TikTok
TikTok, also known as Douyin (Chinese: 抖音短视频; pinyin: Dǒuyīn duǎnshìpín; literally "vibrato short video") in China, is a social media app for creating and sharing videos as well as live broadcasting. Launched in September 2016 by ByteDance,[3][4] it is a leading short video platform in Asia and has extended to other parts of the world, becoming one of the fastest-growing apps with a large community across several countries for short music videos.[5][6]
 | |
 A screenshot of the TikTok app, as it was merged with musical.ly on 2 August 2018. | |
| Developer(s) | ByteDance |
|---|---|
| Initial release | September 2016 |
| Stable release | 8.6.0
/ 29 September 2018 |
| Operating system | iOS, Android |
| Size | 212.1 MB[1] |
| Available in | 34 languages[2] |
List of languages Arabic, Bengali, Burmese, Cebuano, English, French, German, Gujarati, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Javanese, Kannada, Korean, Malay, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish, Tagalog, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese | |
| Type | Video sharing |
| License | Freeware |
| Website | www |
Contents
History
Douyin was launched by ByteDance in China in September 2016[7], and branded as TikTok for the international market when it started to expand into Indonesia in September 2017[8]. On 23 January 2018, the TikTok app ranked #1 among free mobile app downloads on app stores in Thailand.[9] In February 2018, TikTok launched a partnership with Modern Sky to monetize music.[10]
Merging with musical.ly
On 9 November 2017, TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, spent up to $1 billion to purchase musical.ly, a startup based in Shanghai with an office in Santa Monica, California, owning a popular social media platform targeting the US teenage market.[11][12] Looking forward to leveraging the US digital platform’s young user base, TikTok merged with musical.ly on 2 August 2018 to create a larger video community, with existing accounts and data consolidated into one app, keeping the title TikTok.[12][13]
Tencent lawsuits
TikTok's rapid growth has been seen as threatening Tencent's dominance in social media and online entertainment, and Tencent's WeChat platform has been accused of blocking TikTok videos.[14][15] In April 2018, TikTok sued Tencent and accused it of spreading false and damaging information on its WeChat platform, demanding RMB 1 million in compensation and an apology. In June 2018, Tencent filed a lawsuit against Toutiao and TikTok in a Beijing court, alleging they had repeatedly defamed Tencent with negative news and damaged its reputation, seeking a nominal sum of RMB 1 in compensation and a public apology.[16] In response, Toutiao filed a complaint the following day against Tencent for allegedly unfair competition and asking for RMB 90 million in economic losses.[17]
Indonesian block
Indonesia temporarily blocked the TikTok app on 3 July 2018 amid public concern about illegal contents such as pornography and blasphemy. The app was unblocked one week later after making various changes, including removing negative content, opening a government liaison office, and implementing age restrictions and security mechanisms.[18]
Features
The TikTok mobile app allows users to watch musical clips, lip-sync to songs, shoot short videos and edit them with built-in special effects, filters and stickers. To create a music video with the app, users can choose background music from a wide variety of music genres including hip-hop, pop and electronic, and record a 15-second video before uploading it to share with others.
The app allows users to set their accounts as private, allowing only people they approve to view their content. Users can also allow either everyone or only their friends to send comments or messages to them, and react or duet with them.
Reception
In June 2018, TikTok reached 500 million monthly active users worldwide and 150 million daily active users in China.[19][20] It became the world's most downloaded iPhone app in the first quarter of 2018 with an estimated 45.8 million downloads, surpassing the downloads recorded by Facebook, YouTube and Instagram in the same period.[21][22]
The app has spawned numerous viral trends and internet celebrities around the world, propelled songs to fame, and is known to be popular among celebrities due to its immense popularity and social influence.[23][24][25][26][27][28] Part of its popularity is attributable to its marketing campaigns, launching several activities with Chinese celebrities to engage their fans' interest. For example, its marketing campaign in 2018 Spring Festival Gala alone brought an increase of 70 million daily active users.[29]
Trends
There are a variety of trends within TikTok, including memes, lip-synced songs, and comedies. Duets, a feature that allows users to add their own video to an existing video with the original content's audio, have led to most of these trends.
Most followed accounts on TikTok
This list contains the top 10 accounts that had the most followers on TikTok, which has previously merged with musical.ly.[30]
| Rank | User name | User ID | Followers (millions) |
Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lisa and Lena[31] | @lisaandlena | 31.5 |  GER
|
| 2 | Loren Gray[32] | @lorengray | 29.4 |  USA
|
| 3 | Baby Ariel[33] | @babyariel | 29.1 | USA
|
| 4 | Kristen Hancher[34] | @kristenhancher | 21.4 |  CAN
|
| 5 | Jacob Sartorius[35] | @jacobsartorius | 19.8 | USA
|
| 6 | Jojo Siwa[36] | @itsjojosiwa | 17.1 | USA
|
| 7 | Savannah Soutas[37] | @savvsoutas | 13.6 | USA
|
| 8 | Annie LeBlanc[38] | @annieleblanc | 13.6 | USA
|
| 9 | Liza Koshy[39] | @lizzza | 13.4 | USA
|
| 10 | Mackenzie Ziegler[40] | @mackenzieziegler | 12.2 | USA
|
Most followed accounts on Douyin
This list contains the top 10 accounts that had the most followers on Douyin, which is the Chinese version of TikTok and mostly used in China.[41]
| Rank | User name | User ID | Followers (millions) |
Country or region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chen He (陈赫) | @191433445 | 50.7 |  CHN
|
| 2 | Dilireba (迪丽热巴) | @274110380 | 46.7 | CHN
|
| 3 | Liu Erdou (会说话的刘二豆) | @erdou | 43.9 | CHN
|
| 4 | Yi Chan (一禅小和尚) | @yichan6666 | 42.1 | CHN
|
| 5 | Angelababy (杨颖) | @228.228 | 37.8 |  HKG
|
| 6 | He Jiong (何炅) | @he.jiong | 31.8 | CHN
|
| 7 | Feng Timo (冯提莫) | @Fengtimo1219 | 28.7 | CHN
|
| 8 | Hei Lian V (黑脸V) | @145651081 | 26.0 | CHN
|
| 9 | Guan Xiaotong (关晓彤) | @guanxiaotong | 25.6 | CHN
|
| 10 | Yang Yang (杨洋) | @YANGYANG.99 | 20.4 | CHN
|
References
- ^ https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id835599320
- ^ "Tik Tok - including musical.ly". iTunes. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
- ^ "Is Douyin the Right Social Video Platform for Luxury Brands? | Jing Daily". Jing Daily. 2018-03-11. Retrieved 2018-10-14.
- ^ "How Douyin became the most popular app in the world · TechNode". TechNode. 2018-05-10. Retrieved 2018-10-14.
- ^ "Tik Tok, a Global Music Video Platform and Social Network, Launches in Indonesia".
- ^ "How Douyin became China's top short-video App in 500 days – WalktheChat". WalktheChat. 25 February 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
- ^ "Is Douyin the Right Social Video Platform for Luxury Brands? | Jing Daily". Jing Daily. 2018-03-11. Retrieved 2018-10-30.
- ^ "Tik Tok, a Global Music Video Platform and Social Network, Launches in Indonesia". Retrieved 2018-10-30.
- ^ "Tik Tok, Global Short Video Community launched in Thailand with the latest AI feature, GAGA Dance Machine The very first short video app with a new function based on AI technology". thailand.shafaqna.com. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
- ^ "Douyin launches partnership with Modern Sky to monetize music". Retrieved 15 March 2018.
- ^ Lin, Liza; Winkler, Rolfe (9 November 2017). "Social-Media App Musical.ly Is Acquired for as Much as $1 Billion" – via www.wsj.com.
- ^ a b "Social video app Musical.ly acquired for up to $1 billion". Business Insider. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
- ^ "Musical.ly Is Going Away: Users to Be Shifted to Bytedance's TikTok Video App". www.msn.com. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- ^ "Tencent and Toutiao come out swinging at each other". Retrieved 11 October 2018.
- ^ "Tencent sues Toutiao for alleged defamation, demands 1 yuan and apology". TODAYonline. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
- ^ Jiang, Sijia. "Tencent sues Toutiao for alleged defamation, demands 1 yuan and..." U.S. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
- ^ "Tencent and Toutiao sue each other in escalating legal battle". Retrieved 11 October 2018.
- ^ "Indonesia overturns ban on Tik Tok after video streaming service agrees to increase security controls". South China Morning Post. Reuters. 11 July 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
- ^ "Chinese video sharing app boost 500 monthly active users".
- ^ "Why China's Viral Video App Douyin is No Good for Luxury | Jing Daily". Jing Daily. 13 June 2018.
- ^ "The most downloaded iPhone app in the world right now is one you've probably never heard of". www.businessinsider.sg. 3 May 2018.
- ^ "World's most downloaded app Tik Tok to enhance users' privacy controls". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
- ^ "J-pop song finds new life in China, a decade on". Nikkei Asian Review.
- ^ "How Does Tik Tok Outperform Tencent's Super App WeChat and Become One of China's Most Popular Apps? (Part 1)".
- ^ "Viral 'Karma's a Bitch' Meme Takes Chinese Video App by Storm".
- ^ Balois, Lim (6 April 2018). "Enhancing that 'chin on a hand' thingy". www.nst.com.my.
- ^ "Tik Tok, a Global Music Video Platform and Social Network, Launches in Indonesia". AsiaOne.
- ^ "Wannabe stars fuel video fad - SHINE". SHINE.
- ^ Li, Wilson (13 June 2018). "Tik Tok-The #1 App in China (THE NEXT SNAPCHAT!)". Dragon Social.
- ^ "Top 20 Musical.ly Influencers Who Have Built Small Media Empires for Themselves". Influencer Marketing Hub. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
- ^ "🌸 LisaandLena 🌸|TikTok|Global Video Community". TikTok. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
- ^ "Loren Gray|TikTok|Global Video Community". TikTok. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
- ^ "BabyAriel|TikTok|Global Video Community". TikTok. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
- ^ "Kristen Hancher|TikTok|Global Video Community". TikTok. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
- ^ "Jacob Sartorius|TikTok|Global Video Community". TikTok. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
- ^ "🔶💚JoJo Siwa💚🔶|TikTok|Global Video Community". TikTok. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
- ^ "Savannah Soutas|TikTok|Global Video Community". TikTok. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
- ^ "Annie LeBlanc💞|TikTok|Global Video Community". TikTok. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
- ^ "liza koshy |TikTok|Global Video Community". TikTok. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
- ^ "Mackenzie Ziegler|TikTok|Global Video Community". TikTok. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
- ^ Techweb. "2018抖音粉丝排行榜一览 抖音粉丝最多的是谁" (in Chinese). Retrieved 2018-10-15.