If you don’t know about TikTok then where have you been? The app which is based around short videos has amassed 1.2 billion monthly users and has completely taken over social media, with some of the world's biggest brands even jumping on board. Whilst this all sounds great; how can you get started?
Setting up your account:
Whilst this sounds fairly straight forward, it wouldn't be a step-by-step guide if we didn’t include it.
1. Download TikTok and sign up
You can download TikTok from any app store on your device, and once it’s downloaded, TikTok has made it super easy to sign up, just use your email or add a username and password and you're in!
2. Set up your profile
Once you're logged in, you'll want to edit your profile. Just click on the outline of a person in the bottom right-hand corner and you can add a bio, choose a profile picture and even connect your other social media accounts (this is perfect for business accounts).
Finding videos and interacting with others:
3. View your feed
Click the home button and just like that, an endless number of videos will appear. If you don’t follow anyone yet then the top trending videos will pop up, but as you interact with more users, your feed will become more personalised.
4. Like, comment and share your favourite videos
Tap the heart to like a video or leave a comment by hitting the comment button, if you want to share a video with your friends or family simply click the forward sign under the comment button to see your sharing options. If you really enjoyed that user's content, swipe right to view their profile and give them a follow!
5. How to search for videos
Another really easy but important thing to learn. To search for videos, click on the discover button on the bottom of the screen, here you can search for a specific account or video and even see trending topics.
6. Organise your saved videos
You can find your liked videos in your ‘saved’ tab but this can get very messy very quickly, and soon your favourite video is lost forever. Luckily you can now organise these into collections. To access collections, click on the bookmark icon below the comment icon. Then, press + Create new collection to add one. Categorise your saved posts by topic (i.e., recipes, fashion), or any other way you’d like.
Start creating videos:
7. Get set up and choose your filters
Click the middle tab to enter camera mode. On the right side of the screen, you'll also see icons for the following:
Speed: Allows you to record your video in slow motion or sped up.
Beauty: A filter that can hide blemishes and smooth out your skin (not that you'll need it).
Filters: Lets you change the colour filter of the camera.
Timer: Allows you to set an auto-record countdown if you want to film hands-free.
Flash: We’ll let you take a guess for this one
8. Choose your sound
On the top middle of the camera screen, you'll also see music notes with "Add a Sound" next to them. Tap this to choose the music or sound effect that you want to work with.
9. Recording and editing
Hold the red record button and either film your soon to be viral video all at once, or in multiple parts depending on how confident you are! When you're done recording, you'll still be able to add music, filters, and other basic special effects. You can also add stickers and text on top of the video. When you're done, press Next. You'll be directed to a page where you can add a caption, hashtags, and tag your friends. You can also set the privacy of the video, turn comments on or off, allow duets or reactions ore draft your video if you’re saving it for later.
It’s time to start TikToking! Find your favourite sound and get ready to go viral!