{"id":25438,"date":"2022-07-18T11:26:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-18T18:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/?post_type=films&#038;p=25438"},"modified":"2025-08-01T09:39:05","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T16:39:05","slug":"tiktok-boom","status":"publish","type":"films","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/tiktok-boom\/","title":{"rendered":"TikTok, Boom."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;What does it mean to be a digital native? TikTok, Boom. dissects the platform along myriad cross-sections\u2014algorithmic, socio-political, economic, and cultural\u2014to explore the impact of the history-making app. Balancing a genuine interest in the community and its innovative mechanics with a healthy skepticism, delve into the security issues, global political challenges, and racial biases behind the platform. Featuring Gen Z influencers like Feroza Aziz, Spencer X, Deja Foxx, and Merrick Hanna.&quot;}\" data-sheets-userformat=\"{&quot;2&quot;:11069,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;5&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:[{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0,&quot;5&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0}},{&quot;1&quot;:0,&quot;2&quot;:0,&quot;3&quot;:3},{&quot;1&quot;:1,&quot;2&quot;:0,&quot;4&quot;:1}]},&quot;6&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:[{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0,&quot;5&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0}},{&quot;1&quot;:0,&quot;2&quot;:0,&quot;3&quot;:3},{&quot;1&quot;:1,&quot;2&quot;:0,&quot;4&quot;:1}]},&quot;7&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:[{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0,&quot;5&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0}},{&quot;1&quot;:0,&quot;2&quot;:0,&quot;3&quot;:3},{&quot;1&quot;:1,&quot;2&quot;:0,&quot;4&quot;:1}]},&quot;8&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:[{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0,&quot;5&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0}},{&quot;1&quot;:0,&quot;2&quot;:0,&quot;3&quot;:3},{&quot;1&quot;:1,&quot;2&quot;:0,&quot;4&quot;:1}]},&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;16&quot;:11}\">What does it mean to be a digital native? <em>TikTok, Boom.<\/em> dissects the platform along myriad cross-sections\u2014algorithmic, socio-political, economic, and cultural\u2014to explore the impact of the history-making app. Balancing a genuine interest in the community and its innovative mechanics with a healthy skepticism, delve into the security issues, global political challenges, and racial biases behind the platform. Featuring Gen Z influencers like Feroza Aziz, Spencer X, Deja Foxx, and Merrick Hanna.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What does it mean to be a digital native? TikTok, Boom. dissects the platform along myriad cross-sections\u2014algorithmic, socio-political, economic, and cultural\u2014to explore the impact of the history-making app. Balancing a genuine interest in the community and its innovative mechanics with a healthy skepticism, delve into the security issues, global political challenges, and racial biases behind [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":25710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"topic":[1239,2125,1293],"class_list":["post-25438","films","type-films","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","topic-identity","topic-technology","topic-youth-and-family"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>TikTok, Boom. | Gen Z Influencers Explain Social Media Platform TikTok for You<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From Gen Z innovation and community to censorship and racism, how TikTok is the world&#039;s most popular and complex social media platform.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/tiktok-boom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TikTok, Boom. | Gen Z Influencers Explain Social Media Platform TikTok for You\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From Gen Z innovation and community to censorship and racism, how TikTok is the world&#039;s most popular and complex social media platform.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/tiktok-boom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Independent Lens\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-01T16:39:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/TIKTOKBOOM_3e_Screenshot_20_1080x1080.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/tiktok-boom\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/tiktok-boom\/\",\"name\":\"TikTok, Boom. | Gen Z Influencers Explain Social Media Platform TikTok for You\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/tiktok-boom\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/tiktok-boom\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/TIKTOKBOOM_3e_Screenshot_20_1080x1080.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-18T18:26:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-01T16:39:05+00:00\",\"description\":\"From Gen Z innovation and community to censorship and racism, how TikTok is the world's most popular and complex social media platform.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/tiktok-boom\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/tiktok-boom\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/tiktok-boom\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/TIKTOKBOOM_3e_Screenshot_20_1080x1080.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/TIKTOKBOOM_3e_Screenshot_20_1080x1080.jpeg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"Young woman looks at her phone while in her bedroom with pink walls, surrounded by photographs and magazine cut outs.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/tiktok-boom\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"TikTok, Boom.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/\",\"name\":\"Independent Lens\",\"description\":\"Independent Documentary Films\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"TikTok, Boom. | Gen Z Influencers Explain Social Media Platform TikTok for You","description":"From Gen Z innovation and community to censorship and racism, how TikTok is the world's most popular and complex social media platform.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/tiktok-boom\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"TikTok, Boom. | Gen Z Influencers Explain Social Media Platform TikTok for You","og_description":"From Gen Z innovation and community to censorship and racism, how TikTok is the world's most popular and complex social media platform.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/tiktok-boom\/","og_site_name":"Independent Lens","article_modified_time":"2025-08-01T16:39:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/TIKTOKBOOM_3e_Screenshot_20_1080x1080.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/tiktok-boom\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/tiktok-boom\/","name":"TikTok, Boom. | Gen Z Influencers Explain Social Media Platform TikTok for You","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/tiktok-boom\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/tiktok-boom\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/TIKTOKBOOM_3e_Screenshot_20_1080x1080.jpeg","datePublished":"2022-07-18T18:26:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-01T16:39:05+00:00","description":"From Gen Z innovation and community to censorship and racism, how TikTok is the world's most popular and complex social media platform.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/tiktok-boom\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/tiktok-boom\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/tiktok-boom\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/TIKTOKBOOM_3e_Screenshot_20_1080x1080.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/TIKTOKBOOM_3e_Screenshot_20_1080x1080.jpeg","width":1080,"height":1080,"caption":"Young woman looks at her phone while in her bedroom with pink walls, surrounded by photographs and magazine cut outs."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/tiktok-boom\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"TikTok, Boom."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/","name":"Independent Lens","description":"Independent Documentary Films","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/films\/25438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/films"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/films"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25438"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/films\/25438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31981,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/films\/25438\/revisions\/31981"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=25438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}