TikTok’s New STEM Feed: A Tool for Researchers and Practitioners to Engage with a Wider Audience?
In March 2024, TikTok launched a STEM only feed in the US focused on bringing high-quality STEM content to the online community. This was motivated by the sense of discovery and community that makes the online platform successful. If you have a question or need a quick breakdown on how to do something TikTok is an easily accessible platform that will probably have an answer. Further, the online communities such as #BookTok makes it easy to share interests and connect with people worldwide. So the addition of the STEM feed creates a dedicated space and community to share STEM-related interests while engaging a younger audience with educational content as the app makes it a default setting for users under 18 years old.
David Stock, Head of Editorial Video at @Newscientist comments, “At New Scientist we bring world-changing scientific news to our audience every day, exciting our readers with the mind-blowing wonders of science. Committed to inspiring the next generation, on TikTok we engage a community of young people whose passion for science matches ours. TikTok’s new STEM feed promises to be a dedicated place to access fascinating, trustworthy science in a single click. This is an exciting venture we are pleased to be involved in.”
Creators do not need to be traditional scientific researchers who are often given platforms within traditional academia to share their work. STEM focused creators can be anyone which expands the accessibility of the field. But if anyone can be a creator this may increase the chance of misinformation. All users are susceptible to misinformation on TikTok due to the accessibility of the platform. Anyone can be a creator so anyone can share information that is not true. This brings up initial concern over the launch of the STEM feed, especially if it is targeted towards younger audiences. TikTok is partnering with two companies to address this issue. Common Sense Networks will assess the content to ensure it is appropriate for the STEM feed and specifically for younger users. This company is dedicated to making sure content is age appropriate and has also partnered with YouTube. The reliability of the presented information on this feed will be assessed by Poynter, a global non-profit that focuses on the ethical practice of journalism.
Emanuel Wallace, aka @Big.Manny1, comments, “I use TikTok to share Scientific experiments and theories that would usually be covered in a classroom, in a really visual and relatable way. My videos are engaging with students who are trying to tackle these subjects at school, but also I am able to share the drama of the Science lab with people who may never have been interested in Science before.”
The launch of this new STEM feed presents an opportunity for researchers and practitioners to engage with a larger and younger audience. According to TikTok, 33% of the US community is already engaging with STEM related content through the dedicated feed. 50k people signed up to watch the live stream of the national stem festival. Since 2021, 15 million STEM related videos have been published globally. Practitioners can expand the impact of their work and reach audiences that may not have access to or would have traditionally engaged with their work. For example, a poster or publication on new findings can be translated into a more digestible TikTok video. The success of the launch in the US has inspired the company to continue to launch the feed in the EU and UK. Since the launch, content related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics has grown globally by 24%, according to a press release by the company.
Martina Efeyini, aka @tns_founder_martina shares, “My experience with using TikTok is you have to be consistent to build your audience. TikTok is very informal so you want to make sure the content that you are producing on TikTok is more informal than YouTube. It is more conversational and engaging so you can capture the people’s attention within three seconds.” I also suggest following enough science people.
Martina Efeyini, former Science News Civic Science Fellow and founder of the Next Scientist, shares her experience with the platform and advice for users starting to share their work on the platform. Martina explains that the key to building an audience is consistency and engaging with similar work to yours. Due to the novel nature of the civic science field it may be difficult to initially find people directly in this field but Martina advises engaging with science accounts in general — newsrooms, science museums, and science media organizations.
Martina Efeyini, aka @tns_founder_martina states, “Overall, I would say TikTok is a mixed bag when it comes to the impact of my work. When I was a Civic Science News fellow my videos did good with the visibility on TikTok because I followed, liked, shared and commented on other peoples videos. People saw that and started to share and promote my work because they wanted to support my work and found it interesting.”
As for the impact of TikTok and the STEM feed on her work the jury is out. But there are users that create heavy educational STEM content which is what the STEM feed is focused for now. As the civic science field develops and grows this could be a new community on the platform even if it is not the focus of the STEM feed (#civicsciencetok).
However, practitioners that have educational STEM content readily available or those that want to start in that field can utilize this new feature to create impact outside of traditional audiences. Researchers and science communicators also have an opportunity to increase the visibility of their work. The STEM feed creates a platform curated for work such as research papers, posters, and data that are not usually presented outside academic places. Research labs and groups have a chance to have their work highlighted and introduced to a wider audience. Not only could this be used for educational purposes but sharing research could have impacts on recruitment for younger talent and highlighting diverse people and experiences in the STEM field.
Additionally, this feed presents new career opportunities through the TikTok creator fund. Conventionally, the word “influencer” or “content creator” is associated with beauty or lifestyle type content. But with the STEM feed this could be an opportune moment to build an engaging social media career focused on science, technology, engineering, and math. As the feature and social media evolves it will be interesting to see how the landscape of science communication and civic science change along with it. The researchers and practitioners that get involved now are able to set the precedence for how these roles can have an impact on the public through social media and online presence.
However, this platform also comes with uncertainty due to the looming action from U.S. Congress. In April 2024, President Biden signed into legislation that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, had 270 days to sell TikTok or “would be prohibited from US app stores and from ‘internet hosting services’ that support it.” This is due to multiple concerns around the app having access to sensitive data and fueling misinformation in the US. TikTok’s CEO, Shou Chew, put out a statement promising to protect the platform “(by) exercising our legal rights.”
As with any new social media app there comes uncertainty around the longevity of platform. It remains to be seen how this platform and the new STEM feed feature will impact the work of researchers, practitioners, and science communicators. While there are pros to increasing engagement with the public there is a risk that this app may not be around long term.
