone.

For security reasons, on TikTok it is not possible to send photos or videos via private message.

Original article published on Money.it Italy 2022-11-06 16:31:02. Original title: TikTok: cos’è e come funziona