TikTok is the new social network that seems unstoppable. The keys to its success come, in part, from the gap that the old Musical.ly has already achieved, the success among young audiences and the lack of direct alternatives, since its competitors are only copying the format, such as YouTube with Shorts or Instagram with Reels.
According to data from App Annie, TikTok has already overtaken YouTube in key markets like the United States and the United Kingdom. If we talk about Spain, is the social network that retains children the longest, above Instagram and YouTube.
TikTok begins to unseat YouTube
According to a report by App Annie, the growth of TikTok is unstoppable. In 2019 it appeared for the first time in the top 10 for time spent in apps, but in 2020 it already managed to rank fifth, above even Netflix.
“TikTok has changed the landscape of streaming and social networks: the monthly average time per user exceeds YouTube in the US and the United Kingdom, and is ahead significantly in South Korea, where YouTube is 2.5 times higher.” App Annie.
YouTube, by volume of users, continues to be the top 1 app in total time in app. However, if we look at the hours used by user, loses to TikTok, with 24 hours a month compared to 22 hours on YouTube (data obtained on Android phones).
In other words, TikTok already surpasses YouTube in two of the most important markets in the world, a hint about what can come in the next few years, remembering that he has climbed to the world top 5 in just a couple of years.
The reigning app to hook children in Spain
If we look at data in Spain, provided by Qweb, TikTok is the most used social network by children, above Instagram or Snapchat. The time they spend is practically double in the main markets (global, the United States and the United Kingdom), although in Spain the time they spend on TikTok compared to Instagram is very similar, an average of 65 minutes a day on TikTok compared to 63 minutes a day from Instagram.
YouTube is still the preferred app to consume video, but users spend more time on TikTok
Going to data on video apps, YouTube and YouTube Kids are still the queens. However, if we look at global user time, TikTok beats YouTube again. The same happens in Spain, where children spend the aforementioned 63 minutes a day on TikTok on average, compared to 54 minutes a day on YouTube.
The weapons to stop TikTok do nothing but promote TikToks
To compete with TikTok, rivals like YouTube implemented their Shorts, the same vertical video format as TikTok, with short videos. Just take a look at Shorts to see that the platform is full of TikTok videos. In other words, YouTube tries to compete with the same TikTok format, but its platform is ending up inundated with videos with TikTok’s own watermark.
YouTube Shorts and Instagram have created their own responses to TikTok, but both have been littered with TikTok videos.
The same happens with Reels, the main current bet of Instagram and whose algorithm powers even more than photographs. In Reels we also find videos downloaded from TikTok, to the point that they have grown tired of this happening, and are fine-tuning the algorithm so that it does not promote videos with a TikTok watermark.
At the moment, the data indicates that TikTok’s growth is solid, and that if it follows the trend, it will not take long to surpass on platforms such as YouTube globally in playback time per user.