
Carnegie Museum of Natural History announces a partnership with TikTok as part of the Creative Learning Fund, a program designed to populate the social media platform with accessible and educational short-form mobile videos. The grant is a part of TikTok’s $50M investment to bring more learning content to the platform.
Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s marketing team launched its TikTok account on January 6, 2020 with a snail joke from curator of mollusks Tim Pearce, who quickly became a TikTok icon (or “shell-ebrity” as Pearce says). Over the past five months, its following has grown from zero to over 148,500 with over 8 million video views and 2 million likes. The weekly snail jokes for #MolluskMonday are follower favorites, but the museum also posts videos featuring other staff, including scientists, with live animals and scientific specimens.
“I’m amazed (and pleased) that so many people are enjoying the snail jokes. I hope they are educational, too, and consciousness raising, and that they help people be more aware of these often-overlooked creatures with whom we share the planet,” said Pearce. “All you snail TikTok fans are helping me with my plan to make snails more popular than football!”
Recently, Mary R. Dawson Associate Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology Matt Lamanna has begun to build a fan base of his own with dinosaur facts filmed from home and a visit to check on the museum’s signature dinosaur, Dippy, short for Diplodocus carnegii. With this new partnership, the museum is excited to build on existing success to introduce TikTok users from around the world to the museum’s experts and educators.
“Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s goal is to be as relevant as possible to our growing audiences,” said Sloan MacRae, director of marketing, whose team creates most of the museum’s digital content. “One obvious path to relevance is access, and that means producing content that is digestible and appealing. It also means reaching audiences where they physically are, namely glued to their screens amid the pandemic. I’m especially proud that we’re entering this partnership with TikTok now, when demand for digital educational content is so high for individuals and schools alike.”
“While TikTok has always provided users with an outlet for creative expression and fun, wholesome, light-hearted content during these unprecedented times, we’ve seen our community gravitate toward an even more enriching experience on the platform,” said Bryan Thoensen, Head of Content Partnerships, TikTok U.S. “Last month, we announced the formation of our $50 million Creative Learning Fund to bring more informative, instructional, motivational and even inspirational content to TikTok. We’re excited to share that we’ve partnered with over 800 leading creators, public figures, media publishers, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, and real users affected by COVID-19 to make that mission a reality. We can’t wait to be inspired by the creative ways the TikTok community comes together to #LearnOnTikTok.”
The museum’s partnership videos launched on May 13, 2020. Visit TikTok.com/@CarnegieMNH to see them.
About TikTok
TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. Their mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy.