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No it's not. It's the primary medium by which they get their entertainment.

TikTok replaces YouTube and Tumblr before that. It's not like people are watching it instead of reading history books or the New Yorker.

And just because you use TikTok doesn't mean you don't check actual news headlines or listen to two-hour-long podcasts.

The younger generation absolutely use Tiktok search to find information.

I'm sure they do. Is that their primary source? Do they use nothing else? Is any of that information put to economic use in their lives or is it just curiosity?

They buy a ton of stuff from Tik-Tok and Instagram ads - yes.

The line of questioning was about news and knowledge, not ads. Ads in anything will affect people's purchases, so that's not evidence for what that question was actually going for.

Gen Z as well. Many well into their 20s heavily consume tiktok.

You probably mean Gen Z. Alpha's oldest members are 14-15. Middle schoolers have never been particularly well read.