Times are changing, generations are evolving and social media platforms are gradually transforming, and with them they bring forward different concepts and styles of consuming and using content. If for many the word TikTok represents the familiar sound of the clock that whispers the passage of time, for Generation Z it becomes a new virtual home, famous everywhere.
Shifting the focus from static, long-form content to a world where everything happens in as few seconds as possible and in the most concentrated dose, TikTok has quickly become the platform with the most surprising and striking level of growth and integration in a community eager for something new and different.
Launched in 2016, with more than 1 billion active users present and dispersed all over the world, including 689 million monthly active users, the app has been enthusiastically downloaded more than 2 billion times. Sitting firmly in front of platforms like LinkedIn, Snapchat, and even Twitter, TikTok has easily found a young and loyal community where collaboration and creativity are essential. Currently, TikTok is available in 155 countries and 75 languages.
Where it took Instagram 6 years to reach a similar number of users, TikTok required only half of that time, experiencing explosive growth especially during the COVID pandemic. Deprived of the human connection and interaction they were used to, young people found a new refuge in the constantly changing and exciting world of this platform.
Every day, a minimum of 52 minutes is spent on TikTok by users, becoming the most downloaded app in both 2020 and 2021. For the United States of America, the average age of users is between 10 and 29 years old.
Before the creation was the concept, and for TikTok the desire was from the very beginning to develop a platform dedicated to an audience under the age of 18, thus distinguishing itself from the other titans of social media. By analyzing and tracking the behavior and habits of the target audience, the creators gave users exactly what they wanted and lacked – total freedom of expression. Whether it’s singing your favorite song in your best friend’s bathroom, presenting a new special purchase, or simple chaotic trifles, TikTok provides its users with a dedicated space to be themselves. Anyone can create content, about anything. Unlike its competitors, TikTok is an entertainment platform and not a lifestyle one. Unfiltered reality, niche jokes, and the like that could easily be ridiculed elsewhere are encouraged here. Thanks to the accessibility of entering into conversation with someone else and taking part in their work through a “duet”, which allows collaboration with that content creator, barriers are raised and everyone is invited to have their say.
The format of the application is also designed in a unique way, which has inspired and determined numerous other platforms to make drastic changes – the swipe up. With a simple flick of your finger, the content flows continuously, constantly changing according to our interactions. The algorithm learns his preferences with the user, in order to then provide him with a curated interface, designed to keep him captivated for as long as possible. Having no limits and thus being able to scroll without stopping, you can easily and unnoticed in an infinite loop.
The platform’s impact has decentralized the usual order of content and the way it is consumed, all at once becoming short and direct video content. In just a few seconds or minutes, various ideas are exposed, new products to be tested or fragments of everyday life are shared. Instagram Reels is the TikTok-inspired version, with Instagram’s entire interface itself set to change radically, in the same similar infinite, uninterrupted scrolling format.
With a loyal community, composed mostly of young people, TikTok has been named the most impressive and fastest-growing platform of all time, also being one of the most downloaded apps worldwide in the last 3 years. Thus, it is not surprising that marketing agencies have started to dedicate time and content to this platform, where everything has a chance to go viral. The reach of the platform is substantially more visible and profitable, thanks to the massive number of users, familiar with everything that digital content means.
Brands choose to present new products through content creators who test them live with their own community, thus creating a natural, trustworthy opinion based on the creator’s words of encouragement. This sense of intimacy gives more value to these reviews, and the fear of being excluded from something so popular urges the immediate purchase of the products. With just one video, everything can change.
Bella Poarch, the user who currently owns the video with the most views (over half a billion) was catapulted into a life full of fame and popularity, precisely thanks to a simple viral video. In it, Poarch rhythmically nods and lipsyncs to a song for a few seconds – and nothing more. Now, enjoying notoriety, a famous song and various fans, she has become an example of the power that a simple post can have and its ability to radically transform your life.
From heated debates, innocent conspiracies, brand marketing, and snippets of the moments of the day, TikTok encompasses an amazing variety of content that has captivated the younger generation with overwhelming power. Every day, 90% of the users of this app access it, and the trends that matter are born here. Shifting the focus to focused and short content, without pompous words or excessive modifications, the new competitor in the digital content sphere has arrived and is ready to transform the foundation.
TikTok, TikTok – are you ready for change?
