TikTok, the leading destination for short-form mobile video, is home to an incredibly diverse and vibrant community of creators. The platform proudly fosters an inclusive environment that makes users feel comfortable expressing themselves creatively, and engaging freely with other creators.
Every creator plays a big role in ensuring that TikTok continues to be a welcoming and inclusive space for all. Around the world, several creators have been able to uplift the deaf and hard of hearing community through their content. In fact, since the start of 2021, #DeafTikTok has had over 245 million views and climbing.
Now, in recognition of the International Day of Sign Languages, TikTok would like to honor inspiring creators from the Philippines who help raise deaf awareness through their videos. Some share snippets of their day-to-day lives, while others post sign language lessons, and content that can help users better understand deafness.
One of these creators is sign language interpreter, Melle Bee, who teaches sign language through her videos. She also responds to requests from followers who ask her how to sign a particular word or sentence. Melle Bee shares educational content that can teach viewers more about the deaf community, and even uses the duet feature to translate content to sign language.
TikTok creator Michelle Episcope belongs to the deaf community herself. Michelle’s content shows viewers how deaf and hard of hearing creators can have fun on TikTok, just like everybody else. Michelle loves to dance, and enjoys entertaining her followers through dance videos and, funny skits that are edited to make her look like she has a twin.
In a video by creator Kiko Sison, he shared that he and his deaf cousin would bond over conversations in sign language a lot when they were young, something that they are not able to do much now that they are older. This video touched the hearts of many of Kiko’s followers, who have since asked him to share more “cousin bonding time” content on TikTok. He willingly obliged, and through these videos Kiko is able to show others that, while his cousin may be deaf, he certainly is capable in many ways.
To make the platform even more accessible to everyone, TikTok continues to invest in products and tools like its auto captions feature, which was launched earlier this year. This feature automatically generates subtitles, enabling viewers to read or listen to content, and helping users who are deaf or hard of hearing enjoy a better experience on the platform. TikTok hopes to encourage users to make their content more accessible by enabling auto captions, especially this September, which is Deaf Awareness Month.
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