It’s the app that has taken the world by storm. But what exactly is Tik Tok, and why should you care?
Take a look at these statistics to see why at the very least you need to know what this app is:
Tik Tok statistics as of April 2020:
- The app has over 1.5 billion downloads
- It has 800 million active monthly users worldwide.
- Reached its first billion as recently as February 2019.
- Users on average spend 52 minutes per day on the app.
- 41% of Tik Tok users are aged between 16 and 24.
There are two types of people in this world. Those who are obsessed with Tik Tok, and those who don’t know what it is. So for those who don’t know prepare to be enlightened.
Tik Tok is a highly, HIGHLY addictive content creation app. It allows users to create and share videos ranging between 5 and 60 seconds. It is available on both IOS and Android.
It offers a wide range of sounds, songs and effects giving users creative licence to make whatever they want.
The app launched in August of 2018 and has been widely successful. It is owned by Chinese Company ByteDance and is one of the fastest growing social media platforms in the world.
Many celebrities have jumped on the bandwagon. Everyone from Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande to Lizzo and Elton John are on it.
The app has two main functions: to watch videos, or to create them.
Watching videos is made extremely easy by the endless sequence of curated videos in the ‘For You’ page. These videos are selected for you, using an algorithm based on your location, demographic and what content is viewed/enjoyed the most.
Viewing the next video is done by swiping up. Otherwise, you can explore videos by use of hashtags or selecting the user to view their page.
Alternatively, clicking on the soundtrack of a video directs you to videos also made with that same soundtrack. This is how trends are started.
Tik Tok trends are the main reason so many videos are made and viewed. People view videos and try and re-create them. Think of it like a celebrity wearing a particular outfit and suddenly everyone is trying wear it also. It’s the same with Tik Tok trends.
Some of the most popular Tik Tok trends are:
Dance Videos: Long gone are the days of playing Just Dance in the loungeroom. Its replacement? Tik Tok dances. People are devoted to learning these challenging, short but fast dances. If you’re really talented, you can just learn by copying, otherwise there are dance tutorials posted that breakdown the moves.
Lip Sync: Similar to musicl.ly, this laughter inducing trend of lip syncing where users take snippets of movies, tv shows or videos and put their own twist on them.
Nature/Travel: Destination envy is brought to an all time high with this trend. Users can post their top travel tips, secret destinations and the ultimate tropical bucket list.
Recipes: Users can post drool-worthy recipes, giving a quick and simple video run-through of how to make anything from pesto gnocchi to watermelon margaritas.
Animal Videos: Videos include: clumsy puppies, fluffy ducklings, sassy cats and even the odd llama. There is no shortage of adorable animal videos on this app.
Ultimately, Tik Tok has totally reinvented what a social network can be. It celebrates creativity, collaboration and originality. It brings people together form all over the world.
Figures show that its only going to get bigger and better but beware, once you start Tik-Toking… it’ll be hard to stop.
