As you can imagine there is quite a story behind TikTok’s rise as a social media giant, and it all starts with ByteDance.
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Launch and Expansion of Douyin
In September 2016 the Chinese company ByteDance launched its new app – Douyin. It was something they’d developed for only 200 days, yet it resonated with its audience due to its ability to create and share short 15 second videos.
At the time Vine was on its last legs, and Douyin neatly filled the void. Within a year, it grew to 100 million users in China.
On the heels of that success, ByteDance decided to expand Douyin internationally. As a result, TikTok was released internationally in September 2017, though the company kept the Douyin name for its Chinese app.
Purchase of Musical.ly
In November 2017, ByteDance decided to purchase Musical.ly. It was an app that also originated from China, but that had captured a more US-based audience. After it was purchased, TikTok consolidated both apps, and immediately grew by leaps and bounds.
The purchase of Musical.ly benefited TikTok in other ways too. A big part of the reason the Musical.ly platform was so successful is the fact that it brought major music companies onboard and licensed music for use on the platform.
TikTok continued that practice, allowing its content creators to create short videos set to background music without having to worry about legal issues. With the users it inherited from Musical.ly, it quickly became the most popular platform for ‘lip sync’ and dance videos.
Diversifying Content and Growing
Although TikTok became known for its musical emphasis, it quickly began to also encompass a wide range of other content. Many creators began to upload videos of comedy skits, pets, crafts, magic tricks, cooking, and various other hobbies.
The growth of TikTok continued, especially in countries outside China. Throughout 2018 it was constantly within the Top 5 most downloaded apps on Google Play and the Apple App Store.
Its popularity in both India and the US grew significantly in 2018 and 2019 too. Many celebrities started to download the app and publish videos, including people such as Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Jimmy Fallon, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The presence of these celebrities helped TikTok secure a firmer footing in the US.
Social Distancing Woes Help Growth
As of right now, 2020 has been a good year for TikTok. It managed to hit the 800 million users mark and cemented its position as the 7th most popular social media platform.
The current social distancing measures have only buoyed its popularity, and in the week ending 11th April it received the most Google searches compared to any other week since it launched. People around the world have warmed to the idea of TikTok challenges, and the app’s popularity has surged.
Whether or not the new users that TikTok has acquired over this period will stick around after the social distancing lockdowns end is unknown. However the one thing that is certain is that the app has a much wider exposure internationally than it did in the past.
To be perfectly honest the story of TikTok and its growth is unlikely to stop here. Odds are it is only a matter of time before the app is able to contend with the social media platforms that are currently ranked above it – and maybe even surpass them.