TikTok has competed with major social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube for some time. According to the Institute for Applied Communication, 70 percent of young people aged 11-17 in Austria use the TikTok app. Lots of music tracks, filters, and trends can be used to create playback videos or just tell something about your daily life.
Creativity is required
Paula Wolf from Vienna, for example, is very active on TikTok. TikToker works full time, posting beauty content, makeup tutorials, and videos related to hair, skin care and makeup. To get an elaborate makeup look with the color of the body paint, she sometimes puts on makeup for several hours. Anyway, she owes her massive reach to her creativity. With 5.7 million followers, she is currently the most successful TikToker from Austria.
It wasn’t originally her plan to work in the social media space. After training as a professional makeup artist, Paula Wolfe intended to work in a makeup shop. But after she posted her makeup looks on Instagram and later on TikTok and they went viral very quickly, she continued to expand her accounts. She looks on Halloween in October, and videos in which she has to master “make-up challenges” from her viewers are very popular.
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Videos about everyday life in Vienna
Another successful content creator on TikTok is Lionel, who lives in Vienna and is known by the username Wurstaufschnitt. He produces satirical videos that often deal with everyday life in Vienna. For example, many of the videos relate to the characteristics of different areas or issues that affect city government. In his videos, Lionel also addresses everyday weirdness and racism or discusses political debates.
Most of his followers also live in Vienna. “In particular, videos on topics that many Viennese people can empathize with work very well,” TikToker explained to wien.ORF.at. Confronting the audience with familiar situations seems to be the key to success. The more a viewer can learn about the videos, the more likely they are to hit the follow button.
Social media is getting faster
“TikTok is definitely a modern app, which is why I design my content according to age,” Paola explained. Social media stars know the contrast with Instagram and other apps, as they are usually represented on all platforms. Anyway, TikTok is a very entertaining application, as the videos should appear very dynamic, as explained by the beauty of TikToker.
Social media is getting faster and faster and users decide in the first few seconds if they want to watch the video until the end. Lionel also realized that the algorithm on TikTok prefers shorter videos in particular. The attention span of users is shorter on TikTok and as a content creator, you have to adapt to that.
TikTok as the dominant app of the future
What you wouldn’t expect: Lionel has been a social media avoider for years. For a long time, the inhabitants of Vienna could not do anything with the world of likes and selfies. “But on TikTok, I felt there was more of a way to show yourself who you really are,” Lionel explained. For this reason, he decided to post TikTok videos. Due to the reel format, which works on the principle of TikTok, now he also publishes videos on Instagram.
Matthias Jax of the Institute of Applied Communications said TikTok will likely be with us for a few more years. Instagram currently has a higher value (81 percent) than TikTok. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if the platform is ahead of Instagram in our rating next year,” Jax says. Paula Wolf also sees TikTok as the dominant app of the future. “Vertical videos are becoming more popular and people are spending more time on their phones than they do on computers,” says Paula.
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The social media profession doesn’t know breaks
However, in TikTok, many also hide behind their anonymity and the obsession with perfection penetrates here as well. The more reach you have, the more likely you are to be criticized. Paula tries not to take hate comments seriously anymore. For the most part, she receives positive comments on her videos. She posts two to three videos a day that requires a lot of setup, production time, and editing time. Paula Wolf never takes a break.
When you go on vacation, Paula also makes some videos beforehand. However, you must be active every day to post videos and stories. “A lot of people may not be able to appreciate the amount of work behind TikTok videos,” Paola explained. However, in Austria, TikTokers do not earn from clicks, as is possible in the United States, for example. Their income mainly comes from collaborations and YouTube views.
Campaigns for a noble cause
Lionel describes his work on TikTok as a hobby and a balance in everyday life. Accordingly, it also takes a little less time on TikTok than Paula. However, he is still active on a regular basis and posts a video every day or every other day. He works full time at a software company. Everything he encounters during the day at work and in private life, he also loves to tackle it in his videos.
“My job makes me lucky to be able to choose which campaigns I go on,” Lionel said. He just wants to accept advertising campaigns for a good reason. For example, Wurstaufschnitt explained to his followers about HIV in a video.
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