A collection of videos about TikTok
TikTok explained: How the app became a global phenomenon
3:12Since 2018, the short-form video-sharing app TikTok has gone from launching in the US to becoming a habit-forming cultural force that’s signed up more than half of the US population as users. Despite concerns around national security and its effects on adolescents, TikTok is still growing—the platform is on track to reach 2 billion users by the end of 2024.
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Since launching internationally in 2017, TikTok has become one of the fastest-growing social media platforms of all time. Centered around user-generated short videos, the platform was created by the Chinese technology company ByteDance. Now closing in on 1.8 billion users, the app has become a global force. The popular Acquired podcast takes a deep dive into its history, strategy, and insanely successful business model.
Driven by strict censorship rules, ByteDance spun off TikTok from its sister app Douyin—the version available in China—in order to flourish in international markets. Both have key differences, ranging from Douyin acting as a dominant channel for government propaganda, to the fact it generates the majority of ByteDance’s. This “60 Minutes” report compares the apps side by side.
Pew Research Center
While more than 170 million Americans reportedly use TikTok, only about half of adult users have ever posted a single video. Like most platforms, content is driven by a small number of active users—in this case, 25% of accounts are responsible for an estimated 98% of content posted. This research piece unpacks how, and how much, the average user uses TikTok.
Big Think
Notable cases of mass sociogenic illness, also referred to as mass hysteria, have arisen throughout history. But some experts believe the modern prevalence of social media—in particular TikTok, with its addictive, rapid queue of short-form videos—has become a vehicle for global mass hysteria. Right before the COVID-19 pandemic, an outbreak of Tourette’s syndrome was attributed to TikTok’s algorithm convincing users they may have the condition.
Planet Money
TikTok is such a cultural force, it’s now a platform for turning ordinary users into stars. This Planet Money podcast episode performs a deep dive into how Tai Verdes went from working a day job at a Verizon store and dreaming of becoming a successful musician to using TikTok to gain a following during the Covid-19 pandemic. Eventually, his song “Stuck in the Middle” took off on TikTok.
The Debrief
The ownership of TikTok by Chinese parent company ByteDance has brought on intense scrutiny as a national security threat. Are the concerns founded? Critics say the app collects huge volumes of data and is overly addictive, and that China has often exerted pressure on companies for its own ends. Others say the threat is purely hypothetical, and no evidence of wrongdoing has been presented to date.
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