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TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat — and the rise of bite-sized content | Qiuqing Tai

Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more. Short videos — 60 seconds or less, made and shared on apps like TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram — are more than just a fun way to pass the time; they’ve transformed how we work, communicate and learn. Digital strategist…

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Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.

Short videos — 60 seconds or less, made and shared on apps like TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram — are more than just a fun way to pass the time; they’ve transformed how we work, communicate and learn. Digital strategist Qiuqing Tai explores the explosive rise of bite-sized content and forecasts its promise as an economic and social force.

The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You’re welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.

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44 Comments

44 Comments

  1. Abir Hasnat

    February 24, 2021 at 1:01 pm

    Just imagine watching Ted vidoes are in TikTok

  2. DM Snufkin

    February 24, 2021 at 1:23 pm

    Hey listen, is your attention tiny and small? Then why dont you come to tictoc? Where the content is tiny, it looks like regular content, but like really tiny. You can put it in your head and forget about it. Nothing gets stuck in your mind, its just tiny and tiny and fits right in. You want some? Come on down.

  3. Wayne Witzel

    February 24, 2021 at 1:30 pm

    This video was too long

  4. BitSmall

    February 24, 2021 at 1:49 pm

    are… …are we just going to ignore vine’s existance then?

  5. Tomasz S

    February 24, 2021 at 1:54 pm

    Who sponsored this video? TikTok? Looks like an ad :/

  6. Tenzin Rangdol

    February 24, 2021 at 1:59 pm

    Lol this looks as if china is tryna get indian govt. attention to unban tiktok😂well obviously the bit sized content are grt for learning but don’t forget the dark side of it👍

  7. Soplet

    February 24, 2021 at 2:25 pm

    Rise of Chinese malware tools.

  8. Valentin tin

    February 24, 2021 at 2:34 pm

    Hahaha what a fail! Did no one notice that the example she uses to show the great education possible with TikTok at 7:25 is not even a working method for multiplication!? 

    The dude in the video calculates: 31*21=651. But that only works for some selected examples. Try it with 32*21 and with the TikTok method the results would be 652 , instead of 672.

    She is also obviously already suffering from the blatantly shortened attention span.

    (Or am I just too stupid? That would be even more embarrassing…)

  9. Umut Karakurt

    February 24, 2021 at 2:41 pm

    Cough – (CCP Propaganda) – Cough.

  10. HAPPY VLOGS

    February 24, 2021 at 2:45 pm

    Fantastic 🙏👍

  11. Marvin A

    February 24, 2021 at 3:03 pm

    The speaker claims that short video content (60secs and less) is a viable tool for learning. I disagree. It can get the word out quickly about a simple or thought-provoking idea. However, deep and sustainable learning will never happen with this format. You have to have focused and comprehensive content which cannot be delivered in 60 seconds. One-minute mastery? Naw…the human mind simply isn’t built for that.

  12. Dominik Fischer

    February 24, 2021 at 3:30 pm

    Not everything that grows should be fertilized.

  13. tobanga

    February 24, 2021 at 3:52 pm

    she’s a mother and she gets her knowledge about breastfeeding from tiktok

  14. Saurabh Yadav

    February 24, 2021 at 4:44 pm

    I completely disagree with her. In India It only destroyed the precious time of youth and consume their attention and energy from other necessary things. These things do not actually serve the purpose that she has mentioned. In Life few moments are there which makes us uncomfortable and painful. And if someone addicted to use this kind of watching platform, they are not going to grow.

  15. Ken Belangel

    February 24, 2021 at 5:01 pm

    Can’t wait for short videos to be less of a waste of time and more practical

  16. Delusio

    February 24, 2021 at 5:01 pm

    This woman is clearly a chines comiunist party propaganda tool and so is tiktok.
    And they should not be supported!

  17. Ken Belangel

    February 24, 2021 at 5:04 pm

    Short videos are for people who get tired at life easily and want a break, I think

  18. Sourabh Bhavsar

    February 24, 2021 at 5:22 pm

    Among other things, at 0:50 she says tik tok and snapchat are not like instagram because instagram videos are “perfectly” edited but then at 3:10 shows a edited video on tik tok.

  19. Grantdalf

    February 24, 2021 at 6:46 pm

    Why does this feel like an ad?

  20. The voice Of reason

    February 24, 2021 at 6:57 pm

    Ig sc tiktok why don’t you talk about how stupid and irrelevant ted is getting

  21. Maxi Schwarz

    February 24, 2021 at 8:42 pm

    maybe the most interessting part here for me is that tik tok seems to win the platform-competition in the group of young people below age 20 because tik tok will never be used from their parents or teachers – as I learned from the comments below 😉

  22. Francisco Denílson de Abreu Marques

    February 24, 2021 at 10:27 pm

    This TED Talk is shorter than usual, less then 9 minutes, videos too short can’t pass enough information

  23. Clay Savage

    February 24, 2021 at 11:52 pm

    I do not agree with her. I believe the negative outcomes of short videos out weigh the positive outcomes. Addicting videos that decrease our attention spans while giving constant small spikes of dopamine over and over just isn’t good for us.

  24. Double#C

    February 24, 2021 at 11:58 pm

    Why is this on TED ? It is just a ad for short video…

  25. Magda

    February 25, 2021 at 1:24 am

    Tik tok is very damaging psychology especially in young people

  26. Raman Mehta

    February 25, 2021 at 8:02 am

    All positive but nothing negative.

  27. Ben

    February 25, 2021 at 8:33 am

    I don’t think we should be touting short videos as a good thing. They’re reducing our attention spans and making the slower pace of real life too boring for a lot of people, as they become accustomed to the instant gratification you can get from services like TikTok or Instagram Reels.

  28. Big Dee

    February 25, 2021 at 9:37 am

    China … destroying the world … one Fang – Fang at a time

  29. Alisstor

    February 25, 2021 at 12:45 pm

    I really feel like I’m watching a 10 minutes long advertise for TikTok… Where’s the criticism ?

  30. Manny Rae

    February 25, 2021 at 1:18 pm

    This TED talk is for informational purposes only. Something that TED talks have always been about.

  31. Davit Khudaverdyan

    February 25, 2021 at 4:00 pm

    I have never commented any video from Ted, but can ignore or close my eyes on this one.

    As the speaker mentions only advantages of these platforms, i will try to speak about disadvantages and drawbacks.

    There is no doubt, that these platforms are helpful for businesses. It is a great marketing tool to promote your business and gain audience who are referred as potential consumers of your product.

    Other users who don’t own their own business act as advertising agents. They promote products of other businesses and get rent as a reward.

    Lets get into the cons.

    1. Will you become more educated or skillful while watching videos on these platforms?

    To me, the answer is obvious.

    Generally truly useful videos, tutorials exceeds 1-1.5 minutes intervals, that’s why I think these videos are not educational.

    They are more suitable for entertainment and fun.

    They are leisure time killers. And the time that could be spent on something really important and useful, is just wasted.

    2. Watching short videos make you hard concentrate on things and difficult problems when it is required.
    As a result you will spend more time on actions or work which could be done much faster.

    3. After watching videos, you start to compare you to the people. You lose the sense of reality.
    And if you find out that they are better than you, have more opportunities or owns more, it makes you unhappy.

    4. Anyone can argue, but it also reduces mental abilities.
    For this reason a person probably tend to buy unnecessary goods and services which he or she would not purchase in other circumstances.

  32. Munish Narula

    February 25, 2021 at 5:34 pm

    Is this really a Ted Talk? or an advertisement?

  33. Antonio Usai

    February 26, 2021 at 12:35 pm

    She’s explaining the value of short videos in a “long” 9 minutes video.

    NEXT.

  34. Bob Chan

    February 26, 2021 at 12:40 pm

    6:57 did anyone notice how her demeanor changed when she talked about India banning tik tok then she went back to smiling and being happy lol

  35. DaBlonde Caveman

    February 26, 2021 at 4:39 pm

    this video was too long

  36. ArualBlack

    February 27, 2021 at 11:09 am

    Ah, I don’t have the attention span to watch this entire 9min video that promoted <60s films, I wonder why.

  37. ashish athimamula

    February 27, 2021 at 4:28 pm

    This is a new way to advertise. Great promotion

  38. Jim Burris

    February 27, 2021 at 5:06 pm

    Short attention span…

  39. Rong Zhou

    February 27, 2021 at 5:19 pm

    This can’t be a TED talk

  40. kerberospanzer

    February 27, 2021 at 7:50 pm

    Simple answer Old people must accept young are more informed and skilled

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  41. Afonso Ortigas

    February 28, 2021 at 1:22 pm

    TikTok advertising

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    March 1, 2021 at 10:26 pm

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