The true TikTok challenge

Abstract

Man, by his very nature, seeks diff erent means of social interaction throughout his life. Recently, the growing number of users of the TikTok application has not gone unnoticed by the Church, which sees everything as an opportunity to evangelize. For each new generation it is the mission of the Church to transmit the gospel to new people who come into this world. In the current context, younger generations are increasingly connected on social networks and, after the 2020 pandemic, many young people joined the use of the TikTok app as a means of personal entertainment and social interaction to alleviate the tensions generated by the atypical situation of widespread isolation. Although TikTok was not created as a means of evangelization, but as a means of entertainment, it is up to the Church to overcome this real challenge and manage with its fruitful creativity to transmit its message in these new places where people are, needing to know better their potential and limitations, as well as avoiding possible dangers that new technologies may present. To this end, certain principles and guidelines already addressed in the Medellín document can help provide clues to this new social communication medium called TikTok.