The new kid on the social media block is proving itself to be a true contender.
By Michael Gary Wirth
2021-08-09T04:00:00Z
A recent poll showed that TikTok, the short video sharing platform developed by ByteDance, was the most downloaded app in 2020, beating out social giants like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Nikkei Asia, a news and tech website based in Japan, compiled the information from App Annie, a service that tracks mobile marketing data, and discovered that TikTok was the go-to app for users in 2020. Though the site does not provide specific data, such as the number of downloads for each app, it does show rankings from 2019, when TikTok was the fourth most downloaded app, with Facebook Messenger being the most downloaded app for that year. (The Facebook app retained the number two slot between both years.)
Source: Nikkei Asia
This data is interesting considering the two major events that occurred in 2020: a global pandemic that forced most people to forgo face-to-face interactions and shelter in their homes, and the U.S. Presidential Elections between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. While those two things don’t seem related, they certainly weighed heavily on the minds of many people during 2020, and TikTok coming out on top seems to be an extension of that.
Life, Uncertain
Despite their similarities, TikTok and Facebook are both very different. Facebook is seen by many as a news aggregator; lots of users flock to it to keep up with the lives of their friends and family and to stay informed by reading articles shared from like-minded people. TikTok, on the other hand, is used mostly as a way of staying entertained by watching short, comedic videos or decoupage tutorials. In a world where life changed drastically and the future was scary and unpredictable, some users may have chosen entertainment over information.
TikTok also gives its users a creative outlet, allowing anyone with a camera the ability to share their stories. Some people discovered a hidden talent, like painting or crocheting, and used TikTok to explore that and share their growth with others. That’s how user Brian Bosché (@brianbosche), who started on TikTok in the summer of 2019, managed to end 2020 with over 300,000 followers. Bosché shared his experience in photography and videography, showing off his editing skills and making tutorial videos to help others improve their picture-taking. His success has led him to photo sessions with Olympic athletes like Sue Bird.
A Tale of Two Algorithms
That’s not to say that there aren’t any political TikTokers on the app; just the opposite in fact. But TikTok is unique in that it gives users two distinct timelines. The first, called Followers, is just as it sounds: the people the user follows after finding their content interesting or engaging. The second, though, is where most TikTokers aspire to be: the powerful For You Page. “For You” is where TikTok shines, in that its algorithm serves users videos based on their watch habits. In essence, the more silly lifehack videos you watch to completion and like, the more silly lifehack videos the app will deliver to you. TikTok’s algorithm is good enough where, if you want to avoid the political commentary, you just need to be quick enough swiping it off the screen.
Facebook, on the other hand, only offers a single timeline, projecting everything it wants you to see among pictures of your cousin’s newborn and the margaritas your coworker drank last night. And just like other social media, Facebook has a vested interest in getting you to join conversations, so it will show you comments your friends and family have made on the posts of complete strangers. Some of these will be innocuous, like a simple “Yum!” on a picture of chicken parmigiana, but others are less so, such as dissenting opinions on the effectiveness of mask mandates. And after having to deal with being locked indoors, trying to work from home, or even being laid off, not many people would want to add that anxiety to their lives, and as a result may have stepped away from Facebook altogether.
Where to now?
Though it’s difficult to say exactly how TikTok outperformed Facebook in 2020, it’s less difficult to speculate on why. Having lived through an uncertain world full of loneliness and anxiety, people needed an escape, and entertainment apps like Netflix and Hulu could only go so far. But with TikTok’s ever-changing landscape of new content and new creators, it became an oasis to run to when the weight of the world became too much. That’s not to say that Facebook can’t regain the top spot. I’m sure that after some realignment and reflection on what its user-base wants, Facebook will implement new features that will win back some of that market share.
