With consumers cooped up at home amidst
the coronavirus crisis, more and more of us
are turning to our phones to fill our time and
stay in contact with loved ones. Though all
networks have reported an increase in user
engagement, it’s the viral video app TikTok
that has benefitted from lockdown the most,
passing the two billion user mark. But its
success poses new questions: how safe is the
new kid on the block, and what’s the future
of social media?
TWO BILLION USERS
In September 2018, TikTok celebrated hitting
500 million monthly users around the
world. In less than 18 months, the Chinese-
owned social network has quadrupled its
user base, at a time when rivals Twitter and
Facebook struggle to hold onto audiences
and see advertising revenues fall. Though the
global pandemic has no doubt increased the
app’s short-term popularity, TikTok’s climb
to the top has been brewing for a number of
years now.
Though TikTok doesn’t bring anything new to
the table - rivals Instagram and Snapchat have
offered the majority of the app’s features for
a number of years - the network’s algorithms
are designed for binge-watching. Rather
than following your friends and catching up
with loved ones, TikTok is all about content
consumption and instant gratification,
hitting you with the latest viral videos from
celebrities and micro-influencers as soon as
you open the app. And for those creators,
TikTok offers a unique suite of tools designed
to make content creation a breeze, whether