The short video app TikTok reaches millions of people and has a particularly large number of young users. TikTok is all about fun, sharing and creativity. For some TikTokers, it’s all about making money with the app.
TikToker would like to get their videos on the “For You Page” so that as many people as possible can see their clips. This can get them lots of new followers, so a wider reach. Many TikTok stars have become famous overnight this way. This makes them attractive to companies that use them as influencers for advertising.
High-reach companies pay TikToker to promote a brand or product. These collaborations must be clearly marked as advertising. Companies are increasingly relying on so-called micro-influencers, which means that even users with just a few hundred followers may receive requests for cooperation.
In livestreams, viewers can give gifts to influencers. These virtual items, such as a panda emoji, must be purchased beforehand: Users buy coins with real money, which can be exchanged for gifts. Influencers, in turn, can exchange the gifts they receive back into cash and cash out. A part always remains with TikTok and they earn with it.
Why supporting your favorite influencer can be really expensive for fans and how you can protect your child from this can be read in our article Social Media Influencers and the Dear Money.
This is an agreement between a TikToker or TikTokeress and a company. He or she links an online store on his or her own profile and receives a commission for each item sold through the link. This must be made recognizable as advertising.
Many influencers sell items decorated with their own design or creative sayings. To do this, they work with service providers who take care of printing and sales. The influencer receives an agreed amount per item sold.
Opportunities to earn money on TikTok are many and getting started is often straightforward. Children and young people in particular see the TikTok stars as role models and want to be like them.
To stay relevant to audiences and businesses, TikTokers need to post interesting images and videos regularly – preferably several times a day. Competition is fierce and trends on TikTok are fast moving. This can create pressure to perform and stress , which children and adolescents in particular are not yet able to handle well. Family life and school performance can also suffer.
TikTokers especially want to gain a lot of attention with videos of dangerous challenges or by portraying themselves in a provocative or sexualized way. To get more gifts that can be converted into money during a livestream, quid pro quos are often offered. This can be greetings by name but also the cell phone number or a private picture to people who are strangers. Here it is especially important that you protect your child from cybergrooming. Discuss these risks calmly with your child. If he/she would like to post his/her own videos and expresses the desire to earn money as a TikToker, consider together whether and how this is compatible with school and other hobbies and under what conditions he/she will get your permission. In addition, your child has limited legal capacity until he or she reaches the age of majority and also needs your consent to have an account on TikTok.
You can read more tips about this in our post Children’s Influencers and Family Channels.
