When I first told my associates that I wanted to open a TikTok  account of agency Represent Communications, I got a lot of strange looks, to put it mildly. It started with the question: “Why do we need an account on TikTok, the platform used by kids only?”, and even: “It’s a bit ridiculous for us to be on TikTok.” Fair enough, I get it.

Many of you know that I have two daughters, and their main interests are mobile phones and basketball. They belong to the famous Generation Z, born and raised with modern technologies, unlike us who get surprised with novelties and wonders of technology on a daily basis and learn constantly. My Lola and Nina, aged nine and thirteen, already edit films, manage social media, create computer programmes and almost certainly succeed in hiding something they’ve shared with friends on those same SoMe platforms from my wife and me.

Generation Z is an “on demand“ generation, and that’s something I’ve heard a lot about from Nikola Guberinić at the opening of the Content Academy in Belgrade. More than 60% members of our children’s generation use multiple devices simultaneously and more than 60% of them don’t want to use apps or visit websites that are simple to navigate. Furthermore, the same rate of them will not go to a site that was slow to open the first time they tried to visit it. And nearly 90% have an extremely fast Internet at home.

And if you think that they don’t make decisions, I beg to differ: Generation Z has a major impact on a household budget. They mainly have a say in purchasing food and drinks, travel and, believe it or not – furniture.

And what is it that they find interesting, which Internet locations and apps do they use?

For days now, I’ve been watching my Lola making videos for TikTok, a SoMe platform based on video content between 15 and 60 seconds long, created by its users. They can create any content they want – choose a music background, record various scenes, then make transitions and add effects and filters… A good thing is that at any moment a user can see what’s been recorded, so any changes are possible before clicking the “Share” option, when the created animation get posted on a profile.

What’s interesting about this platform is that all content is public by default – however, users can lock their profiles and/or ban the option of listing them in search results of users that don’t follow them. Nevertheless, the point is to collect as many followers as possible, so there are virtually no profiles which are locked.

The app was created in China, but it’s used in that market as Douyin. TikTok and Douyin are identical; the only difference is that they are located on different servers, due to China’s restrictions and censorship related to social media.

In 2018, TikTok was the most downloaded app in the USA. Then the rest of the world followed suit, including Serbia and 174 other markets, where the app is available in as many as 75 languages.

It’s indisputable that TikTok develops creativity and imagination and entertains its users. You can quickly create very appealing content, and if you don’t want to use it on this platform, you can share it on others – Facebook, Instagram, etc.

Several global experts have been wondering about something interesting – will TikTok have the same fate as Snapchat, which is used today only for entertaining photos shared on other SoMe platforms? There are not many active Snapchat users. We don’t know – we’ll find t in the years to come.

As for me, this is quite enough to research what it is all about. Because of my profession, I believe that’s important to follow all trends, and since I am a parent, it’s important for me to understand this generation. And I think that it should be important for everyone in any business “selling” something to understand Generation Z better.

Therefore, my reason for us to be on TikTok is not an urge for the agency to be on another platform, but a wish for us as a system to be where Generation Z is. They already a household budget, and in five to ten years they’ll have their own, making decisions about how to spend money. Furthermore, they know much more about the digital world than we, born in the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s do.

As the founder of the Represent System, specialised in integrated communications, and someone who helped clients with Facebook communication when no else did, and who invested a lot of resources in The Content Studio, with 20 people currently working in it, I have to understand what will be happening in the world of communications not today, but in five years. Especially if that world is going to be ruled by my daughters’ generation.

So, let me proudly present to you the first agency-owned TikTok account in Serbia. I am open for any further discussion, both as a digital professional and as a father.