If There Isn’t an Instruction Manual, Keep a Journal

When I first joined Tik Tok, it was loud and overwhelming — there were loads of filters, editing tools, and sounds. I didn’t know what the platform wanted, or what worked. So, I watched some videos, made some videos, and slowly cultivated my taste for the kind of content I wanted to produce. Combining the experience of watching Tik Toks with the process of making Tik Toks helped enrich my understanding of how to be a participant on the app.

Sometimes a client will ask me how they can get more followers. In return, I ask them what kind of content they like. I am surprised they tell me that they don’t have any favorite creators, especially when they are interested in making media themselves. You have to be a participant if you want to become part of the public forum.

There is nothing wrong with being a lurker. Passively enjoying content can be relaxing and fun. But I work with folks who are looking to build something or share an idea, and they come to me asking for a step-by-step plan of how to go about this. I end up telling them that it is really hard to become a YouTuber if you don’t watch a bunch of YouTube, or to be a podcaster without listening to a bunch of podcasts. It’s even harder if you don’t put something out there to see how it does.

You have probably heard that things are best learned with equal parts research and practice. Schools brag that they provide hands-on learning because it works. Applying what you’ve learned in a book to a real world scenario will bring into focus why you are learning the thing in the first place.

I’ve noticed this a lot in the web development community. Wannabe developers will get stuck in “tutorial hell”, in which they take class after class and watch video after video and never actually sit down and try to make an app or a website on their own. Once you actually sit down to code a website, not only will abstract concepts suddenly become concrete, but you will develop real questions that will guide further research and study.

I am a huge fan of journalist Dave Jorgensen. He heads the Washing Post’s Tik Tok account, both gathering data about the app and its culture, while also being an active participant. As a result, he has become a public figure and expert on Tik Tok.

The key to trying anything new is to experiment, and to experiment to need to keep track of what works and what doesn’t. Keeping a journal (whether in Google Docs, Notion, or in a notebook of your own) will allow you to reflect on your theories and experiences so that you can move forward with a project. That journal will become your instruction manual, and guide you towards your next plan of action.