Tech Feb 15, 2021 04:00 AM EST

'TikTok Accountants': 3 Reasons Why You Should Doubt TikTok Finance Tips

By Erika Dickinson

TikTok
TikTok (Drew Angerer / Staff/ GETTY IMAGES)

It's fun, and even insightful to watch young, vibrant TikTokers talk about personal finance. They sound so much more interesting, and sometimes even more credible than personal finance experts, there's no denying that. But are they really credible? Are their advices truly credible?

First off, the so-called TikTok accountants are not really accountants, by profession. It's a common slang term for people who use sexual stuff to earn money. In that definition, it's not a good idea to listen on TikTok advice, when it comes to money. 

Listening to them should be done with a grain of salt, mainly because anyone can just make a TikTok video these days and call themselves a financial guru. You would not want your hard-earned money mismanaged just because you listened to someone who looks cute and wise on a social media network. 

If you are still attracted to TikTok's personal finance influencers and refuse to take caution, below are three more reasons that can convince you.  

They Are Profitting From You

As we have said above, TikTok personal influencers are not evil. They are not making up advices that can deliberately put you in a bad financial situation.

However, their main intention is not likely because they want to see you make financial gains either. Instead, their sole priority is to earn from what they are doing. Their main priority is themselves.

If they have to choose between a sound but unpopular financial advice and an unsound but quite legitimate financial advice, they would choose the former for the hits and the likes. 

The last person you can trust when you are looking to achieve certain growth is someone out to achieve their own interests. It does not work in most aspects of life - love, career, and many more, it is not going to work for personal finance as well.

According to Entrepreneur.com, "Opportunistic creators are capitalizing on this inbound traffic with a flood of investing recommendations, but many of these posts err on the side of false advertising and can actually expose a creator to potential legal action." You should definitely err on the side of caution. 

READ MORE: Bye Helicopters? Flying Taxis Quieter and Safer, Wall Street Banker Believes

TikTok content is not moderated, and wrong information can spread like wildfire

Even if someone found out that a TikToker's financial advice does not sound logical or a financial expert deems a certain advice as unsound, chances are the misinformation has already spread.

If you are one of the unlucky ones to have listened to a false TikTok financial guru's advice and not know others have already deemed it wrong, then you are bound to make some wrong financial decisions. 

One of TikTok's most powerful features is the ability for a video to go viral very quickly. This machinery is great for airtime and therefore, for the content creators, but it also allows misinformation to run rampant,  which puts naive viewers at risk. 

The inability of TikTok to moderate content has become a recurring criticism of the platform so if you want to listen to some personal financial advice from a influencer here, it is best to be careful. 

Managing Personal Finance is Hard, But Influencers Make it Sound So EASY

No real financial expert would say it is easy to manage one's finances and money. It takes a lot of observing and thinking, since it is just so much easier to spend, spend, and spend.

According to Money Tracker, there is no one standard way for managing one's personal finances, so it is also quite illogical to believe some social media influencers' advices completely without some investigating first. 

No matter what personal finance management system you use, it depends on the kind of life you live, the income you have, the circumstances surrounding you and so on and so forth - which no social media influencer on TikTok can know while making their few seconds video clip. It is best to trust a legitimiante financial advisor, and naturally, yourself for this aspect of your life. 

READ MORE: Earthquake Aftershock? Nikkei Shares Now Above 30,000 After Over 30 Years


Copyright © MoneyTimes.com

Real Time Analytics