Is ‘Google it’ its days numbered? Understand why young people prefer TikTok when doing research

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Short videos, no advertising in between and the authenticity of the content mean that young people and teenagers go first to the ‘ex-rede das dances’ to ask general questions. Young people are switching from Google to TikTok when searching “Anything I want to know, I don’t open Google. I search on TikTok and there are always answers about specific things.” This is the experience of pedagogy student Elisa Bestetti, 25, using TikTok as a search engine. But she is not alone. On her profile on the platform, Elisa posted a video with the title “Is TikTok the new Google?” which addresses this topic. In the comments, many agree and report their experiences. “I also always search here first 😂,” one person replied. “I learned college stuff through TikTok LOL,” said another. “The best thing is when you have a question watching a video and the answer is in the search bar,” replied one user. This happens because the social network recommends other related videos in the “Search” tab within the comments field. Experts interviewed by g1 say that this trend, in fact, exists, and the way in which TikTok displays responses explains this behavior (understand below). g1 spoke to three young people who listed some reasons why they chose the “former dance network🕺” to look for things: 🔎 even if the topic is very specific, the interviewees say that it is easier to find information or curiosity on TikTok ; 🗣️ They say that there is always an expert/professional on a certain subject who produces and shares various tips. The consistency of the content on the profile is safer, according to them (still, you need to know this creator well to avoid falling for fake news); ✅ authenticity: young people claim that there are always real people who visit places and test real products and, on some occasions, give honest analyses; 🤚 unlike YouTube, some users say they prefer TikTok for research because the videos are short and have no advertising in the middle; 🔗For Lu Cunha, who is a literature teacher at Objective, “Google is very good but, depending on what you are looking for, it presents many pages on that subject and then it is difficult for you to select exactly the one that will suit you”. “On TikTok, there is always someone giving tips and teaching other people. Sometimes, it’s simple things, like: ‘how to remove pen stains from clothes without ruining them'”, says Elisa Bestetti, to g1. Dentist Ana Luiza Rocha, 23 years old, classifies the platform’s search as “surreal”. She says that, by inserting a few words, without needing the general context of the subject, the social network can deliver what she wants to know. “If I want to find a manicurist in my city, on Google and Instagram, only beauty salons will appear. On TikTok, any manicurist who uses the location I’m searching for and puts #nails, her video will appear and I can see the work and even the history of this professional”, says Ana Luiza. Pedagogy assistant Larissa Figueiredo, 19, tells g1 that she started using TikTok as Google shortly after the Covid-19 pandemic and never stopped. “Whenever I want to know people’s opinions about a brand, a food recipe I don’t know, tips to make life easier or even questions about beauty, I search there first,” she says. When contacted, ByteDance, owner of TikTok, did not give many details of the technology behind the social network’s search. “I don’t believe it’s a question of the algorithm,” Daniela Okuma, general business director at TikTok in Brazil, tells g1. “What happens is that, in general, TikTok differentiates itself by the authenticity and creativity of its content. In relation to the search tool, when a person does a search, they will find authentic videos that will be useful to them”, he adds. And what about problematic content? 🔎 Whether on social networks or even search engines, such as Google and Bing, the user cannot believe everything that is shown there, warns Kelli Angelini, lawyer specialized in digital education and author of the book “Secrets of the internet that children and teenagers They don’t know yet.” “Many videos are cool and really help, as Elisa Bestetti herself shows in her publication, but there is a large amount of content that is untrue, we have fake news and problematic things”, says the expert. “Of course, I don’t always find it very reliable to search there. Compared to Google, I think it’s easier for someone with bad intentions to pass on wrong information. Even so, the answers on TikTok, when true, are more detailed and more enlightening than on Google”, believes Larissa Figueiredo. Recently, the TIC Kids Online Brasil 2023 survey revealed that 40% of children and adolescents aged 11 to 17 say they agree that the first result of an internet search is always the best source of information. For Kelli Angelini, the research shows the importance of working on source checking and the critical sense of this public. “The platforms don’t seriously check this content,” she adds. Lu Cunha sees no problem in using social media to study and she believes that the platforms speed up information. But he warns: “We have to accept these new methods. But the student has to observe the source. Take the name of the person who is teaching something and research to see if they are an expert. Another option, even better, is to look for the teacher from the school to check whether what is presented is appropriate.” In its help center, TikTok explains that it “removes content or accounts that violate its guidelines before it is viewed or shared by others. Content first goes through technology that analyzes it according to our guidelines. If it is identified as a potential violation, it will be automatically removed or flagged for further review by our trust and safety team.” Google (even Instagram) admit that ‘neighbor network’ is a threat ⚠️ Alphabet (owner of Google) and even Meta, owner of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, know that TikTok is a tough competitor. “People have a lot of choices about how they want to spend their time, and apps like TikTok are growing very quickly. And that’s why our focus on Instagram Reels is so important in the long term,” said Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Target, in 2022. Reels allows you to record short videos with special effects and soundtracks. The editing format is very similar to TikTok. At a technology conference also last year, Google’s senior vice president, Prabhakar Raghavan, commented on this movement, according to The New York Times. “In our internal studies, something like almost 40% of young people, when they’re looking for a place to eat lunch, they don’t go to Google Maps or Search. They go to TikTok or Instagram,” Raghavan said. Arthur Igreja, a technology and innovation specialist, believes that TikTok is a threat to Google. According to him, social networks have advanced in this space that until then was only for search engines. While this “search engine migration” among younger people is taking place, Google has been improving its search with artificial intelligence. Still in a testing environment, the giant began releasing in Brazil the feature that makes the search display answers in text (not just links), created with AI. “YouTube has also become an important tool in discovery and measurement. Now, we’re seeing this shift on Instagram and, in particular, on TikTok,” he says. But it’s not just social media, remembers the expert. “For example, in the case of the United States, for some years now, the Amazon website has surpassed Google in the search not only for products, but for comparing prices and analyzing the characteristics of products based on reviews from those who already bought”, says Igreja. READ ALSO: Social media addicts sue ‘technology giants’ in the US What does a data engineer do? Profession has a high salary and is expected to boom in 2024 Can anyone who posts memes with photos of third parties be sued? 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