TikTok: What Is It?

TikTok is an application that allows users to create, share, and discover videos. The app gives its users access to thousands of music tracks and dialogue options so they can lip sync, dance, and make entertaining videos. Some content creators simply just talk or make videos with their own photos to tell a story. TikTok users can make videos varying up to 30 seconds, 1 minute, and 3 minutes. The possibilities for self-expression are truly endless for creators on the platform.

TikTok is incredibly popular, boasting over 1 billion users and making it the fastest-growing social media app in the world. It was the most popular app in 2019 and 2020 and was downloaded 693 million times in 2019 and 850 million times in 2020. After its initial launch in 2017, TikTok became the 7th most downloaded app of the 2010s.

Background and Statistics

TikTok was originally launched in China in September of 2016, and gained traction quite quickly. ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, launched an International version the next year. Many Chinese apps have failed to succeed outside of China, like WeChat, but not TikTok. The app excelled into markets overseas through the acquisition of Musical.ly in November 2017. This alone added about 80 million users mostly in the United States. TikTok then imported these users to their platform.

TikTok has certainly had its fair share of controversies. India and Pakistan banned TikTok in 2019, but both rescinded after awhile. India then banned it again in 2020, along with more Chinese apps, and upheld the ban again in 2021. However, even with downloads slowing because of this, it remains an extremely popular app and continues to grow.

The annual user report, per TikTok Report, shows an increase of users each year since 2017, where it had around 65 million and has since grown to over 1 billion. Downloads of the app spiked in early 2020 due to the pandemic and the lockdowns.

The global age demographics are also consistent with what one might assume, with the percentage of users under 18 being 28%, users 19-29 being 35%, users 30-39 being 18%, and finally, users 39+ being 19%.

Marketing via TikTok

TikTok began as a fun way to share entertainment and record with friends and family, but it has grown into a full-blown marketing channel on top of being an entertainment platform. Brands are eager to collaborate with influencers, in hopes that those who follow these influencers will buy from their company. It is now near impossible to visit any social platform without seeing at least 1 advertisement and videos from multiple influencers trying to push a product or a service. TikTok’s layout actually makes it almost too easy for viewers to see influencer content with their “for you page” setup. This is where the app differs from that of Instagram or Facebook, because the majority of posts in your feed on platforms like Instagram and Facebook are from people you follow. TikTok, on the other hand, allows viewers to scroll through either an endless chain of videos from those they follow, or scroll through their “for you page,” which are videos based on content they like.

Conclusion

It will certainly be fascinating to see where TikTok goes in the next year or 5 years. We have seen apps similar to TikTok, like Vine, completely disappear. There are many other apps that quickly rose to fame and then disappeared as well. TikTok will definitely have to keep finding new ways to remain relevant in order to maintain popularity and growth. Brands keep looking to TikTok in order to market their products and services, so this could make a big difference for the platform in terms of brand engagements.

Overall, TikTok is an extremely addictive yet entertaining platform for all ages. It is still on the rise globally and for now, it looks like it’ll be here to stay. It will be exciting to watch the app grow even more over time.