3 THE USER CONTENT
PRODUCTION MODEL ON
TIKTOK
User-generated content (UGC) is primarily created by
ordinary users (such as students, office workers,
freelancers, etc.), small and medium-sized
businesses, and amateur creators. The creation
process mainly involves mobile phone shooting and
relies on Tiktok's built-in editing tools (such as
Jianying), special effects, filters, and music library to
complete. The main motivations for participation
include social sharing (recording life, expressing
individuality), entertainment interaction
(participating in popular challenges), and
monetization of traffic (through showcases, live
streaming for sales). The content covers daily life
(vlogs, food, pets), entertainment and humor (jokes,
imitations), talent displays (dancing, music covers),
and knowledge science (sharing personal
experiences). The duration is typically between 15-60
seconds, the content is straightforward and easy to
understand, aligning with the fast consumption habits
of the mobile internet era. It features fragmentation
and lightness, while also having strong social
attributes. Through features like "challenge," "duet,"
and "comment interaction," it fosters secondary
creation and social dissemination among users. UGC
contributes over 80% of the platform's content,
maintaining user activity and stickiness, serving as a
significant cornerstone of the platform's ecosystem.
Its low barrier to creation attracts a large number of
users, creating an "everyone creates" atmosphere,
driving the platform's organic growth, and resulting
in a traffic explosion (Hu, 2025).
Professional Generated Content (PGC) is
primarily composed of media organizations (such as
CCTV News, The Paper), film and television
production companies, professional MCN agencies,
vertical category influencers (like beauty bloggers,
tech bloggers), etc. Through team-based operations,
it encompasses the entire process of planning,
shooting, editing, and managing. Some use
professional equipment (such as cameras, lighting,
teleprompters) for creation. The monetization paths
mainly include advertising partnerships, brand
customization, knowledge payment, and live
streaming rewards, among others. The content
selection in this area is precise (such as industry
analysis, in-depth tutorials), and the production is
exquisite (high-quality video, dramatized scripts),
featuring characteristics of specialization and
refinement. It focuses on specific fields (such as
education, healthcare, automobiles), providing
systematic knowledge or solutions. At the same time,
through the creation of personas (like the family
comedy IP of "Crazy Little Brother"), user loyalty is
enhanced. PGC content enhances the depth and
diversity of platform content, attracts high-net-worth
users, and promotes the quality upgrade of the
platform. PGC content is also the primary
collaboration target for advertisers and brands,
supporting the commercial monetization of the
platform, thereby achieving a commercial closed
loop. Moreover, traffic levers like top PGC accounts
(such as "Zhang Classmate" and "Oriental Select")
can trigger phenomenon-level dissemination, driving
platform traffic growth (Ouyang & Dang, 2021).
Machine-generated content (MGC) provides
technical support through automatic editing software
(such as AI subtitles in Jianying, intelligent keying),
generative AI (such as Wen Sheng Tu, video
synthesis), and at the algorithmic application level,
content recommendation based on user behavior data,
as well as automated content distribution. Users can
simplify the creative process and engage in assisted
creation using AI tools. Platforms integrate public
materials (such as news, short video clips) through
algorithms to generate content, commonly seen in hot
news, film and video editing, etc. The use of MGC
content can lower the creative threshold, accelerate
content production, thereby improving efficiency to
some extent, and can also fill the gaps in timely
content (such as live events, breaking news) and long-
tail demands (such as niche knowledge Q&A) to
achieve scene coverage. However, it also faces
challenges such as copyright disputes and content
homogenization.
UGC (User-Generated Content), PGC
(Professional-Generated Content), and MGC
(Machine-Generated Content) work synergistically,
with UGC providing authenticity and community
vitality, PGC contributing professional value, and
MGC filling the gaps in efficiency and timeliness to
achieve content complementarity. The platform
further promotes the upgrade of UGC to PGC through
traffic support measures (such as the "Newcomer
Support Program"), while empowering UGC creation
with MGC tools to realize an ecological cycle.
Additionally, the platform's recommendation
mechanism distributes content of all three types based
on user profiles, forming a content matrix that
combines "mass appeal + vertical deepening + real-
time hot topics." Tiktok's content production model is
built upon UGC as the foundation, PGC as the
standard, and MGC as the engine, creating a content
ecosystem that is broad, deep, and timely. In the