You want to buy new headphones, try out a restaurant, or find out whether a certain beauty product is actually any good.
Where do you look first?
For many young people, the answer is increasingly not just Google, but: TikTok.
You just type a product's name into the search and find videos from people who have already bought and tried it. They show how it works, what they like and what they don't like.
That often comes across as more personal and more believable than traditional advertising.
Studies show this kind of searching is becoming more popular. Many young people use TikTok specifically for product reviews and recommendations. Social media is increasingly turning into a real search engine for Gen Z.
You shouldn't be completely uncritical, though. Not every video is independent; some posts are advertising and some tips are based only on personal experience.
So TikTok can be a good first starting point. But: Just because someone says it on TikTok doesn't mean it's true.
