Latest Social Network Sensation: TikTok Flies High, Sees Surge in Popularity

TikTok, a Chinese short-form video app, shot to fame after it witnessed rampant downloads across the world. In the United States alone it was downloaded 80 million times witha total of 800 million globally.

The platform was launched in 2016.

According to Sensor Tower, a mobile research firm, the figures mentioned above exclude Android users in China.

TikTok is finding a new ground; users usually tend to repost their videos across several platforms such as Twitter, Instagram etc. – this reflected an increase in popularity. The content is fascinating; users share videos, beautified with background music, of cooking, lip-syncing, dancing etc. apart from doing regular tasks such as shaving or brushing teeth.

According to an intelligence firm that tracks mobile apps, Apptopia, TikTok was downloaded more than Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and YouTube in the month of October this year. It’s learnt that the platform is way ahead in the number of downloads in November too.

“TikTok could be the first long-term successful social app in the United States owned and operated by an Asian company,” Apptopia wrote in a recent report.

TikTok’s revenue has more than tripled in the past year, according to Sensor Tower.

The celebrities and other social media influencers across the world have started to join the platform. Comedian Jimmy Fallon, skateboarding legend Tony Hawk and YouTube star Jake Paul all have accounts there.