TikTok launches science feed to inspire young minds

TikTok is launching a new feed of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in an effort to engage young people.

The new feature, exclusively showcasing videos related to STEM topics, will be available to users in the UK and Ireland from Tuesday and will include fact-checked videos with subtitles for wider audiences.

Over the past three years, nearly 15 million STEM-related videos have been shared globally on TikTok.

Among these experts is Dr Clara Nellist, a 36-year-old particle physicist at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Geneva.

Dr Nellist uses her TikTok platform to share her research experiences with the TikTok users.

"The launch of the STEM feed is really exciting," Dr. Nellist says. "It will help students see that science can be fun and accessible, and maybe inspire them to pursue a career in STEM."

“Personally, I want us to be able to reach people who haven’t been exposed to it before and the Stem feed will mean that people who perhaps didn’t think that science was for them might see some videos, see the jokes, see the content being accessible for them, and have a change a heart," she added.

“It’s a really nice way of helping students project themselves into different careers in the future and I hope lots of students get inspired by the content there.”

Similarly, Eleonora Svanberg, a PhD student in theoretical physics at Oxford University, sees the STEM feed as a means to address the lack of diversity and representation in STEM fields.

“For me, (the Stem feed) means a lot, not only will my passion for Stem reach a wider audience, we’ll also be able to present more diverse people doing Stem and hopefully reach more people that could see themselves doing Stem,” Svanberg said.

“Most of the time during my studies, I’ve been the only girl in my class and I acknowledge that the lack of role models to me has been really challenging and challenging for other girls out there.”

If you are under 18, you will automatically have the new STEM feed turned on. However, you can choose to turn it off. Users over 18 can activate the science feed in their app settings.

Additionally, the feed will feature English content with auto-translated subtitles, which will be verified by two independent organisations.