How well do you know TikTok? 11 interesting facts

Since its founding in 2016, TikTok has taken the world by storm like almost no other app. Even in 2024, the short-form video platform has become an indispensable part of the social media landscape. Find out how TikTok achieved this rapid rise and why so many creators, influencers, and companies are using its unique features.

TikTok’s still-young success story began in 2016 with the launch of Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. The app, developed by Zhang Yiming and his company ByteDance, quickly gained popularity throughout China.

To expand TikTok’s reach in the international market, he decided to merge Douyin with another Chinese app. Following the merger with Musical.ly, TikTok experienced a global breakthrough in 2018. The combination of short videos and music proved to be very popular and took the world by storm, especially during the COVID-19 lockdown. Within four years, TikTok had nearly reached the top and is now competing with global players like Facebook and Instagram.

We’ve compiled the 11 most important facts about TikTok that you should know about this social media giant in 2024.

Although most social media platforms, such as Facebook (2004), YouTube (2005), and Instagram (2016), have been around for years, TikTok has quickly become a major competitor and the fifth most popular social media platform worldwide.

With 1.7 billion monthly active users, TikTok now has more users than Snapchat and Twitter combined. When you include the Chinese version, Douyin, it becomes clear that the platform has an even broader global reach.

Good to know: 9 out of 10 internet users use social media.

To better understand the algorithm, you should first take a closer look at the structure of the FYP (For You Page). Similar to Instagram’s Explore page, the FYP is a never-ending feed of content that TikTok’s algorithm believes will be of interest to users.

There are various factors that influence which content the algorithm shows users. These factors are weighted and evaluated differently.

1. User activity: The algorithm primarily takes into account how long users watch a video and how often they replay it. However, likes, comments, and shares also play a role.
2. Text: SEO is playing an increasingly important role on TikTok. TikTok analyzes text from descriptions, bios, and hashtags, as well as text written on videos. Relevant keywords help you reach the right target audience and provide context for the algorithm.
3. Location and Language: TikTok increasingly shows posts in the country where the account is located. The language used in the text or in speech also influences which posts are shown.
4. Audio and Video Effects: When a trending sound or effect is used, the algorithm shows the video more frequently to people who have already interacted positively with that trend.
5. “Not Interested” Feedback: The most significant negative factor is when users swipe the video away immediately. The “Not Interested” feature also ensures that fewer videos of this type will appear on the FYP in the future.

Source: Later – TikTok Algorithm

More than half of all TikTok users are from Eastern Europe and Asia. This figure does not include the nearly 500 million Douyin users. Among European countries, Germany ranks first with nearly 20 million users, although this represents a smaller percentage of the population than in France, Italy, or Spain, for example. Even Switzerland, with its 2.6 million users, exceeds Germany’s percentage with a rate of 29.6%.

Nearly 40% of Americans use TikTok—that’s more than 130 million people in the U.S. alone. However, that doesn’t make the U.S. the country with the highest average number of TikTok users.

Saudi Arabia holds this position with an astonishing 64.9%.

TikTok is used primarily by minors and young adults. But the combination of short videos, music, and text isn’t just popular with younger generations. More and more members of Gen X and Gen Y are jumping on the bandwagon and scrolling through the feed.

The short-video platform has long since taken off in Switzerland and is used here primarily by Gen Z and Gen Alpha. However, the numbers show that users over the age of 35 already account for one-fifth of the total user base in Switzerland.

While it doesn’t support as many languages as Duo, TikTok is still available in over 70 languages and 155 countries.

Duo, Duolingo’s mascot, became a true internet sensation more or less overnight thanks to TikTok.

Since the green owl took over the account, it has garnered 5.4 million followers and over 100 million likes to date. A prime example of effective marketing on TikTok.

But the little music note isn’t a hit everywhere. In India, the short-video platform has been blocked since 2020. As a result, TikTok lost over 200 million users.

In 2020, TikTok also faced heavy criticism in other countries over issues such as inadequate protection for youth and children. Nevertheless, TikTok’s image rebounded from this.

Every video has the potential to go viral—even without a large following or a track record of success on TikTok.

Unlike on other social media platforms, the TikTok algorithm doesn’t just look at the number of followers or the total number of likes. In theory, even a video from an account with no followers or likes can go viral. So what are you waiting for?

Most people who have been on TikTok for a while know that the app is highly addictive. It’s never been easier to get lost in the endless feed of funny, authentic, and creative posts and lose track of time.

With 1,250 minutes per month and 90% of users opening the app at least once a day, it’s no wonder that TikTok has one of the highest usage rates of any platform. It’s no coincidence that 50% of all users have posted at least one video: the app motivates users and encourages the community to get involved.

With over 3.5 billion downloads, TikTok was the most downloaded app in 2021 and the first quarter of 2022.

Most of the top 10 apps remain the same every year, with Meta occupying four of the top 10 spots: Facebook (3), Instagram (2), WhatsApp (4), and Messenger (8). In 2021, ByteDance secured two spots: one for TikTok (1) and one for its video editing app CapCut (9).

The engagement rate is one of the most important metrics for determining the success of posts.

Average engagement rates vary by platform and must therefore always be evaluated in context. The original article referenced a study at this point that now simply redirects to the general TikTok for Business page. This also makes TikTok attractive to businesses that can benefit from increased user engagement.

Likes + Comments + Shares / Number of Views

or

Likes + Comments + Shares / Number of Subscribers

To get a better idea, it’s a good idea to calculate this for the last 20 posts and add them up.

Of course, the rate can vary significantly depending on the industry, product, and market conditions. In addition, accounts with fewer subscribers often have a statistically higher engagement rate than accounts with medium to large numbers of followers. As reach grows, it becomes more difficult to maintain the same relative growth in interactions.

Source: Hootsuite

A good engagement rate for other platforms is around 1–3%. When calculating and analyzing the TikTok engagement rate, it’s important to keep in mind that it may be higher (Source: Adobe Express).

• Twitter = 1%
• Facebook = 2%
• Instagram = 3%
• LinkedIn = 6%
• TikTok = 4.5%–18%

With hundreds of different effects, there are virtually no limits to your creativity. With every update, new filters are added, which the community uses and shares in all sorts of ways. If that’s not enough, you can edit videos, trim them, adjust their speed, and much more right within the TikTok app.

You don’t even need a cumbersome green screen anymore. With the built-in green screen filter, you can appear in front of an image or video and use it to create videos.

With more than 600,000 songs, everyone can find the perfect soundtrack for their videos. If that’s not enough, you can use the text-to-speech feature to have text read aloud by a selection of voices and create your own sounds.

The then-18-year-old had her first breakthrough in July 2019, when she uploaded a dance video as a “duet” with the TikTok user “Move With Joy.” In November 2020, Charli became the first person to reach 100 million followers on TikTok.

After numerous collaborations with well-known brands such as Morphe Cosmetics and Dunkin’ Donuts, her net worth was estimated at over $20 million. This made her, at age 18, one of the youngest self-made millionaires in the world.

* Sponsored content. Source: StyleCaster

Like any social media platform, TikTok will change and evolve over the years.

We’re excited to see which direction TikTok will take in 2024, and as an online marketing agency, we’re happy to answer any questions you may have about TikTok and social media.