TikTok is starting to eat YouTube
When we talk about video on the internet, it is very difficult not to think about TikTok. In the same way, it is very easy to believe that the main rival of this popular social network is none other than Instagram. But, perhaps, in the latter we are not making a mistake and who really want to hunt from Byte Dance is YouTube.
Because although Instagram and TikTok have competed and continue to compete with their short videos, reels, filters, etc., between YouTube and TikTok there are also movements thinking about what one does and the other. For example, YouTube launches its Shorts and TikTok increases the maximum time it allows for each video published on its platform.
Well, now it is known that the average viewing time that a TikTok user in the US and UK spends watching content on the platform is greater than the time it does on YouTube. All this according to data recorded by App Annie among Android users. Something that is also not surprising seeing that they are no longer just dance videos and new and interesting tiktokers are arriving.
However, beyond the exhibition, the truth is that it is an important milestone. Because on YouTube there are 2 billion users, while TikTok only has 700,000 users. So what they are telling us is that while the global time is higher on YouTube because there is a larger user base, on TikTok it consumes more time on average. That is what any platform really wants, for its users to be more active.
Is YouTube in trouble versus TikTok?
With this average viewing time data it is easy to think that YouTube is in a hurry. And yes, there is part of the reason in this statement, but we cannot forget that behind the platform is Google. Still, if the reasons that led to the disaster of today’s most important video platform do happen, they could be quite obvious.
- The first of all would be the current problems that many users have when it comes to being notified of new content published by channels they follow and for which they have all notifications activated. Sometimes they do not arrive and that when you follow many channels is frustrating for the user and the creator himself
- The second is the recommendation or discovery system, it should be smarter and more effective like the one on Tiktok. Because leaving aside the interface that is always serving you new videos, on YouTube there are times that you don’t understand why you see pools full of trending things with the amount of quality content that exists
- The third would be related to monetization, although it is true that it would be a swampy terrain from which it would always be difficult to leave satisfied, whatever part you are, the last few years have been a problem for those who wanted to make YouTube their prefession
- Finally, YouTube has also jumped on the bandwagon of short videos and seems to push Shorts, a replica and new format that is very green, that does not work so well and that honestly should not be a priority. What’s more, the platform should improve what made it important.
However, whatever it is, it is clear that YouTube has to put the batteries so that they do not eat the toast. Because if TikTok better organizes its application for the organization of content, it gives options for the display of each user you follow, lists, etc…. it could be a tough match for any video platform.