The Washington Post on Tik Tok
The Washington Post is a major daily newspaper and source of news. The Washington Post creating a Tik Tok allows them to stay relevant and appeal to a younger demographic of people aged 15–25 who are heavy social media users. This company is capitalizing on the fact that younger generations aren’t as app to read newspapers, so digitally their news and content can be viewed, shared and commented about on an app that is growing rapidly. After following the Washington Post for a week that are maximizing the effectiveness of this app. The Washington Post’s Tik Tok creates at least two Tik Toks a day which keeps them on the for you page. The for you page on Tik Tok is created by Tik Tok for each follower. If you watch a Tik Tok from the Washington Post every time they post content it will start to come up on your for you page more often allowing more likes, comments, and shares to start increasing on their content. They only follow two people but have 386.5 thousand followers and 19.6 thousand likes on their posts.
Their content is very diverse, they are using the platform to create a more light and fun way to share news that is easy to watch and learn about. Their platform showcases many different people that work in their office, students, people from the street and even athletes. This allows them to create a more diverse following, and show that a newspaper company can be fun and still very relevant.
They are keeping along with Tik Tok trends, such as the paper towel challenge that is going viral on Tik Tok right now. Their paper towel challenge showed a paper towel that says I love you, and when you put the paper towel under the water it reveals a hidden message, and in this case it said, “ I love you when you wash your hands for 25 seconds.” This content is funny and light but also talks about what I would say is the most important topic in news right now the coronavirus. The Post is sharing important news and tips to keep the public safe in a short video that doesnt have alot of context or reading but gets the point out to their over 386 thousand followers.
The Washington Post is posing newsworthy and relevant news topics but using Tik Tok trends, like songs, challenges, or dances to are fun to make and fun to watch. They are even creating their own content to market and advertise for their company. The Post created a Tik Tok asking new readers to subscribe to the Post and they can get a 25% off discount. They have a solid following on Tik Tok and by offering a discount this may attract new subscribers who like their Tik Tok content to read more from them.
Overall, I think companies like the Washington Post are maximizing Tik Tok’s potential to help promote their business and attract a younger audience, as well as attract new subscribers. The Post is still reporting on news but in a more user friendly, and funny way on another platform that only gains more buzz about them.
