How TikTok is capitalising on its own 15 seconds of fame

"We want to inspire creativity and create joy." That's what it's all about at TikTok, according to Shant Oknayan, general manager for the Middle East, Turkey, Africa and Pakistan region at the social media platform's parent company ByteDance. As the wildly popular short-form video sharing app grows, Mr Oknayan tells The National it has no plans to grow up. The joyful content its users generate is big business for advertisers. He says influencers have a major role to play for companies looking to sell products, and audiences are growing rapidly here in the Middle East. Top TikTok influencers in the GCC increased their follower count by an average of 65 per cent between February and August 2020, according to data analytics company Anavizio. Mr Oknayan also answers questions about how the platform is moving on from lockdown, how TikTok seeks to differentiate itself from other social media companies and how user privacy and disinformation is addressed. In this episode: TikTok's journey (0m 35s) Why is TikTok different? (3m 12s) How are advertisers using TikTok? (5m 05s) TikTok and content moderation (12m 01s) The evolution of TikTok (14m 38s) Read more on our website: • Risky behaviour rapped as Gen FinTok gets caught up in investment mania • How to use Instagram Reels: new feature has launched in the Middle East • Tesla founder Musk denies technology in company's cars would be used for spying • Veronica Etro on the future of fashion: 'Now it's about doing less, but doing it better' Subscribe to Business Extra for free to receive new episodes every week Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Audioboom | Spotify | RSS