{"id":11378,"date":"2019-11-01T14:23:52","date_gmt":"2019-11-01T13:23:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rnw.media\/?post_type=news&p=11378"},"modified":"2019-11-01T14:23:52","modified_gmt":"2019-11-01T13:23:52","slug":"the-power-of-tiktok-in-china","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.rnw.media\/index.php\/news\/the-power-of-tiktok-in-china\/","title":{"rendered":"The power of TikTok in China"},"content":{"rendered":"

Working with digital media can throw up unexpected results as the algorithms and policies of different online channels have their own way of affecting what content reaches what audience. This was borne out when a recent Justice4Her video shot to more than one million views on the TikTok platform. The video was one of 10 following-up an online event focusing on domestic violence, marital property and divorce. And the topic that caught followers\u2019 attention was the tricky issue of who gets custody of the family pet when a couple break up. It was about the dog, the cat and the parakeet. Or was it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Justice4Her is an RNW Media platform in China, co-funded by EuropeAid. The cross-sector, multi-stakeholder project aims to strengthen the rule of law to reduce gender-based violence against women, especially young women migrant workers. Diverse online channels and offline activities aim to raise awareness of the issues, inform this vulnerable group of women of their rights, amplify their voices and support their access to justice. Among the activities, Justice4Her is organising a series of online media events \u2013 hour-long live discussions with invited experts who discuss GBV related topics and answer questions from users.<\/p>\n

Major player
\n<\/strong>These events are broadcast via the Chinese social media platforms WeiBo and TikTok. Justice4Her has long been active on Weibo – well-established as one of China\u2019s biggest social media platforms – and has recently launched a TikTok channel. The short-video platform, known as \u201cDouyin\u201d in China, has rapidly become a major player in the Chinese social media ecosystem. With over 500 million monthly active users, TikTok is currently China\u2019s most downloaded video-streaming app.<\/p>\n

Custody of pets
\n<\/strong>September\u2019s event featured a discussion with Jia Xinyan, a specialist on family law. She talked about the marital property dispute cases she had been involved in and answered questions live from viewers. The event was ranked 13 out of the 50 most popular livestreams in the Shanghai area and attracted 384,000 views and 3,768 engagements on Weibo and TikTok. After the event, ten 60-second clips from the livestreaming video were distributed via TikTok. One of those clips was \u2018Custody of pets after divorce\u2019 which rapidly shot to more than one million views and generated 1,461 comments, and 2,461 reposts. Justice4Her also saw its followers on TikTok almost treble in number (from 1,500 to 4,073).<\/p>\n

The viral video<\/em><\/p>\n