The year TikTok became essential (2024)

Hello from The Goods’ twice-weekly newsletter! On Tuesdays, internet culture reporter Rebecca Jennings uses this space to update you all on what’s been going on in the world of TikTok. Is there something you want to see more of? Less of? Different of? Email rebecca.jennings@vox.com, and subscribe to The Goods’ newsletter here.

It’s December, which is always a time to reflect on the past 12 months, although the major difference this year is that nine of them were collectively terrible.

Well, terrible with one exception: Over the past few weeks, writers have begun publishing their odes to 2020, the year of TikTok. By April, it had already surpassed 2 billion downloads; it now has an estimated 850 million monthly active users. BuzzFeed’s Scaachi Koul wrote that TikTok was “2020’s only silver lining”; Bookforum’s Charlotte Shane described it as “a precious source of solace during an unendingly precarious time.” Vulture’s Zoe Haylock argued that it was “the best medium for our absurdist present.”

For what it’s worth, I agree. Or, at least I did, until I saw TikTok’s top 100 trends of 2020, which ranks the most popular people, memes, and subcultures on the platform (whether or not these were heavily curated is unclear — TikTok did not provide data to back up its claims regarding what makes a “top” trend).

What you’ll find there is both heartening and not. In the music section, Black artists make up nine of the 10 hits, although one of them was Jason Derulo’s rather shameless remake of an already-viral reggaeton beat, which he released without permission from the little-known New Zealand artist Jawsh 685. Emerging creators like vegan cooking influencer Tabitha Brown and Minnesota-based Doctor Leslie were highlighted in the list, but the vast majority of creators named had mostly gone viral for being traditionally good-looking or otherwise interesting to look at. The most popular video of the year, for instance, was of a woman named Bella Poarch with an exceptionally childlike face making cosplay expressions to a grime song. It has been viewed more than half a billion times.

What does Bella Poarch’s inexplicable rise say about the future of entertainment? I think this recent Kyle Chayka piece that basically tries to answer the question “How do you describe TikTok?” makes a lot of really salient points. He’s written extensively on algorithms and their effects on the culture, and on TikTok, the algorithm is the entirety of the experience. On the For You page, users don’t curate their feeds like they would on Twitter or Instagram; the decision of what to watch is made for them, and none of us are allowed to know why the videos we see are the ones served to us.

Chayka compares TikTok to two forms of legacy media: magazines and television, with the user acting as both editor and consumer. “‘The mix’ is famously how Tina Brown described the combination of different kinds of stories in Vanity Fair when she was the magazine’s very successful editor-in-chief in the ’80s,” he writes. “Brown’s mix was hard-hitting news, fluffy celebrity profiles, glamorous fashion shoots, and smart critical commentary, all combined into one magazine. TikTok automates the mix of all these topics, going farther than any other platform to mimic the human editor.” At the same time, he says, it’s also “an eternal channel flip, and the flip is the point: there is no settled point of interest to land on. Nothing is meant to sustain your attention.”

The result, he argues, is what essentially amounts to “soft censorship,” or a feed that becomes as “glossy, appealing, and homogenous as possible rather than the truest reflection of either reality or a user’s desires.” How did a perfectly average competitive dancer become the No. 1 internet celebrity in the world? Why did half a billion people watch Poarch’s face bob up and down? Because these two women are the logical endpoint of the world’s most powerful entertainment algorithm: young people centering their conventional attractiveness in easily repeatable formats.

With every new TikTok star who dances or smirks their way to a million followers come just as many more people asking why they deserve to be famous in the first place. The cycle of overnight fame and equally swift backlash is going to keep happening, because as more people download and use TikTok, the algorithm gets better at choosing the content we all must pay attention to.

Those are problems we can save for next year, though. As Koul writes in BuzzFeed, “Look, I know TikTok is probably evil, as most tech companies turn out to be, but that’s later me’s problem. Current me just wants to be soothed.” Here’s to a year of avoiding the news and getting lost in the void.

TikTok in the news

  • The TikTok sale was supposed to be done by now. It appears no one cares.
  • Another TikTok talent management company, IQ Advantage, has been accused of using scammy practices to retain clients, including contracts that required them to give the company a deposit of $299 before signing (an extremely unusual deal), Business Insider reports. Thankfully, the company appears to have shut down in November.
  • A smart and sort of scary read on whether TikTok is equipped to handle the responsibilities of a global platform, by Rest of World’s Louise Matsakis.
  • Versailles — like, the palace — is on TikTok now. It’s only the latest historic institution to turn to the platform in an effort to reach its young users.
  • A cool look at how TikTok blows up rap verses before they’re even songs.
  • Miley Cyrus is doing the most on TikTok (including asking out a fan, it’s very cute!).
  • Do not watch the videos from this crime scene clean-up crew’s TikTok account if you are squeamish about blood.
  • This Starbucks taste test and its follow-up videos are a wild ride; friendly reminder that before you leave angry reviews on scented candles, make sure you don’t have Covid-19!

One Last Thing

Let’s face it, we’re all just jealous of the “chamomile tea bitches.”

See More:

  • Money
  • Social Media
  • Technology
  • TikTok
The year TikTok became essential (2024)

FAQs

When did TikTok become extremely popular? ›

It was released in September 2016 and was the most downloaded app in the United States in October 2018. As of 2022, TikTok has over 3 billion downloads, and over 1 billion active users each month.

Why is TikTok essential? ›

TikTok is not just a platform for younger audiences. In fact, it actually has a huge following among older people, all over the world. In addition to being a great way to engage with teens and young adults, TikTok can also be used to reach out to parents, grandparents, and other family members who use social media.

When was Tiktoks peak year? ›

TikTok was the most downloaded app for the past three years and set a record for number of downloads in quarter in Q1 2020.

How did TikTok rise to fame? ›

With a goal for global expansion, Bytedance bought Music.ly in 2017 and rebranded it as TikTok, which gained popularity worldwide. This expansion marked the beginning of TikTok's rise to popularity and its emergence as a cultural phenomenon in the world of social media.

Why is TikTok banned in China? ›

China. China itself does not permit the international version of TikTok to be used on the mainland. Instead, users must download Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok which is subject to censorship from the Chinese Communist Party.

Which country banned TikTok first? ›

China's neighbor, India, was among the first countries to have placed restrictions on TikTok and other Chinese apps. India banned some 60 Chinese apps, including TikTok, during a military confrontation along the Himalayan border that it shares with China.

When did TikTok come out in America? ›

TikTok, which officially landed in the United States in 2018, was the most downloaded app in the country, and the world, in 2020, 2021 and 2022. It wasn't that the elements of it were so new — compelling videos from randos had long been a staple of American pop culture — but TikTok put the pieces together in a new way.

What was TikTok called before? ›

Merger into TikTok

On August 2, 2018, musical.ly and TikTok merged, with existing accounts and data consolidated into one app, keeping the title TikTok. This ended musical.ly and made TikTok a worldwide app, excluding China, since China's separate version of TikTok is called Douyin.

Which country uses TikTok the most? ›

Indonesia is home to the biggest number of TikTok users. There are 157.6 million people using TikTok there. Indonesia, the United States, and Brazil are the only countries with more than 100 million TikTok users.

What age uses TikTok the most? ›

The age demographics of TikTok are dominated by 10-19-year-olds at 25%, closely followed by 20-29 taking 22.4%, 30-39 take 21.7%, 40-49 takes 20.3% and 50% take the remaining However between 2021 - 2023 the growth rate between age groups has changed, with a 10% reduction of 18 to 24-year-olds but a 61.7% increase in ...

Is TikTok losing popularity? ›

TikTok's growth stalled in the final quarter of 2023 and even went into reverse in the US. Many young users have signed on to the short-form video app since its launch in 2016. Those core users are entering their 20s now and getting busy with other obligations.

Is TikTok Chinese owned? ›

Its parent company, Beijing-based ByteDance, is owned by founders and Chinese investors, other global investors, and employees. One of ByteDance's main domestic subsidiaries is owned by Chinese state funds and entities through a 1% golden share.

Who owns TikTok in America? ›

TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a private global company founded by Chinese entrepreneurs. According to TikTok, about 60% of the parent company is owned by global institutional investors, 20% by the company's founders and 20% by employees.

What made TikTok famous? ›

TikTok's massive success comes from a combination of...

Perhaps TikTok's main selling point is its well curated "For You Page" (fyp in TikTok lingo) of short-form videos. Social media users are no stranger to this format. Vine, for one, arguably popularized these types of posts.

When did TikTok become the most popular? ›

Its peak was in Q1 2020, where it amassed a record-breaking 318 million downloads outside of China, marking the highest number of quarterly downloads ever. TikTok has a global presence in over 150 countries, with a user base of more than 1.6 billion.

When was say so popular on TikTok? ›

The song was originally included as an album track on Doja Cat's second studio album Hot Pink (2019). During late 2019 and early 2020, it gained popularity "out of nowhere" on TikTok due to a viral dance challenge which featured the song and was created by TikTok user Haley Sharpe (@yodelinghaley).

Why is TikTok so popular with Gen Z? ›

For Gen Z more so than Millennials, TikTok enhances socializing by creating opportunities for group activities like dance challenges and trends. It is almost like an extension of themselves, a virtual personality, a platform for self-expression, and a creative outlet.

Why did TikTok become popular during the pandemic? ›

The TikTok app provided a platform for many who might otherwise have been silent during the 2020 pandemic. And that's where TikTok came in. TikTok was a space for short videos that could be quickly and easily edited together to tell stories.

What age is TikTok most popular? ›

The age demographics of TikTok are dominated by 10-19-year-olds at 25%, closely followed by 20-29 taking 22.4%, 30-39 take 21.7%, 40-49 takes 20.3% and 50% take the remaining However between 2021 - 2023 the growth rate between age groups has changed, with a 10% reduction of 18 to 24-year-olds but a 61.7% increase in ...

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