Creating Room for Academic Libraries in the TikTok Space

Public libraries have gone viral on TikTok. Can academic libraries?

Posted on December 2, 2024 in Blog Posts

Authors:

Beth Carpenter
An academic librarian considering using TikTok

Libraries are constantly looking for ways to reach their patrons, which tends to mean that some librarians are quick to adopt new social media technology to reach new audiences. In my time working in libraries, I’ve been asked to work on Facebook pages, Instagram accounts, Pinterest boards, Twitter (now X) profiles, and TikTok accounts.

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest often have very local appeal, put in place primarily to inform patrons about the goings-on at the library. TikTok is one of the first platforms where there is a potential for global reach and relevance for libraries. (Yes, people may share posts from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter on their feeds or with their groups that extend the reach, but it doesn’t have the viral capacity of a TikTok video.)

Primarily, public libraries have somewhat cornered the market on TikTok success. There are libraries like the Milwaukee Public Library and Fowlerville District Library, to name just two, that have developed ongoing content series and show a strong understanding of the TikTok culture, which makes their videos quite successful.

Academic libraries have different social media goals than public libraries. While public libraries, as the name implies, aim to engage with the public and advertise the services and programs available to them, academic libraries often have structures that limit access and programming to the campus community. This difference in mission can make it harder for academic libraries to create the kind of engaging content that has broad appeal and viral potential. In my own experiences with creating TikTok content for an academic library, the desire to highlight services like citation management software or research help does not always lend itself to the latest trends on TikTok.

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How Academic Libraries Engage with TikTok

As new social media platforms take hold in society, institutions have to navigate how best to negotiate these spaces. The development of internal guidelines can also be a sticking point because there are often many layers to the guidelines. They must serve not only the library but also the institution. This can impact the creative flow and the freedom to truly create the kind of content that has the ability to go viral on TikTok.

At the University at Buffalo, when working on TikTok videos, we were able to create a valuable working relationship with our Director of Communications through carefully thought-out videos that used trending audio and formats. We were able to demonstrate our understanding of both TikTok and administrative concerns, which led to having more leeway and trust when posting videos.

The development of social media policies can often function in two ways. Policies can either be a flexible document that allows for latitude and exploration to find what works best for the library space, or they can be a static document that ties the hands of the content creators for the library spaces.

In LibTech Insights’s previous column on academic libraries and TikTok, Nanette DeRemer at Cressman College talks about using students to help drive engagement, offering students the opportunity to plan out and execute their own TikTok videos once they’ve gotten idea approval from library staff. This is the kind of innovation that is more likely to drive student engagement, so long as the momentum can keep going and a stable structure of student participation can be created.

A 2022 article on the use of TikTok for academic libraries surveys the most common content types posted by libraries, and they found that “humanizing” the libraries was the most common subgenre of academic library TikTok accounts. This is a concept that is often discussed in academic libraries: how can we ensure students know that the library is a place for them? How can we make the library a friendly and nonintimidating space?

@ublibraries

Did you know that Lockwood is actually a very aesthetically pleasing place to be? More than just bricks! #wesanderson #library #ubuffalolibraries #librarytok #booktok

♬ Obituary – Alexandre Desplat
This is an example of one of the UB Libraries’ “humanizing” TikToks.

It makes sense that this is the most common video type, as it lends itself well to not only TikTok content but also the way the TikTok algorithm works. Because the video feed isn’t chronological, advertising events or displays is not often as effective on TikTok, as there’s no way to predict when it will be shared to the For You Page (FYP) or to followers. I’m by no means saying I’m a typical TikTok user, but I hardly ever go to a specific content creator’s page to see what they’re up to, and I mostly rely on the FYP for content.

Who’s Doing It Well?

There’s not necessarily a metric for what it means for an academic library to “do well” on TikTok. It’s unlikely that the goal is widespread virality, but rather to appeal to the student population at a specific institution. So here are some academic libraries with a TikTok presence:

Gettysburg College’s Musselman Library (currently with 9844 followers and 444.4k likes) is doing something right—with a follower count that is higher than their current student population (estimated around 2600), they’ve found a way to make content that speaks to a larger audience. Almost 450,000 likes means that not only do they have a high follower count, but they have a high engagement rate as well.

The Carnegie Museum of Natural History is not a library, but they have similar motives as a library, I would say. With their almost 400,000 followers, they have managed to lock into some magic on TikTok—unabashed nerdiness from Tim Pearce and his dad jokes are what first led me to this TikTok account. But the regularity of posting his jokes and facts has given routine to their posting and helped create their online presence.

But going back to look through other academic libraries on TikTok, very few libraries have over a thousand followers. The University of Illinois Libraries has 1108 followers and under 10,000 likes, but their posts are spread out and infrequent, even if they are up to date on trends and doing them well. The University of Southern Maine is close to that 1000-follower mark, but most, if not all, of the videos are made by one employee of the libraries, and there haven’t been posts in over a year.

This showcases some of the difficulties in academic library TikTok accounts: Who oversees them? Who makes the videos? Who is keeping up to date on trends? Who has the time to devote to making content regularly? It is no surprise to me that Musselman Library has the most successful account of the three mentioned because there is a diversity of participation, which means the load of the TikTok account is shared.

So how can academic libraries corner the market on TikTok? Should they be trying to corner the market on TikTok? These are valid questions to ask. First and foremost, if academic libraries want to be successful, a lot of time and energy must be dedicated to making and posting videos. Many of the most successful creators on TikTok are doing content creation as a full-time job. Expecting librarians to fulfill all their regular job duties and make timely videos is a huge ask, and doesn’t necessarily fall under that “other duties as assigned” adage that we all laugh about.

The question of whether or not academic libraries should be expending time and energy on TikTok is one that can’t necessarily be answered in this one column. Does the larger university want the library to have a good social media presence as a recruitment tool? Do library employees actually have the time to devote to TikTok? Are there clear policies and protocols for making videos? What is the current government stance on banning TikTok? Does that affect things differently for public universities versus private universities?

It’s no secret that TikTok is an excellent way to spend (or waste) time—there are laughs to be had and things to be learned. Deciding if that is a space for your library is a conversation that can only be had by your library. But… it is fun to say “I get paid to make TikToks” after spending an hour tracking down coworkers to high-five on a beat for a video. So: proceed with caution, but proceed with a lighthearted air. TikTok was never meant to be too serious.

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