In my previous post, I discussed how Tik Tok is one of the biggest social media platforms at the moment. Users and content creators are attracted to the platform for its easy outlet of creativity allowing for people to express themselves in various ways. However, not all that glitter is gold when users begin to feel silenced or limited when speaking about important issues like police brutality and much more. Furthermore, when the algorithm and for your page begins to feel like yet another thing ostracizing Black people and their advocacy for different issues.
After conducting research and looking deeper into the issue. I wanted to find a way to make my agent change something that reaches a larger audience so I thought that the best way for that to happen would be through a social media style ad campaign. So, on April 29, 2021, I launched black creators on tiktok an Instagram page targeted to share Black voices, stories, have deeper conversations and shed light on small black creators on Tik Tok. I was so excited to launch this page so I immediately got to work on the design and followed a weekly schedule. For the design of the website, I wanted something simple but aesthetically pleasing so I chose a periwinkle and white theme. This ended up turning out to be really great and I created all of my own original posts on Canva. For my posting schedule, I chose to post on Tuesday and Thursday because then I could upload the post during English class. So, I decided to get creative with the posting schedule making Tuesdays “Tune in Tuesdays” and Thursdays “Threaded Thursdays” where I would post my threads. “Tune in Tuesdays” would revolve around conversation and people sharing things they have learned from the week. My goal for the page was to make a positive change whether that be on a small or large scale to the Black creator’s experience on Tik Tok. I wanted to share my research with others and realized having this page was the best way. For me, this project was different because rather than just talking about these issues we were given the opportunity to take action to change them. I learned a lot about myself through this project like the fact that I really enjoy designing things and working on things over a long period of time rather than rushing something in a tight time frame. I am hoping to continue this project on my own time outside of class because I envision it going so far so I really want to continue my work with it. Although, I haven’t received the publicity that I wanted when I started this project I will keep working to get it to the platform it needs to be at. However, if I could pull one thing I wish I would’ve done it would have been following through with the choice to advertise the page on the advisory memo because I know many people have social media so maybe that would have helped with the issue of growing the platform.

annotated bibliography

This image displays the first post on @black_creatorsontiktok which is just a welcome message

This image displays the first Tune in Tuesday post on @black_creatorsontiktok which is about sharing something you learned

This image displays the page as a whole and how it looks.

Tik Tok is one of the biggest social media platforms at the moment. Users and content creators are attracted to the platform for its easy outlet of creativity allowing for people to express themselves in various ways. However, not all that glitter is gold when users begin to feel silenced or limited when speaking about important issues like police brutality and much more. Furthermore, when the algorithm and for you page begins to feel like yet another thing ostracizing Black people and their advocacy for different issues.
The Tik Tok algorithm is a significant factor in determining which videos get the most attention and likes. However, the algorithm has not been equitable and fair for all on the platform. Black creators have been very reliant on TikTok out of all social media platforms because news travels like wildfire and it would allow the Black Lives Matter movement to grow and gain publicity and support. Additionally, I learned that black creators had no one to blame but TikTok’s “Community Guidelines”. The Community Guidelines were very strict in the summer as everything with the Black Lives Matter movement was progressing more than ever. The Community Guidelines were so strict that they filtered through creators’ videos judging the nature of the video. Things like hateful ideology and behavior, slurs, weapons, drugs, dangers to children, frauds, and scams were all sifted through and analyzed through videos. While these things are very important to sift though they are not the center of discussion. It is frustrating to creators, specifically Black creators when their videos are taken down even though they are not violating guidelines. Many people made it a point to point out that there are major and visible inconsistencies in the Tik Tok algorithm. Being heavily user reliant doesn’t help even out the playing field of which videos ultimately make it to the for you page. Additionally, Black Lives Matter is a very social media-based campaign and movement so when you limit the potential of important videos about these topics on people’s pages you are also limiting the potential of how much attention these important topics get. After being called out, Tik Tok quickly issued an apology for making the Black community feel invalidated or silenced. They explained that it seems to be caused by a technical glitch in the software however, people were still not buying it because why we’re the only hashtags targeted about the Black Lives Matter movement?.

*Photo #1; This is a picture pulled from the Tik Tok website of the Community Guidelines and all of the categories that determine if a video is allowed to stay up or not.

*Photo #2; This is a picture pulled from the Tik Tok website displaying an apology issued by Tik Tok to the Black community.

Photo 3; This is a photo of a statement uploaded by Tik Tok to their account from CEO Kevin Mayer

Overall, although Tik Tok issued an apology and statement to the Black community people are asking Tik Tok to take steps and measures in ensuring an equal playing field for all videos on the For You Page.

Gabby, Sebina, Jazz and Fatima In this episode, we hosted an award show where we presented characters from Girl In Translation with awards like most wholesome and genuine, most likely to not follow directions, most hardworking, most caring, most jealous, biggest loser, and most indecisive.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XkVn1ZHO7BkWHhGNIvfJIQjEu524H1XS/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zskt4Bs18ej-yjCuPOFoOqghX3PFMlSS/view?usp=sharing

Sebina, Jazz, Gabby and Fatima

In my vignette, I wanted to capture the main ideas and values of my religion and how those values have shaped my identity and who I am today. I have realized from my experience with the salad that some people are willing to learn new things about the world around them, but the resources to do so haven’t always been available to them. Additionally, if the salad taught me one thing, it would have to be to appreciate the little blessings and pockets of peace that make up our everyday lives. Being Muslim is something that I never realized the weight of on my identity and who I am. I have realized though that this little small moment from my busy everyday life has taught me values that I can’t help but share with others. It is always important to look at the bigger picture and not take small things for granted, especially opportunities for more growth and knowledge. I decided to pick a few things from Noah’s memoir and I decided to write about an encounter that I didn’t realize the worth of until after it like he has with his experience with the camera. Noah used a lot of humor in his memoir which I didn’t think was the way I wanted it to go however I did include a lot of my thoughts and reactions at different points as he did when he wrote about his experiences.

I created a soundtrack for the events in Far from the Tree.

Many can say that quarantine has been hard, and we have all been forced out from the busy nature of our daily lives. However, I can say that quarantine has humbled me, grounded me and allowed me to realize that there are many pockets of peace in our daily lives, but it is up to us to appreciate them and hold onto them for as long as possible. Furthermore, quarantine has allowed me to learn a lot about life that I wouldn’t know if this pandemic didn’t happen. For instance, I have learned that sometimes you have to put others before yourself and this speaks true to me because I understand that some people have higher risks and that I shouldn’t be irresponsible and selfish. Sometimes, when I think about my experience before the pandemic I realize that sometimes good things and blessing come in disguise and that although the pandemic is a horrific thing it has changed me for the better. Making me more open minded, selfless and hard working in order to navigate the new world that has been presented to us.

Many can say that quarantine has been hard, and we have all been forced out from the busy nature of our daily lives. However, I can say that quarantine has humbled me, grounded me and allowed me to realize that there are many pockets of peace in our daily lives, but it is up to us to appreciate them and hold onto them for as long as possible. Furthermore, quarantine has allowed me to learn a lot about life that I wouldn’t know if this pandemic didn’t happen. For instance, I have learned that sometimes you have to put others before yourself and this speaks true to me because I understand that some people have higher risks and that I shouldn’t be irresponsible and selfish. Sometimes, when I think about my experience before the pandemic I realize that sometimes good things and blessing come in disguise and that although the pandemic is a horrific thing it has changed me for the better. Making me more open minded, selfless and hard working in order to navigate the new world that has been presented to us.

Many can say that quarantine has been hard, and we have all been forced out from the busy nature of our daily lives. However, I can say that quarantine has humbled me, grounded me and allowed me to realize that there are many pockets of peace in our daily lives, but it is up to us to appreciate them and hold onto them for as long as possible. Furthermore, quarantine has allowed me to learn a lot about life that I wouldn’t know if this pandemic didn’t happen. For instance, I have learned that sometimes you have to put others before yourself and this speaks true to me because I understand that some people have higher risks and that I shouldn’t be irresponsible and selfish. Sometimes, when I think about my experience before the pandemic I realize that sometimes good things and blessing come in disguise and that although the pandemic is a horrific thing it has changed me for the better. Making me more open minded, selfless and hard working in order to navigate the new world that has been presented to us.

Many can say that quarantine has been hard, and we have all been forced out from the busy nature of our daily lives. However, I can say that quarantine has humbled me, grounded me and allowed me to realize that there are many pockets of peace in our daily lives, but it is up to us to appreciate them and hold onto them for as long as possible. Furthermore, quarantine has allowed me to learn a lot about life that I wouldn’t know if this pandemic didn’t happen. For instance, I have learned that sometimes you have to put others before yourself and this speaks true to me because I understand that some people have higher risks and that I shouldn’t be irresponsible and selfish. Sometimes, when I think about my experience before the pandemic I realize that sometimes good things and blessing come in disguise and that although the pandemic is a horrific thing it has changed me for the better. Making me more open minded, selfless and hard working in order to navigate the new world that has been presented to us.

Many can say that quarantine has been hard, and we have all been forced out from the busy nature of our daily lives. However, I can say that quarantine has humbled me, grounded me and allowed me to realize that there are many pockets of peace in our daily lives, but it is up to us to appreciate them and hold onto them for as long as possible. Furthermore, quarantine has allowed me to learn a lot about life that I wouldn’t know if this pandemic didn’t happen. For instance, I have learned that sometimes you have to put others before yourself and this speaks true to me because I understand that some people have higher risks and that I shouldn’t be irresponsible and selfish. Sometimes, when I think about my experience before the pandemic I realize that sometimes good things and blessing come in disguise and that although the pandemic is a horrific thing it has changed me for the better. Making me more open minded, selfless and hard working in order to navigate the new world that has been presented to us.