There's a lot about TikTok that makes it easily fit into people's lives. Compact videos that can be shared and experienced in moments, ranging from cute and heartwarming moments to bizarre flying brooms. All of this delivered in bite sized packages.
Many apps come and go, with popularity being hard to predict, so TikTok blowing up as a platform has been a huge windfall for many. And if there's one thing that any brand can try for to increase its standing even further, it's synergy. For many this simply means a trend-chasing ad campaign, but TikTok did something a little different.
After a brief teaser, TikTok officially set up a Discord server. That's right: one app launched a server on another app. Discord has been one of hte more popular remote communication tools among players since its release, with its popularity and feature list only growing alongside its ease of use. Many groups outside of gaming clusters have begun using it for other purposes, and now it seems TikTok figured the platform would serve its needs. Gaming will still likely be part of the conversation, if videos like one man's custom box art creation is any indication.
There is a room for people to share individual TikToks of course, with specific restrictions like NSFW content being banned in most if not all of the servers. There is also a room for people to just chat, presumably about TikTok-related matters, although other conversations are not off the table. There's even a gaming room, which Discord was advertised for in the first place, and which makes sense since TikTok wants to get more into the gaming scene. It's hardly TikTok's weirdest tie-in (that might be the Daily Bugle from Spider-Man: No Way Home), but it may prove its most utilitarian.
See, one of the best parts of Discord when utilized by game devs is the instant feedback factor, where players can tell them right away what works and doesn't work. With a social platform like TikTok, it might work the same way. Something like the petition to unban Soundoftheforest might hold a lot more weight presented directly through the medium of Discord.
It might also prove a medium for TikToks that would not get noticed otherwise to be seen by more people and gain acclaim. There are TikToks for almost everything these days, down to niche departments like make-up showing game character progression. It's an odd cross-promotional move, but not a bad one.