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Here at GirlGuiding New Zealand, we have gone full force on social media in the past few months. Throughout our journey into the different social media platforms we realised that TikTok is the new conglomerate of today’s media society.
TikTok provides people with anything their heart could desire, from a 10-second video clip to a 10-minute video clip. You could find anything you want to on this platform. One of the good things about TikTok is their ‘for you’ page. This page really caters to the user and shows them exactly what they should be seeing. For example, if your child loves watching Minecraft videos or baking videos, then that’s exactly what they’ll see on their ‘for you’ page when they open the app. However, if your child gets sent a video from their friends that isn’t their normal type of video, this may change the algorithm to see different videos.
As well as any other social media platform, TikTok can be used for good and bad by different types of people in the world. TikTok actually has an age restriction for using such a massive platform, and that age is 13. They are quite onto it when children try and make a TikTok account, and they are underage. We have seen first-hand through relatives who are underage that their accounts are shut down very quickly, as they are breaking the rules of TikTok. Even if they haven’t posted any videos, their age bracket instantly tells the robots behind the scene that they shouldn’t be there.
As the year finishes and 2023 rolls in, we will be looking to share more videos on social media and pictures of our Guides. We put out a question on social media last week asking what parents and guardians would like to see, and the majority of the answers were what the guides are up to and the fun that they have been having. As well as providing these images for parents, guardians, and the like, these images and videos are a great way to share the GirlGuiding New Zealand brand, and provide a fun insight to any potential guides or volunteers.
Overall, we will reach out to our leaders, parents, and guardians to ask if they have any specific stories, videos or pictures they would like us to use on social media. However, we want you to know that we have read the restrictions on these apps, we know the boundaries sent in by people who don’t want their faces on social media, and we will do our utmost to be respectful of everything that we post.
As far as we can see, TikTok poses the same risks as all the other social media platforms. Therefore we will continue to use this platform, but tread lightly and do as most respectfully as possible with your and our content.
If you have something you’d like to share with us, whether that’s a story from your child, a leader, a volunteer or even from 50 or 60 years ago when you were a guide and would like to see it on socials, please email: [email protected]