Let’s talk about my niche:

TikTok is one of the fastest-growing social networks with lots of potential to make money online (Sigler, 2022). As most of the BCM team knows, I’m an exchange student from the Netherlands who is currently doing her study exchange in Wollongong, Australia. This is something I’ve been very passionate about and been manifesting since the beginning of my studies. I’ve been wanting to create my own TikTok channel and to post regularly but this has always been postponed. So, I’m very excited to finally start with my TikTok account for the BCM241 course. For my media niche, I’ve chosen the niche lifestyle with a focus on studying abroad. I am both a follower of others and (soon to be) creator of this niche media.

Although I’m passionate about lifestyle (study abroad) related media on Instagram and TikTok, I still chose TikTok as my medium. A recent study on TikTok stats shows that it has the best average session length (10.85 minutes) compared to other social media applications. 

TikTok is a social media app centered around short videos, ranging between five and 120 seconds in length. I personally like the use of TikTok currently more than Instagram since I feel that TikTok is more relaxed and joyful than Instagram, which I very appreciate. TikTok calls itself “the leading destination for short-form mobile videos” with a mission to “inspire creativity and bring joy.” 

TikTok has many personas in the lifestyle niche. There are TikTok creators such as @notselinayang, who focusses mostly on making food, storytelling and her lifestyle. TikTok creators such as @mooorganic, who focusses more on travel, study abroad and lifestyle. And there are also TikTok creators such as @pepperonimuffin, who uses TikTok more as a personal diary. Her videos are very raw, honest and random, which I personally very like to watch.

I personally love to watch TikTok about people’s lifestyle, more specifically the videos that are raw, honest, informative, and aesthetic. Videos where people talk about their honest opinion about studying abroad, tips for studying abroad, what’s on my mind and daily small vlogs.

I’m hoping to be able to create a TikTok channel which has a bit of both account I previously mentioned. I would find it incredible to be able to create a community who are like me. Maybe an soon to be exchange student, or maybe just someone with similar thoughts as me. Next to this I would like to discover how people interact on my TikTok videos. Will there be a lot of judgement or will it be very open minded and chill? Will people interact with my videos or rather just watch without interaction? What are trends or issues I can discover and/or discuss on my TikTok channel? Let’s find out and join my journey on @lifeofclau on TikTok!

References:

Sigler, S. (2022). The 10 Best TikTok Niches To Grow Faster (And Make Money.). [online] The Niche Guru. Available at: https://thenicheguru.com/niche-investigation/best-tiktok-niches/ [Accessed 5 Aug. 2022].

thesmallbusinessblog.net. (2022). TikTok vs Instagram – Users & Stats Compared for 2022 – The Small Business Blog. [online] Available at: https://thesmallbusinessblog.net/tiktok-vs-instagram/.

Sehl, K. (2019). What is TikTok, Who Uses it, and Should Brands Care About It? [online] Hootsuite Social Media Management. Available at: https://blog.hootsuite.com/what-is-tiktok/.

TikTok (2021). About | TikTok – Real Short Videos. [online] Tiktok.com. Available at: https://www.tiktok.com/about?lang=en.