TikTok has launched an alternative version of app in Europe which seemingly aims to to put more focus on the positive, beneficial aspects of the TikTok experience via the incorporation of a new initiative that makes it easier to support charity organizations in the app,
TikTok’s new app is called “TikTok Pro,” and is now available for download in Germany, Portugal and Spain, with more regions to follow. TikTok says that the alternate version of the app will allow “people to experience and engage with joyful and entertaining content.”
Which implies that this is different to the main TikTok app, because of the focus on positive, educational content.
As per the TikTok Pro description on the German App Store:
“TikTok Pro is a global video community where you can discover the coolest, funniest, and most educational short videos and share special moments with your friends. A useful app with a whole world within itself. TikTok Pro gives you the best video experience with helpful videos, engaging STEM content, and more personal expression.”
So it sounds like a custom, more positivity-focused TikTok experience, though TikTok has informed me that this is not the case.
TikTok says that the content in TikTok Pro is exactly the same as the videos that are displayed in the main app.
So what’s the difference?
Well, TikTok Pro is solely focused on the content, with no live-streams, no shopping, and no ads.
Yes, no ads. TikTok says that the idea is to encourage non TikTok users to try out the app, with all of these other elements removed to simplify the experience.
The other key difference is that TikTok Pro also comes with TikTok’s new “Sunshine” program built in, which “offers a unique way for charities and NGOs to engage with new audiences, and allows the TikTok Pro community to support them.”
As per TikTok:
“Users can accumulate 'virtual Sunshine' by referring others to join and by engaging with content from charities, such as liking or reposting charity videos, following charity-related accounts and performing charity-related searches. People can then use that virtual Sunshine on a charity in the programme, and TikTok will make a donation to that charity.”
So again, it’s regular TikTok, but a simplified version, with charity donation processes built into the app direct. So it’s less about getting you to buy stuff, and more about getting you to help others, with the whole principle of the new app being focused on facilitating a simplified experience.
So why does TikTok need another app to do this?
I asked exactly this, and TikTok explained that it's about showcasing the app’s content to more people, without some of the regular elements. TikTok says that this isn’t about re-focusing on more positive elements, as such, but the removal of ads and shopping, as well as live-streaming, does seem to suggest that these could be elements that don’t appeal to some audiences, for whatever reason.
It could also be an attempt to better align with local market regulators and rules, with TikTok still under scrutiny in many regions.
Indeed, German politicians have repeatedly raised questions about the app, with some suggesting that TikTok should be banned due to the danger it poses to democracy, as “an instrument" in China and Russia’s hybrid warfare.”
The EU Commission has also raised questions about TikTok’s influence on younger users in particular, after recent controversy around the rise of the #SkinnyTok hashtag, which encouraged potentially harmful behaviors. EU regulators are also still exploring TikTok’s algorithmic approach with respect to the EU Digital Services Act, and it could be that this new TikTok Pro app aligns with broader efforts by TikTok to address related concerns.
And while TikTok says that this is not intended to provide a more positive user experience, as such, that is an interesting consideration in the context of how the local Chinese version of TikTok operates, with the Chinese Government overseeing content trends, and ensuring that more beneficial elements are promoted to Chinese youth.
My initial view was that this could be an experiment on that front, though I doubt that many non-Communist countries will be overly welcoming of such controls.
TikTok says that this isn’t the case either way, with the streamlined version of the app designed only to better highlight TikTok’s main content feed. I mean, I don’t know why you’d need another app for that, especially at the risk of cannibalizing your main app, but that’s what TikTok tells me is the aim.
TikTok says that it’s partnering with a number of global and local charities on its Sunshine program, including Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF), WaterAid, Aktion Deutschland Hilft and the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU). It’s also looking to add more charity partners over time.
It seems like an interesting concept, though it’ll probably be a hard sell getting people to switch over to an alternate, less functional version of the app.
But then again, that’s not the aim, it's focused on expanding TikTok’s reach with non-users, though having them in an alternative app doesn’t really make much sense as a growth strategy.
Maybe, eventually, TikTok will be able to pitch this alternative version as an option for younger users, or TikTok could look to push it in other ways.
Either way, it’s an interesting development amid ongoing concerns about social media regulation and restriction.
