TikTok has been extremely popular among youths and this popularity has grown manifold in recent times. It is evident by the fact that the video-sharing app now has more than 1 billion monthly active users around the world. This is a remarkable number for an app that is neither owned by Google nor Facebook. TikTok, which is not very old, has achieved this feat despite facing scrutiny from several governments across the world. So much so that former US President Donald Trump’s administration had attempted to get it to shut in the United States. Though he didn’t succeed and was replaced by Joe Biden, there are countries that have completely banned the app. The Chinese-owned app is has been banned in India and is facing strict scrutiny from regulators of Europe.
These nations are worried about data privacy and have expressed their concerns openly. They are doubtful about the data collection practices of ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. Despite all the hiccups, the platform is gaining ground. One thing that apparently helped the company is the coronavirus pandemic. This is because more and more people were spending time on their phones as they were left with no choice but to sit in their homes and follow strict restrictions that were imposed to curb the spread of highly infectious diseases. It drew a large number of millennial and high-profile names from other platforms during the pandemic.
The popularity of the app can be gauged by the fact that it became the most downloaded app in the world during the first quarter of last year. According to an app analytics company, the app was downloaded 315 million times in that quarter. This also helped the company double its revenue in 2020 when compared to what it earned a year before. Reports suggest that the total revenue of the ByteDance was around USD 34.3 billion. If we talk about the total number of downloads the app has registered to date, the number is impressive 3.2 billion. Also, the video-sharing platform saw a surge of 25 percent in its monthly average users in August when compared to the same period last year. Thanks to the popularity of TikTok, ByteDance was recently valued at USD 425 billion.
TikTok has also taken several steps to attract new users and continued to update features to provide something new to its present users. For example, it rolled out the option that allows users to create longer videos. The feature, which allows, users, to make 3-minute long videos, was launched in July. Moreover, TikTok also announced USD 1 billion creator fund to encourage more people to use its platforms and provide content.
“More than 1 billion users from around the world are now coming to our platform every month. They come to be entertained and even learn or discover something new. We are honored to have an immensely diverse community. These creators soon transform into our favorite stars,” the company said in a blog post. It is pertinent to mention that several social media giants have copied TikTok to launch their own short-form video products. Facebook-owned Instagram has launched Reels last year. The company is promoting Reels like anything. The platform went on to declare that it is no longer a photo-sharing app. Similarly, Snapchat has also introduced its in-app TikTok clone. The feature, termed Spotlight, was launched in November.
Moreover, YouTube too entered into the short-form video sharing game by launching YouTube Shorts. But TikTok continued to grow. TikTok chief operating officer Vanessa Pappas has thanked users for making the platform so special. Meanwhile, TikTok has reportedly postponed its plans to go public. There are reports that the plan has been postponed indefinitely amid a crackdown on tech giants by regulators of China. Chinese regulators have taken a tough stand against what they call anti-competitive practices by tech giants.
Carolyn is a technology graduate and loves to write about anything related to technology as well as writes in others sectors. Carolyn is a professional writer with over 7 years of experience. Initially starting off as a programmer, Carolyn decided to combine her knowledge about technology and writing and that’s how she joined Reporter Expert.
