The social media app TikTok continues to exert influence over an increasing number of people. Sensor Tower reported that the social video app has surpassed 1.5 billion downloads in the app stores, giving it a huge audience amidst fierce competition.
In 2018, TikTok was the fourth most downloaded non-gaming app in the world,with a record 655.8 million unique installs. In 2019, it added more than 614 million downloads, 6 percent more than it had at the same point last year.it’s growth speed has been spontaneous and intimidating, mocking other social media apps like Facebook that has constantly tried to push the Chinese investment aside.
The short video app has been a thorn in the flesh of Facebook from when the idea became widely appealing to young people. Instagram has failed to stay ahead in the short video business, giving Mark Zuckerberg a cause for concern that resulted in the attempt to clone TikTok. While Facebook is leading the download battle through other members of its family, TikTok has been doing the solo push to the top.
Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 14 (June 3 – Sept 2, 2024) begins registrations; get massive discounts with early registration here.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and invest in Africa’s finest startups here.
According to Analytics site Sensor Tower, TikTok crossed the 1 billion downloads back in February 2019. It took a space of less than nine months for the app to add 500 million to make the 1 billion mark, and about six months to add further 600 million downloads.
Its popularity has been heightened by three major countries – the US, India and China. India has been recently, the center of its proliferation, and has accounted for more than 31% of its downloads. China on the other hand, has become its second biggest market with over 11.5% downloads, while the US is responsible for over 8.2%.
Within three years, the video app has moved up to top ten in the rank of social media platforms, taking the seventh place ahead of YouTube and Twitter that have been around for much longer.
TikToks’s biggest threat has been the US’ Government’s interest in its activities on the excuse of national security concerns. TikTok was acquired by ByteDance, a Beijing-based technology in 2016, but had been on the radar of surveillance by the US authorities ever since then. However, that has not stopped it from pulling a surprise growth that has kept Facebook paranoid.
But it is apparent that the US government’s inquisition is stymieing the app’s growth in the United States, where a large number of Generation Z demographic have found a deep connection with the video features, and are dropping other video apps for it. Moreover, the appeal is catching interest from other countries and TikTok is poised to take advantage of that and extend its services to these countries. According to Global Web Index, 41 percent of TikTok users are aged between 16 and 24.
TikTok is available in more than 155 countries, and in 75 languages including 15 local Indian tongues. A push it is making to win more people around the world to make up for the seeming US apathy that has kept its growth in North America on check, though the number of US adult users of the app has been consistently on the rise since 2018. The number of US adults on TikTok doubled from 7.2 million in September 2018, to 14.3 million in just six months. Exponentially, the number grew 5.5 times, offering hope of further increase in the future.
The recent growth in its adult usage in the US has been attributed to Jimmy Fallon’s show that encourages audience to participate in different challenges created by the TikTok App. The interesting challenge has spurred a lot of interest and caused many people to download the App.
While video sharing has become a thriving social media business that has kept companies like YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat online for years now, TikTok seems to have found a new perspective that gives users a different taste from what other platforms have to offer.
TikTok is mainly designed for content creation, giving every user an opportunity not only to share contents but become creators of contents. The ease of creating one’s own content has become the force behind the drive.
However, TikTok’s success is drawing a lot of competition from video App startups such as Facebook’s Lasso and Chinese Douyin that is currently leading in China. Lasso is currently available in the US, Mexico and Colombia, but Facebook is reportedly planning to launch it in India to counter TikTok’s influence and expand Lasso’s reach.