TikTok Launches New STEM Content Feed in Ireland

More than 150 million people across Europe come to TikTok each month to express themselves, be entertained, start and grow a business or learn a new skill or hobby.

#BookTok has become a literature phenomenon, encouraging a new generation to share their love of reading and helping authors to find new audiences, while #LearnonTikTok encourages our community to discover everything from local languages to ancient history.

Today, April 2nd, TikTok is launching a feed dedicated to STEM, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, across Europe; to empower continued discovery on TikTok and connect a dynamic community of people over shared interests.

Starting in Ireland and the UK today, users will be able to click on the STEM feed, alongside the For You feed, to open up a world of knowledge from respected experts in their field. The feed will feature English-speaking content with auto-translate subtitles, which will be fact-checked by two independent organisations.

Creators and partners who share content around STEM subjects like @_captain_mark who is inspiring young people to run away to the sea and start a career as a mariner, Secondary School Teacher @teachwithtadgh, who posts live science sessions on his page, @scicommcollective_ire who show scientists promoting healthy habits, and @NewScientist magazine, taking us on a journey into Space, will be included in this new feed.

This new feed follows the success of the STEM feed in the United States, which has seen science, technology, engineering, and mathematics content grown globally by 24% since the launch.

Educational communities already thrive across TikTok. Almost 15 million STEM-related videos have been published globally in the last three years.

To encourage young people to explore these subjects, people under 18 years old will have the STEM feed turned on by default, but can adjust their content settings in-app should they choose.

And those 18 years and older looking for an enriching feed of content can opt into the STEM feed by going to their content settings in-app. Since the launch in the US, a third of teens have visited the STEM feed on a weekly basis.

To help bring high-quality STEM content to the TikTok community, we’re expanding our partnerships with Common Sense Networks and Poynter Institute to cover Europe. Common Sense Networks will assess all content to ensure it’s appropriate for the STEM feed, and Poynter will assess the reliability of the information presented. If content does not pass both checkpoints, it will not be eligible for the STEM feed.

Marlène Masure General Manager for Operations, TikTok EMEA, said  “We believe discovery is essential to the TikTok experience, and we’re always looking to help our community uncover new and relevant content through introducing new and exciting formats. We hope the launch of the STEM feed across Europe will inspire a new generation of engineers, mathematicians and Science enthusiasts!”

Mark Maguire, aka @_captain_mark  added ” I use TikTok to show what life is like out on the sea, for what it really is. Many young people today understand the importance of our oceans and want to get involved, but they often don’t know where to start. My hope is that by sharing my videos on TikTok, I can show them how exciting life as a mariner can be, what to expect, and why working on the water is such a rewarding and worthwhile career. It’s not always easy, but no two days are the same – and that’s what I love about it.”

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