What Does POV Mean On TikTok?

Many terms used on TikTok and other social media platforms seemingly come out of nowhere. They’re often unique to young-skewing apps, and it’s virtually impossible to guess their meanings without context or regular exposure to Generation A (or Z) kids. “Gyatt” and “rizz” are two that are often used in TikTok posts. (Sorry, we’re not going to explain them here.)

Another term you see all the time on TikTok is “POV.” Unlike the others, though, POV isn’t unique to the social media world. It’s a term that’s been used by generations of writers and filmmakers to stand for “point of view,” describing something written from a first-person perspective or shot with a camera angle showing the narrator’s view of the action.

However, it often seems that every other TikTok video that scrolls through your feed has a title, caption, or text overlay that includes “POV.” What does it mean on the app?

The POV TikTok Trend

Many of the content creators labeling their TikTok content with “POV,” to be honest, are misusing it.

The correct use of the term is for a video that ostensibly reveals what someone observed from their perspective. For example, when a news report shows an unbroken, unedited 20-second video of a building collapsing, that’s what the cameraperson saw from their point of view — as it happened.

On TikTok, “POV” content is generally meant to be comedy or entertainment. Video shot from a user’s perspective, continuously showing her mother opening a closed front door and seeing her daughter’s face piercing for the first time, is legitimately “POV.” So is content shot by a camera hung on a dog’s collar; it shows what ground level looks like from the point of view of the dog.

Once POV videos became a trend on TikTok, though, users started incorrectly slapping the term on almost anything.

• You might see a post showing someone pacing and doing other strange or amusing things while staring at a phone, labeled “POV: I’m waiting for the phone to ring.” That’s not POV; POV video would just focus on the phone or other parts of the room from the user’s view.
• A similar video might show the phone from the user’s view but interspersed with closeups of a clock showing the passage of time. That’s not POV, either; no one’s point of view has editing effects in it.
• Some people even might grab a viral video of pratfalls and reuse it with captions like “POV — you’re having another awful day.” That’s not a point of view; it’s context meant to set up a funny post.

Here’s the bottom line.

True “point of view” videos are few and far between on TikTok (and other apps), but the term “POV” is used everywhere and anywhere to describe any scenario that the creator wants you to visualize. Even so, trying to correct peoples’ usage of the term is like trying to correct their grammar; it’s pointless.

“POV” is just one of many phrases and approaches used by TikTok users to try and attract attention to their posts — and it often works, even if the content they’ve posted isn’t really shot from their point of view at all.