Americans Are Spending 6% of Their Waking Hours on This Addictive App

TikTok (Douyin in China) was created in China in 2016. Since then, it has swept through the internet like wildfire and just continues to draw in users who were once loyal to other platforms. What started out as exclusively short-form video sharing has grown into a video platform with content that any user will enjoy.

#1 Most Popular App

TikTok is becoming the most popular social media platform in the world. Out of its 1.5 billion monthly active users, almost 30% of the users are aged 18–24. The runner-up demographic at 23.1% are users aged 25–34.

#2 Ban Attempts

TikTok was the most popular app in 2019 and 2020. Several governments have banned or are trying to ban it, like the U.S. It’s currently banned in India and Pakistan due to its “morality issues”. Most users are located in the Asia Pacific region (682 million), with 192 million in North America.

#3 Demographics

The highest percentage of users are male at 52%. TikTok has 1.6 billion users. In comparison, Facebook has 3 billion users (real and fake).

#4 Company Growth

TikTok’s annual revenue was $16.1 billion in 2023. It sticks out from other social media platforms with its use of music. Several musicians have been discovered on TikTok like Lil Nas X, Jack Harlow, Doja Cat, Tai Verdes, and Gayle.

#5 Music Industry

TikTok has turned the music industry upside-down and made music something that fans can participate in. TikTok can revitalize musicians and give them new, younger fans. Recent examples include “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now”,“Fast Car”, and “Running Up That Hill”.

#6 Industry Tactics

The music industry is trying to harness this power by paying influencers to create TikToks, starting a dance challenge, and posting segments of music videos. Most tactics don’t really work and don’t result in a monetary return.

#7 Indie Artists

Also, indie artists no longer have to “make it big,” to find their fans. Oftentimes, an artist can make money by playing for a curated audience. Musicians can grow and thrive and build a platform without the help of record labels. They can own their own work and keep the profits.

#8 TikTok Trends

TikTok trends have incredible power. One example is the “Quiet Quitting,” trend. Quiet Quitting refers to employees only doing the work they are paid to do, asserting hard boundaries, having a better work-life balance, and advocating for themselves. This has led to an attitude shift around corporate workplaces that are exploiting you.

#9 Eyes on Events

Another impactful phenomenon caused by TikTok is putting cameras on the world’s atrocities that were largely hidden from the global public square. The genocide happening in Gaza largely being recorded by Gazans who are trapped in the Gaza Strip and continue to show the war crimes that are being perpetrated against them. It has helped people realize that what they see in mainstream media is not always the truth.

#10 TikTok News

One-third of U.S. adults are TikTok users and a little less than one-half of U.S. users have ever posted a TikTok. And four in ten U.S. users say that their main news consumption comes from TikTok. And 58% of American users are women.

#11 Political Skew

In America, 41% of U.S. Republicans believe that TikTok is a national security threat, and six in ten news consumers on TikTok are Democrats, and only 14% of All Democrats believe TikTok is a national security threat.

#12 An Educational Tool

TikTok has been a really effective platform for science, medical, and public health communication. Doctors, scientists, doctors, therapists, and more use TikTok to share valuable information with the public. Besides the valuable information that they share, science communicators make critical income from the platform, that their industry jobs don’t provide.

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