TikTok has today announced a new #LearnOnTikTok program, which will see it fund a range of educational videos in order to help facilitate learning during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
The content is being funded through TikTok’s $50 million creative learning fund, which it announced as part of its broader $250 million commitment to assist with the impacts of COVID-19.
As explained by TikTok:
“We’ve partnered with over 800 public figures, media publishers, educational institutions, and real-world professional experts who’ve been affected by the effects of this global pandemic to bring learning material to TikTok. We’ve been humbled to be able to bring these grants to educators, professional experts, and nonprofits who have the power to offer us creative learning especially during this tough time.”
Does “affected by the effects” annoy anyone else? Maybe it’s just me.
Either way, #LearnOnTikTok includes videos outlining exercise routines, sleep health tips, instructions on floral arrangements, and even lessons on aquatic life.
As noted, all of these lessons are being provided by businesses that have impacted (or affected) by COVID-19, so the clips serve as both educational resources to help people at home, and promotional vehicles for these professionals to share their expertise.
In addition to this, TikTok is also partnering with celebrities like Bill Nye, Lilly Singh and Neil Degrasse Tyson to provide even more educational tips, and expand the reach of the #LearnOnTikTok campaign.
And beyond general lessons, TikTok’s also putting together a new “creator learning portal” which will provide insights, tools, and best practices on how to create quality content on TikTok. TikTok launched the first update in its tutorial series this week.
Many remain on the fence about TikTok, with negative coverage of its policies, processes and links to the Chinese government hanging over the platform, and prompting hesitation. And those concerns may well be fair, but it is also clear that TikTok is working to improve its internal processes, and to establish a positive, engaging community separate from its Chinese parent company.
Facilitating more educational content adds to this, and while it still has a way to go in alleviating all of the relative concerns, the fact that it is seeking to improve is also worthy of note.
