Since its launch, TikTok has become one of the world's most popular social media platforms, using recommendation algorithms to connect content creators and influencers with new audiences.[6] In April 2020, TikTok surpassed two billion mobile downloads worldwide.[7] Cloudflare ranked TikTok the most popular website of 2021, surpassing Google.[8] The popularity of TikTok has allowed viral trends in food, fashion, and music to take off and increase the platform's cultural impact worldwide.[9][10]
TikTok has come under scrutiny due to data privacy violations, mental health concerns, misinformation, offensive content, and its role during the Gaza war.[11][12] Countries have fined, banned, or attempted to restrict TikTok to protect children or out of national security concerns over possible user data collection by the government of People's Republic of China through ByteDance.[11
Douyin was launched by ByteDance in September 2016, originally under the name A.me, before rebranding to Douyin (抖音) in December 2016.[25][26] Douyin was developed in 200 days and within a year had 100 million users, with more than one billion videos viewed every day.[27][28]
While TikTok and Douyin share a similar user interface, the platforms operate separately.[29][4][30] Douyin includes an in-video search feature that can search by people's faces for more videos of them, along with other features such as buying, booking hotels, and making geo-tagged reviews.[3
The app allows users to set their accounts as "private". When first downloading the app, the user's account is public by default. The user can change to private in their settings. Private content remains visible to TikTok but is blocked from TikTok users who the account holder has not authorized to view their content.[101] Users can choose whether any other user, or only their "friends", may interact with them through the app via comments, messages, or "react" or "duet" videos.[97] Users also can set specific videos to either "public", "friends only", or "private" regardless if the account is private or not.[101]
Users may send their friends videos, emojis, and messages with direct messaging. TikTok has also included a feature to create a video based on the user's comments. Influencers often use the "live" feature. This feature is only available for those who have at least 1,000 followers and are over 16 years old. If over 18, the user's followers can send virtual "gifts" that can be later exchanged for money.[102][103]
TikTok announced a "family safety mode" in February 2020 for parents to be able to control their children's presence on the app. There is a screen time management option, restricted mode, and the option to put a limit on direct messages.[104] The app expanded its parental controls feature called "Family Pairing" in September 2020 to provide parents and guardians with educational resources to understand what children on TikTok are exposed to. Content for the feature was created in partnership with online safety nonprofit, Internet Matters.[105]
In October 2021, TikTok launched a test feature that allows users to directly tip certain creators. Accounts of users that are of age, have at least 100,000 followers and agree to the terms can activate a "Tip" button on their profile, which allows followers to tip any amount, starting from $1.[106] In December 2021, TikTok started beta-testing Live Studio, a streaming software that would let users broadcast applications open on their computers, including games. The software also launched with support for mobile and PC streaming.[107] However, a few days later, users on Twitter discovered that the software uses code from the open-source OBS Studio. OBS made a statement saying that, under the The app has spawned numerous viral trends, internet celebrities, and music trends around the world.[116] Duets, a feature that allows users to add their own video to an existing video with the original content's audio, have sparked many of these trends.[117] Many stars got their start on musical.ly, which merged with TikTok on 2 August 2018. These include Loren Gray, Baby Ariel, Zach King, Lisa and Lena, Jacob Sartorius, and many others. Loren Gray remained the most-followed individual on TikTok until Charli D'Amelio surpassed her on 25 March 2020. Gray's was the first TikTok account to reach 40 million followers on the platform. She was surpassed with 41.3 million followers. D'Amelio was the first to ever reach 50, 60, and 70 million followers. Charli D'Amelio remained the most-followed individual on the platform until she was surpassed by Khaby Lame on 23 June 2022. Other creators rose to fame after the platform merged with musical.ly on 2 August 2018.[118] TikTok also played a major part in making "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X one of the biggest songs of 2019 and the longest-running number-one song in the history of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.[119][120][121]
TikTok has allowed many music artists to gain a wider audience, often including foreign fans. For example, despite never having toured in Asia, the band Fitz and the Tantrums developed a large following in South Korea following the widespread popularity of their 2016 song "HandClap" on the platform.[122] "Any Song" by R&B and rap artist Zico became number one on the Korean music charts due to the popularity of the #anysongchallenge, where users dance to the choreography of the song.[123] The platform has also launched many songs that failed to garner initial commercial success into sleeper hits, particularly since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.[124][125] However, it has received criticism for not paying royalties to artists whose music is used on the platform.[126]
Classic stars are able to connect with younger audiences born decades after a musician's first debut and across traditional genres. In 2020, Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" was used in a skating video and a recreation by Mick Fleetwood. The song re-entered Billboard Hot 100 after 43 years and topped Apple Music. In 2022, Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" went viral among fans of Stranger Things, topping the UK singles chart 37 years after its original release. In 2023 Kylie Minogue's "Padam Padam" entered the Radio 1 playlist after being shared by Gen Z, even though many youth radio stations had refused to play it. Other older artists with strong engagement on TikTok include Elton John and Rod Stewart.[127] In Japan, artists from the 1970s to 1990s, such as Kohmi Hirose, Yōko Oginome, Akina Nakamori, Seiko Matsuda, Momoe Yamaguchi and Saki Kubota, have become popular on TikTok during the Showa (and early Heisei) retro boom.[128][129][130][131]