16. How TikTok is changing the face of Rural India

You probably hate the application. Maybe you don’t like the watermark. Or perhaps you don’t like its ads popping up everywhere on social media. Shaming TikTok has become one of the most regular occurrences on social media. For instance, have a look at these comments on Reddit (1):

“It’s basically because cringy kids and overgrown adults do lip syncing to cringy videos or songs, it’s community is pretty toxic”.. “I think it's the ads. Super cringey spots where teenagers lipsync to snippets of songs & tv shows. Its just a really bad ad campaign”.
So, the primary question here is, do you hate the app, or do you hate its user base?

According to reports by Statista, a German database firm, TikTok alone has 200 million users, of which 120 million are active every month. Google Play Award 2018 awarded TikTok as India’s ‘Most Entertaining App’. According to the app's official data, users in rural India use the app for an average of 106 minutes every day, and in urban areas, the usage is only about 7.5 minutes. TikTok has a good distribution of Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Hence, it is safe to assume that the majority of TikTok’s user base are those belonging to the rural parts of India. These are mostly people who are first-time internet users in the country. Millions of Indians from rural India, who now have access to low-cost smartphones and affordable data plans are hooked to the app, despite controversies.

TikTok videos assume various forms in rural India: from short lip-syncing videos to popular Bollywood hits, where the users are either dancing or acting out scenes from movies. The engagement of TikTok is higher than Facebook and Instagram in these areas. But why is it so popular there?

First, it is one of the few apps that does not have any limitations in terms of language. A large chunk of the app’s videos have no dialogues or written material to read. This allows users to express themselves in several ways. By focusing on vernacular languages, TikTok has enabled rural Indians to share ‘their talent’. Second, TikTok for rural India is the medium through which they expect to garner attention on a large scale. This has been termed as ‘15 Seconds of Fame’. The third reason is TikTok’s easy-to-use features. The app has introduced the feature “In-feed Native Video” and the ‘Hashtag Challenge’ that allows for a more interactive experience.

Today, Tiktok has reached a target audience which was harder to tap otherwise. However, TikTok’s wild growth has caused problems in rural India. TikTok also happens to be the platform where hate speech filled videos are on a rise. Examples can be cited of caste-based hate, threats, and violence against different communities, most often verbal attacks on local caste leaders. Advocating caste supremacy is on a rise too on TikTok. This has led to the rise of hate crimes in rural India, most importantly in South India. TikTok was also accused of distributing explicit content, which harms children.

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/9pn9ns/whats_up_with_everyone_hating_the_app_tik_tok/