What Does POV Mean: Definitions and Examples

If you’ve ever wondered what POV means on TikTok or in text messages, you’ve come to the right place.

POV stands for ‘point of view’.

Initially a movie term, POV describes a shooting technique when a scene is viewed from the perspective of the camera or main protagonist.

The classic example is Terminator where we often see the scenes through the eyes of the cyborg assassin.

The POV camera is often used in sport broadcasts as well, showing the game from the perspective of a player.

For instance, we can see Formula 1 racing from the driver’s dashboard camera.

The same applies to various video games where we see the game world through the eyes of a player.

This type of shooting gives viewers the feeling of presence and almost first-hand experience. That’s very enticing, no wonder many creators started using POV techniques in their videos to engage their audience.

What Does POV Mean on TikTok

POV videos became especially popular on Tik Tok and Instagram.

Various creators invite their audience to literally follow them to beautiful locations, impersonate different characters, show what they are experiencing or communicate directly with their followers.

Here are some examples of POV videos on Tik Tok:

@alyssamckayyy impersonates ‘the rich girl parties during a pandemic’.

@alyssamckayyy #pov the rich girl parties during a pandemic. • top from @official_ivoryella ♬ wear ur masks – ALYSSA MCKAY

@joerauth_ impersonate a teacher who is pissed by his students’ exam’s results.

@joerauth_ He knows what’s going on #fyp #school #class #pov ♬ original sound – Joe rauth

@driplist invites her followers to go on the beach via elevator. (you can watch the video here).

@peternugget and his partner impersonate ‘pretty girls during Tik Tok Live’.

@peternugget who’s prettier me or her @Freda Ngo #fyp #pov #comedy ♬ original sound – peter nguyen

POV in music industry

Music industry also uses POV technique. For instance, One Direction’s video for their song Night Changes is shot from the perspective of girlfriends seeing their boyfriends’ attempt to make things perfect. What a treat for the band’s fans!

American singer Ariana Grande explores the idea of switching places with a lover in her song POV. In the track she admits that seeing herself through his eyes helped her to accept her ‘ugly’ and overcome her own insecurities. “I’d love to see me from your point of view”, – she sings in the main line of the song’s lyrics.