TikTok: The good among Indians

The recent death of TikTok influencer A Rajeswary also known as Esha put TikTok under the spotlight.

More specifically it shone light on the ugly side of TikTok usage by the Indian community.

According to Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil, TikTok has beefed up its content moderation team including in vernacular languages.

While that is a positive move ahead one needs to understand what is in the #fyp of TikTok used by Indians.

First of, there are professionals involved in content creation. They speak up on issues related to their professions and have a wide following across racial lines.

Off the cuff, one can name Dr Sandra Raman (737,000 followers) who started off making health related content mainly in English and Bahasa before including content in Tamil as well.

There are also lawyers who explain legal matters in Tamil for the benefit of the Indians here. Shankar Sundaram (93,000 followers) is a good example of lawyers where Tamil content is concerned.

They are professional content creators.

They are also some content creators well versed on matters regarding Hinduism. They have their day jobs but take the trouble to study about Hinduism and clear the air about many issues.

One that the writer follows is Swashna Subramaniam who currently has 23,100 followers after her initial accounts ran into trouble with people who cannot accept facts on certain issues.

Another would be Vimalan Nagarajan with 46,600 followers.

Swashna creates content primarily in English and Tamil whereas Vimalan does so in Tamil.

They can be considered professionals too due to their deep knowledge and understanding on matters regarding their Hindu faith. It would not be too far off to consider them subject matter experts.

The third group that can be classified are those who do affiliate marketing along with one other subject matter.

Usha Veerasenan, for instance sells clothes and cosmetics, and has built her name on raising issues related to the Hindus and Indian community.

Similarly Esha was doing affiliate marketing on cosmetic products and raising awareness related to the Hindus.

In part two, we shall delve into the bad and ugly.