Students are out of school, businesses are closed, and millions are stuck at home amid the coronavirus pandemic. One app many people are turning to for entertainment is TikTok, so a viral campaign is trying to remind the platform's many young users "there are still plenty of good times to be had."
Truth, the youth smoking prevention campaign, kicked off a TikTok challenge called #WerkItFromHome where users are encouraged to strut their stuff to RuPaul's hit song, Supermodel. Ariana Lee, who has over eight million followers on the platform, told Cheddar Thursday that the campaign is a creative way to tell people to stay at home.
“I took part because I feel like it’s a great way to encourage young people to stay home,” Lee said. “I think it shows how creative people can be.”
The short-form video platform has become widely popular with Generation Z and Lee said it resonates with so many users because of its similarity to Vine, which officially closed in 2017. “I guess it’s like a longer form of Vine and Vine was really popular, so I feel like short-formed videos are really appealing to my generation.”
When it came to creating her TikTok video for the #WerkItFromHome challenge Lee described how her contribution for the challenge came about. “It took a little bit of planning,” she said. “But it kind of happened naturally.”
The TikTok star said that the extra time at home recently has also allowed her to connect with her fans, and with more users on the platform, more ideas are being shared and trends have been created.
“I think there are more ideas because there are more people posting, and TikTok, you go off one another and you make your own video off that so there are more trends,” she said.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said Thursday that the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. in the current fiscal quarter will be sourced from India, while iPads and other devices will come from Vietnam as the company works to avoid the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on its business. Apple’s earnings for the first three months of the year topped Wall Street’s expectations thanks to high demand for its iPhones, and the company said tariffs had a limited effect on the fiscal second quarter’s results. Cook added that for the current quarter, assuming things don’t change, Apple expects to see $900 million added to its costs as a result of the tariffs.
Visa is hoping to hand your credit card to an artificial intelligence “agent” that can find and buy clothes, groceries, airplane tickets and other items on your behalf.
Skift Editor-In-Chief Sarah Kopit discusses how summer travel plans remain uncertain for most as many international travelers are leery to travel abroad. Watch!
Seth Schachner, Managing Director at Strat Americas, on Hollywood's latest blockbusters utilizing content creation. Plus, the future of YouTube and TikTok.
Ashley Gold, Axios' Tech/Policy reporter, discusses what the future of Google and search engines will look like after the tech giant faces an antitrust trial.
