My Social (Media) Experiment
It finally happened. After a little whining and a lot of spiritual reckoning, I made a TikTok.
Not because I wanted to. But because I got tired of being told I was stupid not to give it a go for marketing purposes.
And I started to believe them.
I was not at all looking forward to this. In fact, I had put it off as long as I possibly could. So, I attempted to frame it in a way that would motivate and excite me: a look at humanity. A social experiment.
This was a month ago. The experiment is over and done with. Here is what I learned.
There were a few technical things that became glaringly obvious the moment I began my TikTok reckoning.
I am not Gen Z. By this I mean: I’ve used Instagram since the iPhone was born, and it still took me some serious time to make that first video… figuring out the settings and editing options and the like. This is how our parents must have felt about the Internet. (Or still feel.)
The algorithm is a black hole. It does not favor users with no following no matter how well-timed your post, how relevant or absurd your content, how much you engage with others, or how viral that one stupid song might be. The 200 view prison is real, and I am one of many still behind bars.
All jokes and bitterness aside, TikTok is actually a really cool app. Its video editing capabilities are far greater than say, reels, and I totally understand why much of short form/UGC video content is now housed there.
Now — more notably — here are the human things I learned.
I just left my computer to pay a visit to my phone in the other room and check how my latest post was doing. It took an hour to make and it’s doing badly. I refreshed the page a few times to see if anything would change. If I had no attention span before, I have absolutely nothing going for me now.
Content doesn’t necessarily have to be good for it to perform well. It just has to look good. Or you have to look good doing it.
2a. My job does not bode well in this regard. I aim to give clients niche, personalized destination tips that suit them as individuals — not try the same viral spot that everyone else has.
2b. If I see one more Fabel Friet video I’m going to lose my fucking mind.
I currently have 74 followers. I’m pretty sure that even if I was sharing the most groundbreaking travel tips known to man every single day, I would still not be converting leads to clients as fast as I’d like. No one trusts a girl with no followers. — Regina George, probably
While the travel content market is absolutely oversaturated, there really is room on social media for everybody. I feel like at least 75% of the people that pop up on my FYP have a video with tens of thousands of views.
4a. Imposter syndrome is not the term I’d use to describe my reluctance to use this app, but rather the sense that there’s too much of the same kind of content to get noticed.
4b. While my work is different from others in that I am actually promoting services and not just posting pretty videos, it’s still a matter of communicating this effectively. Working on it.
No one cares about you — in a good way. No one is judging you as much as you might think. It’s all in your head. You’re the one being judgemental.
5a. I was worried that having a travel-centric TikTok would make me appear to others in a way that I don’t align with. But no one cares. Barely anyone is even watching.
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I said at the beginning of this post that the social experiment is over and done with — but that was a lie. Maybe wishful thinking. I’m going to keep using the app, after all. I’d feel defeated if I stopped now.
What is winning? Just a few client leads. Similar to what I’ve always said about being an actor: I don’t want to be famous. And I certainly don’t need to go viral.
So what’s next? Another experiment, another goal: reach 1,000 followers so I am blessed with the ability to add a link to my bio. Something that would undoubtedly help with growing a business, no?
We’ll see.
ONWARDS,
Mag
Oh, and follow me.
