• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, December 28, 2020

How do you reach younger generations? Put the content on TikTok. The company not only hosted a live forum earlier this month to mark the UK's COVID-19 vaccine rollout, but also plans to host a virtual New Year's Eve celebration to help bring friends and family together as the world continues to battle COVID-19.

TikTok is saying #bye2020 and #welcome2021 with new visual technology and a live broadcast from the platform.

The first virtual New Year’s Eve celebration will allow spectators to ring in the New Year from their couches, while connecting to friends and loved ones.

On December 31, beginning at 9:30 pm ET on the TikTok account, the platform’s hosts Brittany Broski with 5.9 million followers and Lil Yachty with 5.6 million followers will kick off the live event, featuring musical performances, creators, Year on TikTok: Top 100 trend explainers, and special segments for social causes.

Jason Derulo, Saweetie, Aly & AJ, Tai Verdes, and others will perform. Cardi B, Liam Payne, Charli & Dixie D’Amelio and others will make special appearances, as well as the iconic Mick Fleetwood, who was born in 1947 and began his career in 1963, long before many TikTok users were born.

While he is not scheduled to perform on New Year's Eve, legendary artist Paul McCartney earlier this year, welcomed TikTok users into his studio for a revealing and whimsical peek behind the music he created for his most recent album McCartney III. 

TikTok also will introduce new visual effects for iPhone 12, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max. The effects — Snow Playground, and Confetti Celebration — are powered by the LiDAR Scanner technology, which adds depth-sensing capabilities for better images. The visual technology can immerse viewers deeper into the images. LiDAR, which stands for light detection, is new to Apple phones.

Allowing creators to become more creative, a smartphone with this type of LiDAR tech sends waves of light pulses rather than infrared dots and can measure each one with its sensor, creating a field of points that map out distances and can "mesh" the dimensions of a space and the objects in it.

The effect go live on December 26, allowing users with the new iPhone 12 to create unique videos in celebration of 2021.