Tik Tok: The New Source of News for Teenagers

“Reaching a number that no other platform has reached”

With these phrases, a new survey by the British government has decided to shed light on its concerns about the new position occupied by the “Tik Tok” application, especially among young people.

It is reported that the short video application ‘Tik Tok’ has become the main source of news for teenagers in Britain.

A number that no other platform has reached

Research prepared by Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, on news consumption in Britain between 2022 and 2023, has revealed that 28 per cent of 12-15-year-olds use TikTok to get news, a number no other platform reached, according to British Sky News on Thursday.

He also indicated that YouTube and Instagram ranked second with 25%.

He added that the demand for ‘Tik Tok’ news comes with the Internet’s growing takeover of traditional media’s share as a source of news for the general public.

In turn, Reuters Institute for Journalism principal researcher Nick Newman revealed that while TikTok is seen as a platform for light-hearted rather than serious topics such as news, events such as the Corona pandemic have changed that view.

He added that Corona was a big change because people were in their homes, talking about the pandemic on TikTok.

No exception

Interestingly, the affluence of teenagers in Britain to ‘Tik Tok’ to find out the news is not an exception, but is part of a growing trend among young people around the world.

Research released last June involving 93,000 young people in 46 countries around the world found that a growing percentage of young people are accessing the news through TikTok.

And 44% in the 18-24 age group said they use ‘Tik Tok’, and allocate 20% of their platform usage to discovering news, while the news usage rate among members of this group was 15% a year ago.