With new apps being added to the market every-day, one may ask how TikTok has become so popular so quickly? What has led to the rapid rise of this platform?
First things first, what actually is this big craze ‘TikTok’?
TikTok is a social media app which allows users to create and share short lip-synced, comedy videos of 3 to 15 seconds and looping videos of 3 to 60 seconds. The app was launched in 2017 and has fast become the source of entertainment for millions of people.
Two become one
TikTok has not always been TikTok; the original incarnation was Musical.ly. Musical.ly was founded in 2014 and after a steady flow of downloads, July 2015 was when Musical.ly hit the number one spot in the iTunes chart.
A Beijing-based tech company bought Musical.ly for £1billion, and the new owners eventually merged it into TikTok. While Musical.ly was solely music based, TikTok offers a broader spectrum of creativity, incorporating comedy, dance, fashion and food.
So how has it become so popular?
Overtaking many apps, TikTok now has 1 billion all-time downloads, and its popularity is still spreading!
With videos now being consumers’ favourite content type, we can see why TikTok is proving so popular, being solely video-based.
Other reasons TikTok may be so popular due to its unique elements, allowing everyone to be creative and share their creative expression through their videos. Along with a feed to view other users content with a unique algorithm. It’s also very user-friendly, with children begin able to use and understand the platform, it is popular with both children and adults.
Viral videos have helped TikTok’s popularity along the way, with users taking to Twitter/Facebook etc. to share these videos. Videos from TikTok show the brands logo, this spreads the word of TikTok and people wonder what other funny videos they can find on the app.
With videos now being consumers’ favourite content type, we can see why TikTok is proving so popular, being solely video-based.
TikTok gives us a glimpse into the future of social media, and it is becoming an ideal playground for influencer marketing. The influencer marketing scene is growing in regards to the app with TikTok reaching out to celebrities such as Kris Jenner, Charlie Puth and Paris Hilton to use their services and promote them on their social media. As well as big brands Calvin Klein and Sony using TikTok for their marketing campaigns. These campaigns are spreading, even more, brand awareness, with these influential figures using the app, others feel they’re missing out, and the downloads continue to increase!
Will this craze blow over? Nobody knows how loyal TikToks fans will be. The future of TikTok is uncertain, but what we do know is how powerful the app currently is, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime in the near future.