Why budgeting tips are booming on TikTok's discover page
BNN Bloomberg
Budgeting had a big week on TikTok.
Budgeting had a big week on TikTok.
Maybe it was the volatility of the markets, maybe it was the threat of inflation, or maybe it was just the fact that ever-popular New Year’s resolutions for financial fitness get harder as the year advances. But this week, posts on the short-video platform with the hashtag budgeting surged on TikTok’s prominent Discover page.
It’s valuable real estate. The company said last year that more than 1 billion people across the globe use the app every month. Discover guides their consumption, often steering users to the sorts of topics you’d expect to go viral: comedy, new music, even makeup tutorials. But budgeting got its moment in the bright lights of that page, with some 41 million views for that topic over the past two days.
“It’s that time of the year, the start of the year, when people reconsider their habits for fitness, self-care and finances,” said Jim Tobin, chief executive officer at Ignite Social Media, a Raleigh-based social-media marketing company. “Combined with some really unusual financial circumstances in terms of inflation, labor shortages and rising rents affecting young people particularly, the hashtag budgeting is ripe for becoming a topic of conversation on TikTok.”
Tobin said TikTok’s algorithm is personalized but significant viewership numbers — as well as a connection to noteworthy events — could land a hashtag on the Discover page. The Discover page can differ based on users and geography, but hot topics can get elevated across the globe.
A prominent topic in the budgeting category: inflation. It’s been soaring across the globe, a fact that was not lost on TikTokers.
