So, I was in no hurry to join Tik Tok. I rebelled for the longest time.
So, I was in no hurry to join Tik Tok. I rebelled for the longest time.
@johnraymondbarker #duet with @Keisha P. #Duet #harmonizing with a #gorgeousvoice and lovely #acousticguitar #twopartharmony #landslide #fleetwoodmac ♬ original sound - Marco
I kept hearing good things about Tik Tok. It seemed to be a new tool for activism and people seemed to enjoy all of the silly creativity. It pissed Donald Trump off. I still resisted. I had been so burned by the antics of a couple of other video platforms, I didn’t have any desire to create another. But being in the middle of a pandemic with a silly impersonation I wanted to show someone and an idea for a repeating video I never created before Vine withered, I gave it a go. No pressure. No rules. No expectations. Just some silly things for the heck of it.
No pressure. No rules. No expectations. Just some silly things for the heck of it.
I create original content (something that isn’t exactly the goal of this platform), plus I am slightly curious about how to make films in portrait mode work. Additionally, I had some feedback that I might gain a larger audience for Snowmatica if I broke it up to highlight it on Tik Tok and other places, so I converted some of the numbers, including the parodies of “Shallow”, “Born This Way”, “Million Reasons”, and the medley of “Bad Romance”/ “Poker Face”/ “Paparazzi”.
I discovered that any music I have released is available on Tik Tok as sounds that users can use in their videos. It is a fun way to reach new listeners and expand my revenue stream. Thus, I created a lyric video for one of my holiday songs with plans to make more videos over the years for my debut album, Our First Christmas Together.
Despite all of this, I still felt ambivalent about using Tik Tok. In fact, its algorithm is not subtle in goals that have little to do with quality of video and much more to do with marketability. One of the reasons I have not thrived on social media platforms is that I do not care to focus on the tactics encouraged by each platform. I like to mix up the types of material I do, and I will not be asking my audience to “smash that subscribe and like button”. If I happen to pick up some tips, I’ll use them. But I can not make that the focus at this time. I just want to enjoy making videos that are fun for me to create. Thus, some of my favorite videos on Tik Tok have hardly any views. Oh well. What got me excited about Tik Tok is the collaborative aspects of it. To be able to do acting scenes, lip synchs, or singing duets. I sometimes will just harmonize with someone’s video or there are videos that focus on your voice over skills, and that is joyful for me.
@johnraymondbarker #duet with @therealalexandrabillings ♬ original sound - Alexandra Billings
@johnraymondbarker #duet with @shelbyhyoung what a brilliantly, talented actor on this channel. #duetacting #duet #duetactingchallenge ♬ original sound - Shelby Young
@johnraymondbarker #duet with @chrisgreenfieldva #villains #voiceover #characteractor #animationvoiceoverchallenge ♬ original sound - Chris Greenfield
Fun Thing
I adore and deeply respect the legend that is Alexandra Billings. Videos like the one above have been a joy to create. Her comments and repost have been the most delicious icing on the cake.
I’m currently in a place where I am relearning how to sing after not keeping up with my voice formally during the pandemic. I am also learning how to use my voice in incredible new ways–singing higher than ever and singing from a place of joy and service. It’s a work in progress, but it’s going very well. I’ll post more about my voice lessons with the immensely talented Mia Gentile, but what’s relevant here is how I have been using Tik Tok to make myself a better singer. Lessons with Mia are class and my singing on Tik Tok is the lab. I sing and listen to how it went. This continues over and over as I modify and instantly hear how it went. The pressure of releasing the recording publicly helps. The hard part is that for whatever reason the video sounds different on different speakers, and where it might sound good here and there, it may sound a little off other places. I just have to do the best I can. In the beginning, I tried using bluetooth earphones and a lapel mic, but I realized the sound coming in my ears as I recorded was just enough off in pitch and this made things painfully difficult until I caught on that I should use the iPhone earphones and mic that plugs in. My guess is that Tik Tok knew most people would record this way, and thus it is set up to sound best this way.
What got me excited about Tik Tok is the collaborative aspects of it. To be able to do acting scenes, lip synchs, or singing duets. I sometimes will just harmonize with someone's video or there are videos that focus on your voice over skills, and that is joyful for me.
What I would like to leave you with is the most important way I use Tik Tok. There are quite a number of fantastic people who create content that relates to politics, entertainment, and such. But the content that has really come to be invaluable to me regards antiracism, dismantling white supremacy culture and patriarchy through discussion and learning/unlearning. I’d like to share some of my favorite people, who can be utterly hilarious, but are not afraid to speak directly and seriously. And I would like to give a mention someone who I think is a really kickass ally/disrupter, who is working everyday to challenge some of the racist actions she encounters online and to center the voices of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and non-Black educators of color: Jen Kinney