SMOF News, volume 2, issue 3

TikTok is eating Web searches.

It’s Time For Cons To Think About a TikTok Presence

Maintaining a social media presence requires constant evaluation of new and existing services to determine which ones to spend limited time and attention staying active on, but for years it has been possible to assume that as long you have a website, anyone who really wants to know everything about your convention can type a query into a traditional search engine and go straight there.

Well, the New York Times is here to ruin your day with “For Gen Z, TikTok Is the New Search Engine”.

The money quote:

“In our studies, something like almost 40 percent of young people, when they’re looking for a place for lunch, they don’t go to Google Maps or Search. They go to TikTok or Instagram,” Prabhakar Raghavan, a Google senior vice president, said at a technology conference in July.

Worse, TikTok is replicating the “walled garden” approach of early Web portals:

TikTok’s algorithm tends to keep people on the app, making it harder for them to turn to additional sources to fact-check searches, [Francesca Tripodi, an information and library science professor] added.

“You aren’t really clicking to anything that would lead you out of the app,” she said. “Thatmakes it even more challenging to double-check the information you’re getting is correct.”

On the plus side, the TikTok users quoted in the article value a feeling of authenticity, meaning you don’t have to look too professional or polished (for now).

To any TikTok users reading this article, nodding along, and wishing that their stodgy old local convention would make itself visible on TikTok: This would be an excellent time to write to that convention and volunteer your expertise to help out with that!

Event Calendar

Weekend of September 23-25

• Necronomicon 2022, Tampa, Florida, USA

• SWFL SteamCon (steampunk), Ft. Meyers, Florida, USA

• PhilliFur 2022: The Cyberspace (anthropomorphic), Quezon City, Philippines

• Nuke-Con (gaming), Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA

• Enbicon (gaming), Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

• Tennessee Game Days Fall 2022, Franklin, Tennessee, USA

• Barrage (miniatures gaming), Havre de Grace, Maryland, USA

• Recruits (wargaming), Lee’s Summit, Missouri, USA

• Hurricon 2022: Persia (miniatures gaming), Kissimmee, Florida, USA

• CEOtaku (anime fighting games), Orlando, Florida, USA

• Made in Asia (anime), Brussels, Belgium

• Anime Fargo: Magical Transformations, Fargo, North Dakota, USA

• AnimeCon Classic 2022: The Roaring Twenties, Almelo, Netherlands

• Microcon II (comics), St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

• Fountain City Fandemonium (media), Bryan, Ohio, USA

• MissouriCon (media), St. Louis, Missouri, USA

• NORCON (media), Norfolk, UK

• Suncoast Fan Fest (media), Palmetto, Florida, USA

• Spa-Con (media), Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA

• Comic Con Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa

• FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

• Cincinnati Comic Expo, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

• Thessaloniki Comic Convention, Thessaloniki, Greece

• Retro Con 2022 (‘80s media), Oaks, Pennsylvania, USA

• Alpha Omega Con (Christian-themed sf media), Whittier, California, USA

• PokeFest SA (Pokémon), San Antonio, Texas, USA

Weekend of September 30-October 2

• Archon 45, Collinsville, Illinois, USA

• XVIII Forum Fantástico, Lisboa, Portugal

• Conflux 16: Visions of Time, Canberra, Australia

• Capclave 2022 (books), Rockville, Maryland, USA

• Gaslight Steampunk Expo, San Diego, California, USA

• Cosplay World Richmond, Richmond, Virginia, USA

• H-Con XVIII: Grown Up Tails - Breiter, Dicker, Länger! (anthropomorphic), Erbach, Germany

• FilkCONtinental (music), Wernigerode, Germany

• OctoGônes 12 (gaming), Villeurbanne, France

• Crucible X (gaming), Orlando, Florida, USA

• Spellenfestival 5e (gaming), Limburg, Belgium

• Lone Star Game Expo, Grapevine, Texas, USA

• S’mores and Meeples (gaming), North East, Maryland, USA

• Meeple-A-Thon (gaming), Kansas City, Missouri, USA

• CuseCon 2022 (gaming), Syracuse, New York, USA

• Michigan GT (wargaming), Lansing, Michigan, USA

• SkålCon 2022 (Pathfinder& Starfinder RPGs), Plymouth, Minnesota, USA

• Pittsburgh Gaming Expo (video games), Monroeville, Pennsylvania, USA

• Rappig Crossing (Tales video games), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

• Ramencon: Year of the Kaiju (anime), South Bend, Indiana, USA

• BanzaiKon (anime), South Padre Island, Texas, USA

• ValleyCon 46 (media), Fargo, North Dakota, USA

• Upper Valley Comic Expo, West Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA

• SiouxperCon: Retromania (media), Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA

• Monster-Mania 51 (horror media), Hunt Valley, Maryland, USA

• PonyCon Holland 2022 (My Little Pony), Zeist, Netherlands

Weekend of October 7-9

• CONtraflow X, Kenner, Louisiana, USA

• Decongestant 5/Arcanacon (relaxacon/dark fantasy), Bloomington, Minnesota, USA

• Direbrook (dark fantasy), Portland, Oregon, USA

• The Global Fantastic (symposium), online

• WPAFW 2022 (anthropomorphic), Allison Park, Pennsylvania, USA

• Alamo City Furry Invasion: A Tell Tail Mystery, San Antonio, Texas, USA

• Save Against Fear (gaming), York, Pennsylvania, USA

• U-Con (gaming), Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA

• Con on the Cob Episode 2022: Cryptid Party (gaming), Richfield, Ohio, USA

• CinCityCon 2022 (gaming), Sharonville, Ohio, USA

• Spiel ‘22 (boardgames), Essen, Germany

• Furnace (RPGs), Sheffield, UK

• Lair Con (RPGs), Pensacola, Florida, USA

• Atlanta Game Fest 38, Alpharetta, Georgia, USA

• Nintendo Live 2022 (official Nintendo), Tokyo, Japan

• Tsubasacon (anime), Charleston, West Virginia, USA

• Anime Fiesta, McAllen, Texas, USA

• Animasia (anime), Bordeaux, France

• Ani-Medford (anime), Grants Pass, Oregon, USA

• Anime Senpai, Collinsville, Illinois, USA

• Overload (anime), Auckland, New Zealand

• Connichi (anime), Kassel, Germany

• Wauke-Con (comics), Waukegan, Illinois, USA

• Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (comics and animation), Columbus, Ohio, USA

• Toon-Con (comics and animation), Pasadena, California, USA

• Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, Sitges, Spain

• Brooklyn SciFi Film Festival, New York City, New York, USA

• 27th Annual H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival, Portland, Oregon, USA

• New York Comic Con, New York City, New York, USA

• Level Up ICT Con (media), Wichita, Kansas, USA

• Comiccon de Québec, Montréal, Québec, Canada

• Comic Con Scotland, Edinburgh, UK

• MagicCon 5 (fantasy media), Bonn, Germany

• Monsterama Jr. (retro media), Peachtree Corners, Georgia, USA

• Ponies Exhibition: Back to the 80’s (My Little Pony), Phoenix, Arizona, USA

• UK PonyCon 2022 (My Little Pony), Nottingham, UK

• VoltCon! 2022 (Voltron), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Midweek convention: Icon Festival, Tel Aviv, Israel

Weekend of October 14-16

• ICON 47: The Prime Universe, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA

• MultiverseCon IV, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• Octocon 2022 (Irish national sf convention), Dublin, Ireland

• VCon 2022, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

• Can*Con 2022 (Canadian sf), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

• Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, Sitges, Spain

• Viking-Con 41 (gaming), Kastrup, Denmark

• Festival Internacional de Juegos de Córdoba (gaming), Córdoba, Spain

• Effing-Con (gaming), Effingham, Illinois, USA

• G.A.M.E. Expo, Springfield, Missouri, USA

• Conecturday (video games), San José, Costa Rica

• Portland Retro Gaming Expo (retro video games), Portland, Oregon, USA

• Banzaicon 10 (anime), Larvik, Norway

• WasabiCon (anime), Jacksonville, Florida, USA

• AmeChibi (anime), Northampton, UK

• Anime USA, Arlington, Virginia, USA

• Anime Banzai, Davis, Utah, USA

• Another Anime Convention, Westford, Massachusetts, USA

• The Lakes International Comic Art Festival, Kendal, UK

• Geek Days Caen (media), Caen, France

• Motor City Comic Con, Novi, Michigan, USA

• LeakyCon Denver (Harry Potter), Denver, Colorado, USA

Weekend of October 21-23

• DeepSouthCon 60, Huntsville, Alabama, USA

• MileHiCon 54, Denver, Colorado, USA

• BuchmesseCon, Dreieich, Germany

• Sirens (gender and fantasy), Denver, Colorado, USA

• Corflu 39 Pangloss (fanzines), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

• Bantucky Con (steampunk), Bandera, Texas, USA

• The Surrey Steampunk Convivial, Epsom, UK

• Confuror 2022: Día de Muertos (anthropomorphic), Guadalajara, Mexico

• Bewhiskered 2022: A Furry Murder Mystery, Durham, North Carolina, USA

• TsunamiCon (gaming), Wichita, Kansas, USA

• Wellycon (gaming), Wellington, New Zealand

• Congress of Gamers Fall Session, Rockville, Maryland, USA

• AVL Scarefest 6 (RPGs), Montreat, North Carolina, USA

• Retro Palooza (retro video games), Arlington, Texas, USA

• MEX (anime), Berlin, Germany

• Anime Fusion Remastered, Plymouth, Minnesota, USA

• Iberanime, Matosinhos, Portugal

• Anime Nebraskon 2022: Year of Magical Transformation, Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA

• NW Idolfest (anime idols), Seattle, Washington, USA

• FACTS (media), Flanders, Belgium

• Grit City Comic Show, Tacoma, Washington, USA

• TFcon Chicago (Transformers), Chicago, Illinois, USA

Coda

• The tale of the longest footnote ever

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