Hurricane Ian TikTok livestreams are garnering views for creators

TikTok creators are finding traction with Hurricane Ian livestreams. TikTok is emerging as a platform users are turning to for updates on news events like Hurricane Ian.

It was 5 a.m. ET, just hours before Hurricane Ian would make landfall in Florida, when TJ McCormack, 44, prepared to head south from Venice Beach — not to escape the coming storm, but to meet it head-on.

He lives in Denver and had traveled to Florida to chase the storm, though he’s not a meteorologist or a journalist. He’s a roofer by trade but a burgeoning influencer, as well, one who has amassed more than 280,000 followers on TikTok, where he posts videos of whatever he thinks people might want to see. 

And what he knows people want to see — and what TikTok’s algorithm seems to favor — is livestreams. He was one of dozens of people who livestreamed Ian as it hit Florida.

“Whenever people watch me, they expect they’re going to see up-to-the-minute, real, live, authentic things being shown to them,” McCormack said in a phone interview  Thursday. “I love the thrill of the chase, the adrenaline rush, and being able to document things as they’re occurring.”

McCormack is among the many people who have found some success as a part-time TikTok personality. When he’s not roofing, he’s working as a social media consultant for businesses looking to achieve the same virality as him, something of a business-focused version of the smaller-scale influencers who have become famous in niche communities.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/hurricane-ian-tiktok-livestreams-creators-rcna50050

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