Portugal – TikTok: yes or no?
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09 December 2020

(ANS - Lisbon) - A Salesian from Portugal tells us: "At the end of 2018 I installed an application that was causing a sensation among the very young, kids between 10 and 14 years old. While I was teaching catechesis to teenagers of that age, I got curious and discovered the world of TikTok®. And I immediately thought: 'Look at this, a good social network for young people, where they can explore their creativity with new choreographies, sharing music and dances, and without great commercial purposes!'"

However, this social network where young people took refuge to "escape" from the eyes of their parents and adults was quickly invaded by all generations. We see it in the TV commercials that more and more often allude to this application. And so, what was just an app for young people to share dances, has also begun to welcome the staging of small film or TV sketches. Adults have come to TikTok® with various topics and now there is already a lot of advertising.

But is it still an application that we can use with young people? I believe so, because there are still many themes and features that can be discovered. The pandemic itself has made this app a source of recreation for many families, fostering greater unity between parents and children in creating content and sharing games.

Many institutions are also increasingly present on this application, which leads me to ask myself: "Should Salesians be in this network?"

Yes, they should! The future is always uncertain on social networks, and sometimes it is fashions that determine the choice of one network over another. But TikTok is on a more challenging level of creativity, where more differentiated work is needed than just posting a photo or video. It is necessary to think of a communication plan so that the contents of the app are prepared in time.

Tik Tok constitutes a good opportunity to give young people a starring role by giving, for example, the coordination of these contents to one or more young people of our Salesian presences, thus encouraging the sharing of Salesian contents. In addition to spotlighting young people, it is a useful tool at the family level, motivating them to fulfill small challenges. The upcoming Christmas season might be a good time for us to venture into this app and create content ahead of Christmas.

Especially at a time when, due to the pandemic, we will have to spend a lot of time at home.

InfoANS

ANS - “Agenzia iNfo Salesiana” is a on-line almost daily publication, the communication agency of the Salesian Congregation enrolled in the Press Register of the Tibunal of Rome as n 153/2007.

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