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Night Light | TikTok vs Wikipedia

Night Light | TikTok vs Wikipedia

August 08, 2024

Will TikTok Compete With Wikipedia?

Have you recently clicked a blue comment on TikTok?

Blue comments are the new search.

Has it ever happened to you that you’re scrolling through TikTok and come across a post with tons of engagement, but you have no idea what the person in the video is talking about or why your algorithm is showing you the video in the first place? There are countless TikTok videos with zero context (and I’m not just talking about new trends you haven’t seen yet). Even if you ask for an explanation in the comments, you’re probably only going to get wrong answers from trolls or others who are just as confused as you are.

The other day I decided to click a blue comment on a One Million Beers video and this is what I saw…

It’s not perfect, but it’s quicker than googling it.

It brought me to a page called Search Highlights, which explains what the meme is, how it originated, and how people are using it. What’s even more interesting is that there are small citations that actually link to other videos on the platform. It’s almost like a short Wikipedia article that uses related videos as references.

Interesting.

I think this is only the beginning…

Not every blue comment brings you to Search Highlights, and so far, I’ve only seen them on posts related to pop culture or memes. As more people start using TikTok Search instead of using Google, I think we’ll see this feature evolve into something more like Wikipedia pages.

Imagine not having to leave TikTok to search for information. Search Highlights could function like Wikipedia, Urban Dictionary, and Know Your Meme all rolled into one. I can also see a world where content niches emerge, with creators trying to get featured in Search Highlights, similar to Wikipedia editors (there’s an entire industry for editing Wiki pages that can actually be pretty lucrative.)

Although, it’s not perfect.

🤖 The answers feel AI-generated—the wording seems off, and sometimes I don’t think Search Highlights does a good job of explaining trends.

📹 It’s not citing quality videos—When I searched the "Give Me My Money" trend, all the videos were essentially the same thing. Some only had a few thousand views, and other videos didn’t really match the citation in the text above.

🤷‍♂️ It seems entirely random which search terms have a Search Highlights page and which ones don’t.

The Big Takeaway:

I feel like more people should be talking about TikTok’s Search Highlights. I can see it becoming more than just a feature for pop culture and memes, expanding into areas like news, education, and science. With Gen Z increasingly using TikTok search over Google, I think it’s only a matter of time before TikTok starts competing with Wikipedia too.