TikTok STEM Feed Creator Interviews
Background
Team: Trust and safety / minor safety stem feed
Cross functional stakeholders include roles from brand & comms, trust and safety, data science, government relations, public policy, content and creator team, etc.
role: lead researcher
I scoped the project with key XFN, created the research plan, recruited participants, conducted sessions, analyzed data, completed the final report, shared out with the larger team, and followed through with impact.
Timeline: 5-6 weeks
First week was dedicated to scoping the project, second week was recruitment, third week was focused on moderation, the fourth week was for analyzing insights, fifth week was creating the final report, and the last week was sharing-out with the team.
product: STEM Feed team
The STEM Feed product team focuses on the dedicated tab on the top navigation that provides verified content on science, technology, engineering, and science.
Methodology: moderated user interviews
A total of (20) total educational content creators with (5) YouTube Educational creators, (5) YouTube STEM creators, (5) TikTok Educational creators, and (5) TikTok STEM creators.
stats: increased engagement and perceptions
STEM content has grown by 35% on TikTok since the STEM feed launched in other markets, including the US, Canada, the UK, and most countries across Europe. 1 in 3 young people on TikTok visit the STEM feed on a weekly basis in regions where it is available.
Objective
In 2025, only about 10%* of TikTok STEM Feed creators were making about 80% of the total STEM Feed content. So the team wanted to understand to increase the creator supply of the TikTok STEM Feed. In addition, the product team was weighing two possible directions for the Future of Education in TikTok: (1) double down on STEM by increasing the supply of STEM creators to accelerate the growth flywheel, or (2) expand into a broader range of educational topics such as history, language, and the arts. This study aimed to help the product team understand the trade-offs for both possible directions.
*insights modified to protect proprietary data
research questions
What motivates educational/STEM creators to produce more content?
What challenges do educational/STEM creators face, if any?
How do motivations, challenges, and content strategies differ between TikTok and YouTube?
What are educational/STEM creator perceptions of the STEM Feed on TikTok?
Methodology
Participants
A total of (20) total content creators
(10) educational/STEM YouTube creators
Recruited via UserTesting
N=5 must post primarily educational content (e.g., English, history, etc)
N=5 must post primarily STEM content (e.g., Science, Technology, Engineer, Math)
Must post content primarily on YouTube
Must post at least 3-5 videos a month
Prefer creators that also post on TikTok
(10) TikTok STEM Feed creators that post infrequently
Recruited via back-end pulls
N=5 must post primarily educational content (e.g., English, history, etc)
Must post 3-5 videos a month
N=5 must post primarily STEM content (e.g., Science, Technology, Engineer, Math)
Must be labelled in the backend as a TikTok STEM Feed creator for at least 6 months
Must have only posted about 1-2 videos on the STEM Feed (infrequent poster)
Must post on TikTok
*Data Scientist used distribution analysis to define infrequent STEM Feed creators as creators that have only posted 1-2 videos on STEM Feed.
Procedure
Introduction (3min)
Background Questions (2min)
Platform Specific Content Experience (15-20min)
Understanding their creation experience
Motivations posting educational content
Challenges posting educational content
Cross Platform Comparison (15-20min)
Cross posting strategies
Differences in motivation
Differences in challenges and pain points
Perceptions of STEM Feed (15min)
Awareness
Expectations
Trade-offs of expanding the STEM Feed
Conclusion Questions (5min)
Application: Usertesting and Zoom interviews
Educational/STEM YouTube creators were recruited and moderated on UserTesting
TikTok Educational/STEM Feed creators were recruited via backend query pulls, sent through an in-app notification to their TikTok account, inviting them to participate in an interview for a gift card.
Key Findings
1. [Motivations] Educational and STEM creators across platforms were uniquely motivated by making a positive impact in the world
Like other content creators, educational/STEN creators are motivated to produce high-quality videos by 1) monetization, which gives them the resources to invest in better equipment and 2) community, which provides the social drive to continue posting.
What was unique to educational content creators was their drive to give back to their community through teaching and make real-life impact in the world.
This was shown through three main ways:
1) Amplifying impact: Rather than volunteering in classrooms, which only reach a handful of students at a time, creators can spend just 3-5 hours making a video that impacts thousands. Being an educational content creation was seen as the most efficient way to scale their positive influence.
2) Shaping everyday decisions: Many educational creators were motivated by a desire to influence everyday choices. For example, one marine-life creator hoped their videos would discourage people from eating octopus, while another raised awareness about the ethical challenges of owning parrots, helping audiences make more informed everyday decisions.
3) Building better futures: Educational creators sought to expand opportunities for learners of all ages and backgrounds. By sharing accessible content on platforms like YouTube and TikTok, they broke down barriers to education. One creator was especially inspired when his videos helped an 80-year old grandma learn how to build her own PC.
Key Recommendation:
Consider highlighting the social good educational creators bring to their audience by quick, low-effort designs can boost creator motivation while larger monetization and community strategies are in progress.
2. [challenges] Low awareness of the STEM Feed and its guidelines limited creators’ ability to adapt content and increase supply.
TikTok Creators (N=9) had low awareness of the STEM Feed guidelines
TikTok educational and STEM creators were generally more familiar with the STEM Feed, but often did not know if or how their content qualified.
Even some STEM Feed creators whose content had been included in the Feed, had low awareness of the STEM guidelines.
Many STEM creators said they would adapt their content more intentionally if they better understood the criteria and guidelines.
Key Recommendation:
Leverage in-app notifications and emails to educate TikTok creators on STEM Feed qualifications.
YouTube Creators (N=8) had low awareness of the STEM Feed
Most YouTube participants, across both educational and STEM segments, were unaware of the TikTok STEM Feed.
They primarily used TikTok to promote their YouTube, often clipping longer-form videos into short TikToks that did not qualify for the STEM Feed.
Once they learned about the STEM Feed, many said they would spend more time adapting their TikTok content to qualify.
Key Recommendation:
Launch marketing campaigns to raise awareness for the STEM Feed
3. [perceptions] educational Creators wanted the STEM Feed to expand beyond STEM topics to attract more like-minded learners and foster a stronger community with increased engagement.
Across platforms, educational creators valued the STEM Feed because it mirrored YouTube’s intentional discovery via search, where users sought out specific topics. In contrast, the FYP on TikTok felt too diluted, proving difficult to reach an educational community. The STEM Feed provided a dedicated space for like-minded users who were passionate about learning.
STEM Feed creators were open to expanding as well, viewing more educational content as beneficial to everyone in the learning community.
Because of this, many creators across YouTube and TikTok felt that only including STEM topics was too niche. They wanted to drive other learners onto the STEM Feed by broadening the topics to also include things like language, history, geography, etc.
Key Recommendation:
Consider expanding the STEM Feed to include broader educational topics, which will encourage a stronger community of engaged learners on TikTok.
Key Recommendations
🌍 Launch designs that highlight the social good educational creators bring to their audience. These quick, low-effort mockups can boost creator motivation while larger monetization and community strategies are in progress.
📋 Highlight and clarify STEM Feed guidelines so educational/STEM creators increase awareness of the STEM Feed and understand how to change their content to fit the criteria, therefore increasing creator supply.
🚌 Expand STEM Feed to include broader educational topics, which will encourage a stronger community of engaged learners on TikTok.
Impact
Launch of quizzes on STEM Feed
The product team is launching quizzes, which will allow creators a low effort way to track how many viewers are retaining the content in their educational videos.
High or increasing retention scores from their audience will provide a quick and easy way to track how much of an impact educational creators are bringing to their audience.
launch of in-app notifications and emails when a creator’s video qualifies for the stem feed
By notifying low volume STEM creators when their video qualifies for the STEM Feed, the product team aims to increase education of the guidelines in a celebratory way.
Directing STEM creators to the right information will allow for more videos to qualify for the STEM Feed, increasing the creator supply.
piloting expansion of educational topics in the stem feed in Australia
Results from this study guided the team to expand the STEM Feed to broader educational topics. The product team is piloting this strategic direction starting in Australia, including topics such as language, history, literature, etc.
After reviewing metics from the pilot in Australia, the product team will determine whether we should expand to other high priority markets.