Maci

Written by Maci

Modified & Updated: 30 Dec 2023

Sherman Smith

Reviewed by Sherman Smith

Facts About Tiktok

Since its launch in 2018, Tiktok has taken the world by storm. Downloaded over 2 billion times on both the App Store and the Google Play Store, Tiktok has bred a new generation of entertainment

Today, the app has created a community where millions of people share videos of themselves or others. You could think of any topic, and there’s probably a known Tiktok creator for it. Find out more about this famous video-sharing app with these cool Tiktok facts.

  1. The app Tiktok was initially released as Douyin in China in September 2016.
  2. TikTok launched globally in August 2018 after merging with a similar app called Musical.ly.
  3. The app comes in 75 different languages.
  4. On iOS phones, the downloaded app takes around 300 MB worth of storage space.
  5. In June 2020, Kevin Mayer became the new CEO of Tiktok.
  1. In China, the Tiktok app is known as Douyin and is owned by the company ByteDance.
  2. Tiktok is popularly known for creating looping and creative videos that typically last 15 seconds.
  3. Tiktok and Douyin have similar user interfaces, but neither has access to the other’s contents. 
  4. As of April 2020, Douyin has reported having approximately 500 million monthly active users. 
  5. The servers that Tiktok uses are based on the market where the app is available. 
  6. The Tiktok app has been banned in several countries such as India and Pakistan.
  7. The Tiktok app also has global offices in many other countries such as the United States and the European Union. 
  8. In 2018, many celebrities such as Jimmy Falon have begun using the popular app and creating content on it.
  9. In September 2019, Tiktok announced a partnership with the National Football League.
  10. The main feed on the Tiktok app is called the “For You” page which recommends videos based on the user’s history.
  1. While they have the same parent company, Tiktok and Douyin are considered to be different apps.
  2. Tiktok allows a user to follow content creators on the app and share their videos with others.
  3. Tiktok has reported that there are now over 700 million users globally as of July 2020.
  4. In August 2020, President Donald Trump announced that he would ban Tiktok in the United States. 
  5. In January 2018, Tiktok ranked in first place among the free downloadable apps on app stores in Thailand and several other countries.
Table of Contents

Tiktok had an average of 1 million views per day during its first year.

During its global release in 2018, Tiktok accumulated an average of over 1 million views on videos per day during its first year. In 2019, this average gradually increased – making it one of the most viral apps of all time. 

Many statistics also show that the app’s Western market heavily influenced its large user base. By the end of its first year, Tiktok gained over 1 billion views on its content. 

In May 2020, a controversy between Youtube creators and Tiktok creator began.

Since its release in 2005, YouTube has become the top video sharing platform in the world with a community of users and creators. However, the release of platforms like Tiktok led YouTube creators to criticize the influx of “lazy” content. 

Due to this, many YouTube creators began a trend where they would sit in front of a camera and react unkindly to viral Tiktok videos and poke fun at them. More popularly, the trend caught on thanks to a YouTuber called the Roast King of India. 

As of 2019, more adults in the United States have been joining Tiktok.

According to statistics, around 26.5% of the 500 million monthly active users on Tiktok come from the United States for both Android and iOS devices. 

While Tiktok’s user base is predominantly made up of younger age groups, statistics show early signs of a shift to an older demographic as the app ages. This could also imply that users grow with Tiktok rather than deleting the app once they reach a particular age. 

Tiktokers can interact with other content creators by using the ‘Duet’ feature.

The Duet feature on Tiktok allows a user to reply to a particular video with a video itself to show their reactions, imitate dance moves, or add creative effects to interact with the original video. The usual Tiktok duet displays both videos side to side. However, users can also interact with the Duet itself.

When a user adds their own content into the mix, it creates a Duet Chain. Simply put, Duets are also one of the main ways users can engage in Tiktok challenges and the whole community. 

Around 34% of all users post each day on Tiktok.

Compared to other social media platforms, Tiktok has a much higher engagement rate than Instagram, Snapchat, or Facebook. As of January 2020, around 34% of users actively post an average of one Tiktok per day. 

Because of this high user engagement rate, it is also easier to gain followers and likes on Tiktok than on any other social media platform. This also means that active content creators will experience a steady growth on their account thanks to the special algorithm of the Tiktok app. 

Facts About Tiktok
Source: Pexels

One of Tiktok’s most successful accounts belongs to a girl named Charlie d'Amelio.

As of September 2020, Charli d’Amelio has over 92 million followers on Tiktok and has an average of 20 million views on her Tiktok videos. Her main content consists of short stand-in-place dances where she is found to collaborate with many other large Tiktok personalities such as Addison Rae and the Lopez Brothers. 

After she gained popularity on the video-sharing app, she started creating content on other platforms such as YouTube and Instagram. While the Tiktok app does not have an official mascot, many consider Charli d’Amelio as the face of Tiktok for being one of the biggest content creators on the platform. 

Tiktok makes use of Artificial Intelligence to calculate which video posts are more likely to go viral.

On Tiktok, there are numerous ways for a content creator to go viral. Much like Twitter, Tiktok has hashtags that can recommend your content to people searching for specific niches or trends. 

Additionally, Tikok’s algorithm considers the lighting, sound, and the movement detected in each Tiktok. Other settings such as a user’s language preference and account settings may also affect how well or how poorly a video does on your account. 

Users on Tiktok can share videos and messages using the in-app messaging system.

The in-app messaging system allows users to send and receive texts to another user when they mutually follow each other. Followers may also message an account that can later be approved by the other party if they want to interact with the user. 

This allows larger content creators to properly filter their inbox and hide spam from other users. On the messaging feature, users can also exchange links, photos, and stickers like most other platforms. 

The parent company ByteDance paid roughly around 800 million to 1 billion USD to Musical.ly

Despite keeping the exact amount confidential, Tiktok has allegedly acquired Musical.ly for around $800 million at the least. Additionally, some have also estimated that ByteDance had paid nearly 1 billion dollars to attain all of its resources and rights legally. 

Users can follow each other’s accounts using the in-app QR code scanner.

More popularly known as TikCodes, a Tiktok QR is a unique code assigned to each user when they first create their account. This QR code helps users find a particular account faster and more accurately compared to searching for their usernames on the app itself.

To find your QR code, simply go to your profile and go to the Privacy and Settings page. Under the account tab, the QR code can be found on the bottom where it can be scanned or screenshot and shared for other people to find your account easily. 

Facts About Tiktok
Source: pexels

Users can also view how well their videos are doing by using the Tiktok analytics feature.

You can activate Tiktok analytics for free to track your content. By showing your audience reach, average watching time, the total views, and its traffic source, this feature can help you grow your audience. 

This feature can be activated by going into the user’s settings and switching to the pro account feature. Upon activation, analytics can be viewed on both desktop and mobile versions of the Tiktok app within 24 hours of posting a Tiktok. 

The original Tiktok app, Douyin took around 200 days to develop.

Released in China on 2016, Duoyin took a total of 200 days to develop and complete. Within the year of its initial launch, the Tiktok app had already attracted over 100 million users with an average of 1 billion videos viewed each day. 

By the end of 2018, Tiktok had already gained a large following and a global audience. Today, Tiktok now has over 300 million monthly active users and over billions of videos to view from people all over the world. 

Tiktok users can also log into their accounts on their personal computers.

As of 2020, Tiktok has enabled users to log into their account through the official web client via desktop devices. Additionally, the feature also allows users to upload, view Tiktoks, and analytics on the desktop client. 

In turn, this also allows content creators to upload more polished videos and content of better quality from their computers

Tiktok collects all kinds of data on your phone based on your activity on the app.

Tiktok has quickly grown as one of the biggest video-sharing platforms of the 21st century. As such, many concerns have grown regarding its data privacy policy and how much of the information it gathers is used. 

According to official sources from Tiktok, the app collects data such as location tracking, browsing and search history, device types, and in-app messages. 

In 2020, Tiktok released a new feature that informs users about events relating to the Coronavirus pandemic.

In light of the coronavirus pandemic, the app included a feature with daily updates regarding the local and global status of the Covid-19 virus. The feature also helps inform its users on how to stay healthy during the pandemic and how to avoid the spread to other people. 

This feature also started a trend where Tiktok users would spread awareness on how to prevent the spread of the virus.

Facts About Tiktok
Source: Pexels

The Tiktok app is available in over 154 countries.

Out of Tiktok’s 800 million active users, around 150 million is estimated to come from China where the original app, Douyin, was established. 

Additionally, the Tiktok platform has been especially welcomed in several other Asian countries such as Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand

One of the main means of revenue Tiktok has is through Ad Revenue.

As of 2020, Tiktok has several methods of attaining revenue from its platform. A small percentage of its total revenue comes from advertisements that are custom depending on which server the app is connected to. 

Another source Tiktok has is through in-app purchases ,which can range from $0.99 up to $99.99 and grants coins to users which they can use to support other content creators on the platform. Additionally, Tiktok can also monetize videos and sign partnerships with content creators as another source of revenue.

The majority of the downloads for the Tiktok app have been on Apple devices.

As of the first quarter in 2019, Tiktok has ranked as the most downloaded app on the iOS App Store with over 33 million total downloads on Apple devices. This surpassed downloads for other popular apps such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, and more from the top 10 apps. 

For five quarters, Tiktok has continuously remained as one of the topmost downloaded apps on the iOS App Store and the Google Play Store as well. The first quarter of 2019 also marks another average increase of new users counting up to 70% of new users among the download count at this time. 

Users can upload videos from their smartphone’s gallery to Tiktok.

Tiktok allows its users to upload image files and video files from its user’s smartphone gallery and media files from desktops. Users can also upload audio from their devices to the app to use as background music in their Tiktok videos. 

Additionally, this can also be used by other users later on when the video has been uploaded. 

In some countries, Tiktok has a steady growth in young adult users than teenage users.

During its global release, Tiktok attempted to mainly attract the US teenage market previously active on the Musical.ly app. However, Tiktok has seen steady increase in users among young adults and those in their mid-20s over time. 

Around 41% of Tiktok’s most active users from the United States are aged between 16 to 24 years old. 

Facts About Tiktok
Source: Pexels

Users can also make slideshow videos on Tiktok and post them.

As of 2019, Tiktok has a total of 3 different layouts for making videos on Tiktok. The first layout features a default length of 15 to 30 seconds.

The second layout allows users to make videos up to 1 minute long, while the final layout allows its users to create a slideshow using images saved onto the selected device. For Tiktoks slideshows, users can upload between 2 to 13 photos with various templates to choose from.

Around 20% of the total revenue made by Tiktok comes from the United States.

Among the several countries that the Tiktok app is available in, the United States ranks as the platform’s highest source of revenue. In 2019, the total revenue that Tiktok had accumulated from its non-Chinese sources totaled to around $176.9 million. Meanwhile, 20% of its contribution comes from its users from the United States at 36 million dollars. 

Before the introduction of advertisements in the app, Tiktok also made revenue through other in-app purchases such as special stickers for messaging and digital gifts. 

All videos that a user has ‘liked’ can be viewed on their profile page in the second tab.

This page can be either made public or private according to the user’s preferences that can be toggled through the profile settings on the mobile app. Videos on Tiktok can also be saved in the ‘favorites’ where it can be separated from a user’s ‘liked’ videos. 

This compilation of liked videos also helps the app’s artificial intelligence better recommend videos catered towards the tastes of the user. When a Tiktok video is liked or blocked from a user’s For You Page, this allows the Tiktok AI to select a handful of videos with similar content. 

A user’s total amount of likes they have received can be found on their profile page.

Unlike other social media applications, Tiktok compiles a user’s total number of received likes on their videos on their profile page. This allows users to determine how successful an account is in terms of the followers to likes ratio. 

Additionally, this also determines how well a content creator on Tiktok can initiate social engagement with other users on the app. 

Facts About Tiktok
Source: Pexels

Many dance trends and songs have gone viral thanks to the Tiktok app.

Due to the flexibility that Tiktok grants its users, many viral social media trends have successfully grown since the launch of the global release of the app. It has also been found that many songs from independent artists and existing musicians have also gone viral on music sharing apps such as Spotify thanks to Tiktok’s free use of audio content. 

Because Tiktok also focuses on music used for videos, many viral dance trends and lip-syncing videos have also become a trend on the platform. Additionally, audio from any form of media can also be used on Tiktok such as TV dialogue and live recorded media. 

Posting during a specific hour of the week can help your videos be shown more on Tiktok.

According to 2020 statistics, there are peak times on the platform where a video will be more likely to generate views than any other hour. Generally, it is considered best to post between the hours of 6 to 10 in the morning and at 7 to 11 in the evening in Eastern Standard Time. 

Additionally, these times may also vary depending on what day of the week it is at the time and occasions such as holidays. Statistics show that posting on Tuesdays at 9 in the morning typically generates the highest levels of engagement on the platform and at noon on Thursdays as well.

As of January 2019, the Tiktok website has an estimated 1 million Daily Page Views.

Since the enabling of video uploads and analytic viewing on the website of Tiktok, more and more content creators have been shifting between its mobile and desktop platform. On average, the Tiktok website now has over 1 million daily page views as of the 5th of January in 2019.

Additionally, the web version of Tiktok also shares several features that the mobile app has with many other additional features such as compiling Tiktok songs into a personal playlist.

Tiktok allows its users to share videos with others in the format of a GIF.

Apart from enabling a feature that allows users to add GIFs to their videos, Tiktok is now also letting its users share their favorite Tiktok videos to friends in the form of GIFs themselves. To do so, simply select the desired Tiktok video to share and click on the share button on the bottom of the right side of the screen. 

Once this is selected, users can scroll through the end of sharing options and select the icon that is marked GIF. After selecting this, users can select the frames in the video that they wish to convert and send them to the selected contact on several platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, and many more. 

Using the timer feature on Tiktok will allow a user to record videos without touching the screen.

Users on Tiktok can record videos using two methods. The first is by holding down on the record button as they shoot their subject, while the second one uses a timer feature that will automatically start the recording until a selected point in time. 

Users can also adjust the countdown before it begins recording on its own. If a mistake was made while the recording is ongoing, it can be stopped by tapping the record button on the screen and adjusting the timer once more. 

Facts About Tiktok
Source: pexels

Tiktok is statistically used by more women than men in the United States.

As of June 2020, Tiktok statistics show that 58.8% of its active users are of the female gender while the remaining 41.2% are men. Additionally, the female group also consisted of more people aged between 20 to 29 years of age than those aged 13 to 19.

These users also make up 81.7% of the Tiktok app’s female user base that uses the app on Android platforms as well.

On average, Tiktok users spend around 52 minutes on the app daily.

As of 2019, the daily average time spent by users on the app is 52 minutes per 24-hour interval. These users also visit the app multiple times in a day and share content among friends and on other platforms as well. 

This information can be considered most valuable to those attempting to profit from Ad revenue and is good statistics to use when coming up with marketing plans for brands that are on Tiktok. 

Facebook attempted to compete with Tiktok by releasing a feature called Lasso.

In 2018, Facebook released a new app called Lasso to compete with Tiktok after its global release. Like Tiktok, Lasso shares many similar features that Tiktok has that can appeal to content creators from other different platforms. 

However, due to Tiktok’s steady growth in both China and its international market, Lasso was unable to successfully take the lead from Tiktok. Many also believe that is so due to Musical.ly already having set a trend previously before it was bought out by the ByteDance company. 

The Discover Page allows a user to view all currently trending tags on the Tiktok app.

On this page on the Tiktok app, users can find all local trending hashtags and trends that they can use to help get their Tiktoks discovered by more people. By using these popular hashtags, people can also easily find your videos on the platform which also makes it a popular strategy for social media influencers and content creators. 

Some content creators on Tiktok also create brand hashtags for their name that connect them to their brand, which also creates a sense of community among their fans. A few examples of these include the popular Hype House tag on Tiktok which features some of the most viral content creators on the platform. 

Content creators on Tiktok can now make money with their videos.

There are several ways on how to make money on Tiktok. As of 2020, verified content creators can now monetize the videos they post on Tiktok much similar to how monetization works on other social media apps such as Instagram. 

Users can also earn money from Tiktok by using their own produced music or audio if they are a verified artist on music platforms such as Spotify, YouTube, or a known distributor of music. Other users can also be sponsored by Tiktok to generate more views and get paid a certain amount per 1,000 views. 

Facts About Tiktok
Source: Pexels

There is a list of criteria that a user must meet before being verified on Tiktok.

Unlike other social media platforms, there is no currently available way to request for verification on Tiktok. However, if an account has a consistent follower growth with an average of 500 to 2,000 followers per day, the Tiktok algorithm will automatically detect this and review your account if it is eligible for verification. 

These accounts should also have a growing watch average time and produce consistently viral content. Having a verified account on other social media platforms such as Instagram or Twitter is also a quicker way to get your Tiktok account verified as well. 

Over 1 billion videos were viewed in total on Tiktok in 2019.

The growing popularity of Tiktok has been well known since its global release in 2018. As of 2019, Tiktok continues to reach numbers that have yet to be achieved by other popular social media platforms.

By the end of 2019, the app was able to generate over 1 billion total views on the app and over hundreds of thousands of new active users. Many believe that this may be due to the popularity of the Musical.ly in the western market before it being bought out by ByteDance. 

Tiktok focuses on showing the user local videos and trends that are rising in popularity.

For users to have a more personalized experience on Tiktok, the algorithm on the app automatically registers the device’s current location to give users a look into the local Tiktok trends happening around them. In turn, this also allows users to interact with other local creators and collaborate with them and the community. 

Comments from other users may be filtered on a video depending on the account owner’s settings.

Due to the rising numbers of active users on Tiktok, the community on this platform has become quite diverse in terms of content posted on the app. As a means of protecting its creators and audiences on Tiktok, the app has a special feature that filters out specific words that may be considered offensive or hurtful by most groups. 

Additionally, a user may also opt to turn off public comments on their Tiktoks overall to prevent negativity in the comments section of their videos.

Tiktok has an in-app currency that users can use to send gifts to other creators.

Similar to the Twitch currency, users can now send Tiktok coins to their favorite creators on the platform to support them and their videos. This currency can act as a form of a digital gift that can be donated or given to anyone on the app. 

Since 2019, Tiktok has grossed approximately $75 million from in-app currency sales which indicates the increasing popularity of the feature on the platform. When a Tiktok user receives this gift, it can be converted into a real currency where many content creators on the app rely on to make a living from their social media platforms. 

Source: pexels

Around 43% of videos on Tiktok are lip-syncing videos made by its users.

During both the initial and global release of the TikTok app, many users continued to follow trends from previous short video-sharing apps such as Musical.ly and Vine. These videos mainly consisted of lip-syncing videos where users would attempt to speak out the lines from the selected audio which makes it appear as if they are the ones speaking themselves. 

This trend also popularized several audio clips found on the app and have also become viral memes in the modern-day pop culture communities. Other trends also include lip-syncing to a song to appear as if the user is singing the song themselves.

If you click on the audio on a Tiktok, you can see all other videos that have used that sound.

Tiktok has several features that help users navigate the app effortlessly and find exactly what it is that they are looking for. Apart from the use of hashtags, users can also view what many people are doing with particular audio on Tiktok to help them determine popular trends and videos on the platform. 

Additionally, users can now also save the audio for later use by adding it to their favorites or liking the video itself and viewing it again later on. From here, the audio can be simply added to a blank recording screen where users can now make their Tiktoks using the sound they saved. 

Tiktok allows its users to link their other social media accounts on their profile page.

Tiktok enables its users to add a clickable link on the bio of their profile pages that lead their followers to their other social media accounts such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitch, Spotify, and many more. This is a popular feature that is used among brand manages and social media influencers who are looking to expand their following on Tiktok. 

Additionally, another website called LinkTree can easily guide followers to all of your social platforms with just one click of a button. 

Around 90% of users on Tiktok will use the app multiple times throughout the day.

In 2019, statistics from Tiktok shows that 9 out of 10 users will open the app multiple times during the day and watch Tiktok videos or make content. Additionally, Tiktok also states that 90% of its active users will open the app daily as well. 

Sharing habits have also been recorded and show that active users mainly prefer to watch videos rather than make their own and post them despite the creative freedom that Tiktok grants its users. 

Tiktok accounts can be set to either private or public.

By setting your Tiktok account to a private one, your Tiktok videos will no longer be seen publicly by those who are not following your account. Setting your Tiktok account on private will also limit the messages you will also receive from accounts that you are not following. 

However, your profile photo, bio, and your username will still be visible to all users on the platform. Additionally, other users can see comments that you post on public videos as well. 

Source: Pexels

Tiktok is considered to be one of the world’s most valuable start-up companies.

As of 2020, Tiktok is valued over $100 billion among private share markets which makes it one of the highest-ranking start-up apps in the world. Statistics also show that since its global release to the western market in 2018, Tiktok has increased its value by approximately 33% in just two years. 

Additionally, the Chinese version of the app is also valued at a much higher price in terms of stock trades at around a $105 billion. 

The Tiktok app offers a wide array of editing options and filters.

On Tiktok, content creators can enjoy several built-in editing tools that they can use on their videos to add effects, increase and decrease video speed, add filters, stickers, and many more. Tiktok also allows its users to voice over their videos using their device’s microphone during the editing process of the Tiktok. 

Content creators can also add text to their videos and create their custom thumbnails as well. Lastly, Tiktok also allows its users to edit the audio and sound effects that are used in your Tiktok videos before posting them. 

Tiktok has stated that any videos that violate its community guidelines will be taken down.

In July 2020, Tiktok took down over 49 million videos on its platform for violating its community guidelines and rules. The videos were taken down on the platform also represented less than 1% of the total content uploaded on the platform during this year.

Tiktok stated that these videos that were taken down were mostly in violation of posting sexual videos and displaying acts of nudity, violence, or illegal behavior among those under legal age. Videos that showed harassment, strong violence, and hate speech were taken down as well for violating the community guidelines of the platform, with around 16 million videos from India. 

The main feed on Tiktok is divided into two different pages.

When opening the Tiktok app, the main page is divided into two sections called the For You page and the Following Page. The For You page is managed by the artificial intelligence of the app that suggests videos to the user based on their activity on the app. 

The more that a user goes on the app, the more it will recommend similar videos that the user has liked and shared. Additionally, the Following Page is a collection of the latest Tiktok videos from accounts that the user is following so that they can easily find new content from their favorite creators. 

Instead of sharing a video, Tiktok users can also download other content creator’s videos.

Tiktok offers various methods of sharing its content to its users via in-app direct messaging, link sharing, and even by saving the selected video on their device’s storage. To download a Tiktok on the app, users can simply just press down on a Tiktok they like and select the download button. 

Once this has been selected, the app will automatically begin downloading the selected video and request permission for it to store it onto your device’s storage space. However, some accounts may also prevent other users from downloading their content directly and instead force others to share their videos using the built-in sharing system on Tiktok. 

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