Hi there, it's Shelly. Talks to sell TikTok’s U.S. assets to an American company seem to have stalled, thanks to China’s surprise announcement that the country could restrict overseas tech deals. But TikTok’s competitors aren’t wasting any time going after what could become a short-form video vacuum in the market.
TikTok’s American users have swarmed alternatives to the app since President Trump first threatened to ban it over national security concerns around Chinese parent company ByteDance Ltd. The cumulative number of installations of four of the largest TikTok competitors—Triller, Zynn, Dubsmash and Byte—spiked by 361% after it first landed in Trump's crosshairs earlier this summer, according to SensorTower.
Much of that growth was driven by TikTok super users, who have been hedging their bets in case the app really does disappear. One influencer I spoke with told me that she can't afford to lose the cash she makes through TikTok—it's paying her college tuition, room and board. So she's trying to migrate her fans to other platforms, just in case.
Musicians, who lean on TikTok to seed new hits and connect with younger fans, are also flocking to other apps. Last month, Miley Cyrus debuted teasers of her new single “Midnight Sky” on Instagram’s Reels, which is Facebook Inc.’s answer to the TikTok phenomenon. One of those videos amassed more than 20 million views, one member of Cyrus’s management team told Rolling Stone, adding that there’s no downside to building a presence on other apps: “It’s like, why not?”
As a TikTok reporter, I thought all the talk of a ban would only temporarily inflate downloads for the app's competitors. After all, I had watched videos of countless TikTokers shedding tears over the app's potential shutdown and witnessed their vows that no other platform would take its place. Plus, competitors like Reels have received chilly reviews. “No one wants change,” I remember telling my editor. “Just because people will try a new app, doesn’t mean they’ll stick with it.”
But new data shows that TikTok's competitors continue to grab eyeballs. While TikTok made up more than three quarters of the video sharing market at the start of this year, its market share has shrunk to just over half of new installs among the top five video-sharing apps, SensorTower said. And in India, where TikTok has been banned for two months, homegrown rivals as well as Instagram and Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube, are quickly gaining new users.
It used to be that social media apps were all about the network effect: Everyone has to be on them or no one wants to be on them. And for a long time, it felt like there was no room for another social media platform. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter Inc. and Snap Inc. were already gobbling up every free second of our free time.
But TikTok sidestepped the hurdles presented by other companies’ formidable networks. Instead of connecting users to their friends and families, it untethered them from real-life social circles and served up the best, funniest videos from all over the world. Even if you didn't know anyone on the app, there was a good chance TikTok’s algorithm would show you videos entertaining enough to keep you scrolling.
That was a huge reason why TikTok grew so rapidly, attracting more than 2 billion global downloads in two years. But the same strategy that propelled TikTok to stardom might also paradoxically make it easier for users to leave it behind. People's friends are still on Facebook, but their favorite celebrities, musicians and influencers on TikTok have already opened accounts on other platforms. —Shelly Banjo
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