Bachelor Nation Comes to Tik Tok

By: Sharon Beyzer, Meridith Coen, Sarah Anne Marraffino

User Experience:

Early this month our group took a deep dive into Tik Tok. This week we are back on the platform to investigate it through the lens of a Bachelor Nation fan. After interacting with the app for a few weeks Tik Tok picked up on my preferences very quickly and before I knew it, Bachelor content was being thrown my way. From fan recaps to former contestant monologues, there is plenty of Bachelor Nation content to interest even the most passive of fans. My first instinct was to use the search feature to find hashtags or users using the word bachelor. This quickly brought me to endless amounts of videos that garnered over 17 million views. Common themes of the content include fan predictions, spoilers, contestant analysis, and bachelor personalities sharing their experience on the show. Overwhelmingly, it appears that Tik Tok gives Bachelor Nation fans a platform to share their hot take about each episode. Some fans focus solely on contestants, while others reflect on the show as a whole. As I embarked on the endless scrolling, I noticed the videos were a series of reactions of current and former seasons in no discernable order. A little more digging and a few other hashtag variations yielded similar results, randomized fan and contestant reactions to episodes.

Recently, Chris Harrison, the host of the Bachelor, resigned from his role for the remainder of the current season after he gave an interview with Rachel Lindsay, where he defended the racist actions of one of the current contestants. Curious to see if fans posted about this on Tik Tok, I sought out content surrounding these current events. It was difficult to find, but after searching Rachel Lindsay and Chris Harrison, I found some Tik Tok users and former contestants who responded to these events. These users condemned the actions of Chris Harrison and demanded action from ABC to be more equitable and inclusive within the show while also calling for Chris Harrison’s official termination. Compared to Instagram, Tik Tok seems to have much less content that critiques the franchise. Tik Tok appears to be the platform for Bachelor Nation to demonstrate their fandom without diving too much into the deeper issues present in the show.

Strengths & Weaknesses:

Tik Tok is the new platform powerhouse and it’s not owned by Facebook like Instagram or Youtube (Ovide, 2021). Many existing companies have tried to copy the fast-paced, repeating videos in a similar fashion to Tik Tok. Instagram introduced reels which is a less successful version of Tik Tok. When existing platforms start to copy up-and-coming companies, it’s a sign they have tapped into a very successful user model. However, sometimes the copycats can outshine the original such as “Microsoft’s Windows, the iPhone, or Facebook’s social media’’ (Ovide, 2021). At first glance, the Tik Tok and Reels are similar in the sense that Instagram’s Reels are published to the Explore section and Tik Tok to the For You area. However, Reels lacks the easy-to-use video editing features and song recommendations that make Tik Tok fun and easy to use (Chen & Lorenz, 2020). Snapchat also has a feature similar to Tik Tok called Spotlight but it doesn’t encourage the user to follow content creators. It does allow users to post anonymously. (Hern, 2021)

Strengths:

• Endless streaming of engaging curated content based on individual viewing habits and preferences i.e., more Bachelor Nation content based on more interactivity with bachelor nation content
• Content organized based on trending hashtags i.e., #bachelorinparadise full BIP content
• Bachelor nation challenges, contests, and virtual parties to engage viewers
• Easy to use and navigate through bachelor nation content

Weaknesses:

• Redundant bachelor nation content as the algorithms learns more about you
• It’s a very distracting app that could potentially get in the way of completing important tasks and increase overall daily screen time
• Privacy and security concerns continue to be a worry for users

How could Tik Tok be better?

• Pinning top videos to the top of users’ profile in order for visitors to see their best content (Dubash, 2020)
• Folders/organizer somewhere in the user’s account to properly organize Tik Toks so they don’t get lost
• Text and icon overlay on videos takes away from the full picture of the video, so finding a way to activate a full screen would be beneficial (Dubash, 2020)

Digital Media Value Offering Map: Tik Tok for Bachelor Nation

The two sides of the map below address the symbiotic relationship of customers' wants, needs, emotions, and motivations with the purpose and offerings of the company.

Conclusion:

After speaking with numerous Bachelor fans, Tik Tok is a prime resource for exploring and discovering new Bachelor-related content. Tik Tok has proven to be a key player in social media and competitors like Instagram and Snapchat have tried to mimic its rapid success. Tik Tok differs from Instagram in the ways in which users are seeking out content. As it pertains to the Bachelor, Tik Tok has more behind-the-scenes footage and testimonials from prior contestants of a more gritty nature than the typical polished and produced ABC show. Tik Tok posts are often more quantity than quality but can seem more personal and unfiltered, contrasting to Instagram’s “Influencer” ethos. This approach to rapid content creation can make the user experience feel disorganized but can also allow for more spontaneous discoveries.

Sources:

Ovide, S. (2021, February 19). Why we want tech copycats to fail. Retrieved March 02, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/19/technology/why-we-want-tech-copycats-to-fail.html

Hern, A. (2021, February 09). Snapchat Spotlight: Feature gives Rival TikTok a run for its money. Retrieved March 02, 2021, from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/feb/09/snapchat-spotlight-feature-gives-rival-tiktok-a-run-for-its-money

Chen, B., & Lorenz, T. (2020, August 12). We tested Instagram reels, the TIKTOK Clone. what a dud. Retrieved March 02, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/12/technology/personaltech/tested-facebook-reels-tiktok-clone-dud.html

Dubash, A. (2020, July 27). 5 features that would MAKE TikTok better. Retrieved March 02, 2021, from https://uxdesign.cc/5-features-that-would-make-tiktok-better-423b2d6afc16