Hypetrain

𝐓𝐢𝐤𝐓𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭-𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭.

The new function highlights keywords in comments and links to search results for that term. TikTok already allows its users to discover content and trends, but the new feature will further expand the app's search capabilities.

The test feature also shows that TikTok is not just keen to compete with its social media rivals, as it is now also looking to break into Google's core product. Yeah, that’s right.

Prabhakar Raghavan, a senior vice president at Google, said 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 40 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘪𝘬𝘛𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘳 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘚𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘵.

TikTok's success as a search engine is due to its ability to quickly display relevant short videos based on what you're searching for at the time.

For example, if you're looking for chocolate tart recipes, you'll probably find better variants on TikTok than on Google searches.
That is because Google prioritizes longer blog posts that require scrolling through before actually accessing the recipe.

𝐈𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐢𝐤𝐓𝐨𝐤 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐠𝐥𝐞'𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭.

But if the platform wants to position itself as a search engine, it needs to make sure the results it shows are high-quality and actually good, not just popular.

TikTok was recently cited as a vehicle for spreading misinformation.
Fake content has been a problem in the early days of the invasion of Ukraine, as videos of old conflicts and pro-Putin propaganda circulated.

𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐓𝐢𝐤𝐓𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 — 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬, 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 — 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐟𝐮𝐥.

Of course not that anything a random person says on TikTok without credentials is a lie, but we just need to know the difference between knowing it’s true and thinking “Oh, I should look it up”.

TikTok is and probably will remain a great search engine for lifestyle and general life content, but seeing it as a news source… Let’s stay skeptical.

Photo Credit: https://instagram.com/mariecher

Jake Paul took the second place in Forbes ranking of the highest paid YouTubers. The magazine estimates that he made $45 million last year.
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