TikTok: Why You Don’t “Get It”
That’s not a bug. It’s a feature.
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Have you heard of TikTok, the latest trend in social media? Of course you have — it’s bigger than Catholicism and spreading faster than COVID-19. Expert analysts cite TikTok’s recommender systems, content-oriented interface, and aggressive growth strategies as key factors in the platform’s success. I think they’re right, but what leaves so many non-adopters saying “I just don’t get it”?
The First Law of Social Media
A major social network will go viral roughly every 2 years, as new users seek a medium away from their parents, teachers, and older counterparts. See the timeline below*:
08/2008 — Facebook reaches 100 million users
03/2011 — Twitter reaches 100 million users
02/2013 — Instagram reaches 100 million users
08/2015 — Snapchat reaches 100 million users
09/2017 — TikTok reaches 100 million users
These social networks share a lot in common. They all support broadcast messaging, some kind of user timeline/feed, and a strong notion of identity. In contrast, a popular message-based network like WhatsApp isn’t built for broadcasting to followers, and a network like Reddit doesn’t encourage users to identify themselves.
I believe this is not a coincidence, but instead a trend in social networks whose initial users have one thing in common: a desire to become popular. These users skew young and seek a space to broadcast their unfiltered musings in search of approval and controversy. Last I checked, the kids are calling it clout, but I struggle to keep up with the vernacular.
The Lifecycle of the Social Network
Every successful social network has started with a core user base. Facebook, for example, was originally restricted to college campuses. TikTok is marketed heavily towards teens and young adults, with 41% of its users between the ages of 16 and 24. A popular TikTok trend is to deride baby boomers, which provides clear insight into who is (and isn’t) in TikTok’s core demographic:
Only a few social networks have ever expanded beyond their core audience, which highlights the importance of that first step. Facebook’s 2.5 billion active users now span all ages, but the social network looks a lot different than when it first started. Facebook’s marketplace and newsfeed are engineered for engaging a very different set of people than Snapchat’s user stories.
Facebook and Twitter are the oldest useful examples of social networking success. Both networks expanded to older users with a focus on news, but only after exhausting growth among their youngest users. This comes mostly at the expense of their core audiences whose engagement is worth more for growth, but less for advertising revenue. Gen-Z may not flock to Facebook, but Millennials and Baby Boomers have higher credit limits.
Making Sense of TikTok
TikTok is mirroring (and outpacing) successful social networks very well. If non-users like me struggle to understand weird TikTok references and trends, that’s probably by design. TikTok has a long-term financial incentive to keep things weird while the platform grows.
That could change soon if TikTok (ByteDance) goes public and starts reporting to shareholders. If/when that happens, there will already be a new social network to take its place as the go-to for Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha. It’s hard to say which platform that will be, but if there’s anything I’ve learned from writing this article, it’s that I won’t be among the first to know about the next hot social network.
I hope this dive into social networking strategy and history is informative. It’s important to recognize that popular social networks aren’t masters of providing accurate news or supporting users’ needs. Their core competences are marketing and engagement. The TikTok non-user would do well to consider the implications of the next wave of social media, even if they, like me, don’t get it.
*Users isn’t a clear metric. That could mean downloads, daily active users, monthly active users, etc. This is a shortcoming of the crowdsourced data I’m using, and a reason why the trends I’m observing are a qualitative estimate.
