Tik Tok: Why are black content creators hitting?

Since last June, the hashtag BlackTikTokStrike has been viewed over 6.5 million times on the app and has remained popular on social media platforms such as Twitter.

Black users have used the hashtag to express objections to what they say is preferential treatment to others.

Black creators say non-black influencers have made money and reaped financial and personal gains through views, but have failed to recognize or show respect for the work of original black content creators.

“Even in the spaces that we have managed to create for ourselves, (non-black) people are violently infiltrating them and occupying them with no regard for the engineers who built them,” said Eric Lewis, a content creator on TikTok. who helped organize the strike. The Washington Post.

“This app would be nothing without black people,” wrote Lewis, 21, in a video that went viral on Tik Tok.

He added that the strike is about recognizing the efforts of others and showing the respect they deserve.

Black designers aren’t the only ones who agree with this point of view; Rachel McKenzie, who is white, uses TikTok on a daily basis and supports the strike.

“Anyone who uses TikTok will tell you that black creators create the vast majority, if not all, of trendy dances,” she told the BBC.

“If you look at contemporary pop culture in its entirety, that’s another example of black culture selling content, white culture taking over,” she added.

“As a white woman, I think it’s important to talk to those who continue to disrespect or downplay similar topics,” she said.

The popularity of this content on Tik Tok has proven to have an impact beyond its popularity. Some Tik Tok users have earned millions from videos posted on this platform. The popular songs on the app have also had a huge impact on the music industry as it affected the popularity of popular songs and increased the artists’ profits by increasing the playback of their songs.

Although the strike started with rapper Megan’s last song The Stallion, the issue has already been highlighted.

In March, he hosted TikTok influencer Jimmy Fallon, who is white, Addison Ray. She has performed several famous dances created by black dancers that were not mentioned on the air.

One of the most watched dances is “Renegade” created by Galea Harmon, a 14 year old black TikTok user.

The dance spread after Ray performed the dance, and celebrities began to emulate him. While others have become the title of the dance, Galliah has struggled to get credit or compensation as TikTok pays for the views.

Ray made around $ 5 million from Tik Tok in 2020 just from watching the videos she reproduced, inspired by the dances Sood designed.

Although Galliah’s income remains unknown, one estimate indicates that in the same year, she earned around $ 38,000.

“I was excited and frustrated that they didn’t mention me or give me credit,” Galliah told Teen Vogue.

After the controversy, celebrities made efforts to gain recognition for Galliah. Fallon admitted his mistake and invited Galliah and several other black TikTok users to his show in April in an effort to make way for anonymous creators who created several popular dances.

Galleah appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, appeared in a music video, and appeared in a game for the Basketball Association.

However, many black TikTok creators still struggle to get the recognition they feel they deserve.

Tik Tok has since issued a statement outlining its commitment to diversity and inclusion.

“Over the past year, our teams have continued to work to encourage and support black voices and causes, while advocating for an inclusive environment on our platform and in our workplace,” the statement said.

The company said it is training its “employees to better understand more nuanced content such as plagiarism and cultural abuse” and is trying to give users “the tools that empower our local community.” But he did not directly address the strike.

Supporters of the Tik Tok strike say it’s not just about the app.

“Celebrities like the Kardashians and others are successfully exploiting attitudes and behaviors that persecute black content creators for adopting them,” MacKenzie said, calling for the need to tackle structural racism.

And she thinks there is a “clear reluctance” among some influencers on Tik Tok, to give credit to black creators as an example of “how comfortable many whites are in the equation of harnessing power. perverse”.

Supporters say they will continue the strike indefinitely, although that does not include abstaining from fully using the app.

While there is no clear indication that the strike was successful, it sparked discussion and impacted popular dances such as the Thot Shit.

“That has a lot to say,” Lewis told NBC. “We have similar experiences outside of TikTok. As black people we have a habit of treading, walking, protesting, we have to raise our voices and scream for our voices to be heard.”

He concluded his speech by saying, “Space is supposed to be safe, but even in these spaces we have to take a stand and protest.