Thread by @SymbolOfFlight, Tik Tok ~ Product Case Study Thread Add these into your own [...]

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SymbolOfFlight

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Tik Tok ~

Product Case Study Thread

Add these into your own platforms !!!

What makes TikTok special?

- Can’t they just be copied?
- What is their competitive moat?
- Do they even have one?

Tik Tok ~ Product Case Study Thread Add these into your own platforms !!!What makes TikTok special? - Can’t they just be copied?- What is their competitive moat?- Do they even have one?

Engagement on platforms are driven by two main factors
1. Creation
2. Curation

For content creation,
(1) Mobile Video Tooling,
(2) “Engineered” Creativity
(3) Absence of Creator Lock-in

For content curation,
(1) Interest network graph
(2) Intentional Noise removal.

Creation: Mobile Video Tooling
Instagram = Reduce Photo-sharing Complexity

Tik Tok has done the same thing to the video creation

Lessons:
(1) Design your tools for relevant form factors
(2) Always remove friction

Creation: “Engineered” Creativity
(1) Creating hashtags to encourage creators to create themed content
(b) Allowing for remixing of already popular content.

Result:
#hashtags + for you pages.

Lessons:
(1) Find ways to encourage and reward engagement

Creation: Absence of Creator Lock-in

The Creator Lock-in effect is one where users are recommended content predominantly based on who they follow.

(I just made this term up)

Consider Youtube & Netflix

Creation: Absence of Creator Lock-in

Netflix and YouTube can't risk showing you content you don't like.

They need to lock you in for 10 minutes to gauge your interest in a particular topic.

They use creators you already follow as an explicit proxy.

Tik Tok only needs <20sec

Creation: Absence of Creator Lock-in

Tik Tok is more incentivized to keep trying out different materials to keep you as a long-term user.

Lessons:
(1) [Rare] Use small feedback loops to teach your feeds

Curation: Interest graph

Two common graph types online

Curation: Interest graph

Tik Tok completely ignores the social graph. (So does Twitter to some extent)

Lessons:
(1) There are other niche graphs out there - Authority, Entertainment, Proximity
(2) Re-prioritising or Focusing on certain graphs can be very valuable

Curation: Intentional Noise removal

It is focused on ONE video meant to collect information on how you feel about this ONE particular post.

Curation: Intentional Noise removal

Take a look at Facebook. If I’m stuck on this particular page for a couple of seconds, what am I watching?

Lessons:
(1) Remove crud