TikTok
With the rise of its popularity, TikTok, a video-sharing social platform, dominates the digital space. Several factors contributed to its success.
Savvy Tech Design
Its user-friendly feature and tech flexibility allow anyone to get creative within a few simple taps. Its ability to be shared and lived on different platforms allowed the content to reach a broader audience. Popular genres include 10 seconds of dancing and lip-syncing, outfit ideas, financial advice, lifestyle vlogs, makeup videos, current events updates, and trendy challenge games. Within the advice category, personal finance surfaced. Finance, as close and vital to living hood and well-being was treated as a taboo subject for too long, but TikTok opens a door to financial literacy that DeepSky has been advocating for.
Users
TikTok users are primarily GenZ, the generation born after 1996, marking the first “digital natives” generation. They are known for being politically progressive and financially pragmatic, due to seeing their parents taking a big hit during the recession. They also come with a fighting spirit against the status quo, shined through the content where they got a humorous dig at hedge funds that practice predatory investment when the GameStops stock incident unfolds. TikTok combines with a unique audience lowers the bar to investments that used to only be accessible to the elite class. Whether you like it or not, TikTok and GenZ are here to stay.
TikTok Influencers
@Humphreytalks with 1.6 million followers penciled his bio as “personal finance and investing made easy,” 6 words that summed up what his brand is all about. He provides concrete financial advice on picking between a 15 years mortgage and a 30 years mortgage. He breezes through how credit scores work, easy to use stop losses in stocks, and so on. This information seems obvious to people who are already well advanced in the business world, but they’re not common to everyday folks. His timeliness in response to current events has attributed to his popularity. He dissected how Costco keeps its hot dog, I would argue its most precious product, priced at $1.50 after 36 years. Playing right into the hearts of peoples’ nostalgia.
@Sarafinance also garners views on TikTok. She focuses on practical advice on how to get rich by breaking down the stages of investing and the threshold of money you should have. She amuses the audience by giving an inside peek at how wealthy people avoid hefty taxation. Her amusing content lets people browse houses on Zillow and her breaking down the investing fee from the downpayment to mortgage and the return rate if one decides to sell. Ah! A person can dream.
How Good Are The Advice?
The short answer is- it depends. We should always be wary of financial information from sources we’re unfamiliar with. Unable to verify the background of our beloved TikTok influencers, it’s better to play it safe. They may be sharing financial tips that worked for them but there are chances that they won’t work for you. Similar to accounting, different sets of problems require different sets of strategies. At the end of the day, they’re not economic laundrette Paul Krugman, so perhaps take their information with a grain of salt. However, they do give practical advice that you can snack through the day or use as a pick-me-up.
TikTok shows us that it’s possible to make daunting information like money and numbers light. DeepSky has been advocating for financial literacy for all by educating our clients and simplifying complex accounting problems. We are on the side of entrepreneurship and will continue to be an ally to all the hustlers out there.
