TikTok recommendations: This much educational work fits in 60 seconds

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The journalist and historian Leonie Schöler deals with current political issues and history

Photo: TikTok Channel by heeyleonie

When a winter storm in February 2021 caused severe sub-zero temperatures and record snowfalls in Texas, numerous TikTokers were skeptical: So much snow, so far south? In videos under the hashtag #governmentsnow, they tried to set fire to the snow, claiming the extreme weather was part of a large-scale conspiracy. At first glance, it was hard to tell whether the satire was meant seriously or not. A meteorologist from Michigan explained a little later in a separate TikTok why the snow is not melting. The problem: his clip received almost 3,000 views, the TikTok stars hundreds of thousands.

Whether the #governmentsnow conspiracy or the #conspiracy hashtag with over seven billion views: TikTok has a problem with incorrect information that is often flushed unfiltered into the feeds of its users between dance clips and outfit changes.

In addition, there are also recommended accounts that combine entertainment value with educational requirements.

Do you want to make your TikTok feed more useful?

Then it's best to start with these profiles.

Talks with contemporary witnesses

At the age of 14, the Hungarian Jew Lily Ebert was deported with almost her entire family to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. She survived the atrocities of the Nazis, probably also because she was transferred to an ammunition factory in Leipzig in 1945. While other contemporary witnesses tell their stories in schools or at memorial events, their great-grandson Dov Forman had a different idea last year.

The 17-year-old set up a TikTok account for his great-grandmother in February 2021, on which Ebert has been answering questions from the TikTok community about their time in the concentration camp.

This openness has earned the 97-year-old, who now lives in London, a relatively large following: More than 1.3 million people have subscribed to her TikTok channel, and her most successful video has more than 20 million views.

Lily Ebert explains clearly what the number assigned to her was all about.

Journalism meets memes and pop culture

Journalistic formats abound on TikTok.

Even the Tagesschau has its own appearance there.

Most of the time, however, activities are limited to posting subtitled news clips.

The Washington Post is pursuing a different strategy.

In May 2019, video producer Dave Jorgenson launched the newspaper's channel and has since packed the latest news, statistics and information in entertaining formats that make the website unique.

Hardly any other news site would stage the argument about the infrastructure package of the Biden government as a segment of the reality show "The Circle", which is currently popular in the USA.

The success speaks for itself: Almost a million people follow the Washington Post on TikTok.

In this clip, Jorgenson reveals how pressure from the Trump campaign led to an investigation into the election results.

Tear apart misinformation

With almost 600,000 followers, Etrit Asllani's account may not be the largest, but it is definitely one of the richest on TikTok.

Apart from the social media platform, Asllani works for Deutsche Bank as a business psychologist, but in his spare time he is extensively involved in combating false information on the Internet.

In September 2020, for example, he co-founded the #LernenMitTikTok initiative and regularly refutes fact-based claims by other influencers in this context.

Asllani uses relaxed language without foregoing the necessary background information.

With his catch phrases "You need - more information" and "You need - real news", he speaks to his audience at eye level - indispensable on a young platform like TikTok.

In this clip Asllani explains about possible carcinogenic substances in ice cream bars from the Mars Company.

History lesson in 60 seconds

Leonie Schöler is no stranger to the German media landscape.

The journalist and studied historian has already worked for formats of the public service funk.

She is now working for Zeit and ZDF Info - and also on TikTok, where she explains political issues, classifies historical events and scrutinizes them critically.

For example, she dissects the parties' election programs for the federal election, provides information about colonial history and deals increasingly with LGBTQI + issues from a historical perspective.

With 120,000 followers, her account is comparatively small, but the content is all the more carefully researched and prepared due to her journalistic background.

Here Schöler compares the parties' election programs with regard to their tax policy.

Politics in pointed

From ZDF and SWR to social media: Politics student Nina Poppel will start her TikTok channel nini_erklaert_politik in May 2020 after her first experience as an employee at public law and local editorial offices, on which she does exactly what the name suggests: Current Classify political issues based on sources without appearing dusty or precocious.

Not only on the occasion of the federal election, Poppel is engaged in discussions about raising the retirement age, clarifying which parties can get into the Bundestag and how, or explaining terms such as pluralism to a young audience.

In addition, she brings her almost 110,000 followers closer to feminist topics.

The refutation of false information, such as the alleged consequences of an election victory for the Greens, is part of Poppel's repertoire.