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Since its initial release in 2016, TikTok has taken the social media world by storm. Quickly becoming what used to be “vines” on YouTube, TikTok is a way to share short videos (usually musical in nature) to each user’s audience.
With the onset of COVID-19, more people have found themselves looking for ways to stay entertained at home. Aside from the standard use of streaming TV services, browsing on Facebook, and posting on Instagram, many have downloaded the TikTok app to stay connected, entertained, and—in some cases—in the spotlight.
So how many users have turned to this trendy favorite as opposed to other social media sites? The team at Go.Verizon decided to put the download data to the social media test to map out exactly how many downloads this popular platform gets.
Need a Reason to Get TikTok? How About a Million?
TikTok had a pretty standard start compared to other social media platforms, but quickly soared to over 300 million downloads by the end of the first quarter for 2020. Quarter three of 2019 represents July-September, quarter four of 2019 represents October-December, and quarter one of 2020 represents January–March.
Monthly Minutes Users Spend on TikTok
It’s easy to watch the minutes slip away when you’re chilling on social media. And with March being a time most people were in quarantine, those minutes skyrocketed. Here’s a breakdown of how long users typically spend by minute on TikTok.
So how does the musical giant size up to each social media app? Check below for a more in-depth comparison.
TikTok Takes on Zuckerburg
TikTok isn’t afraid to take on Facebook, which has been a household name since it’s college-only restriction lift in the early 2000s.
But how does the former app, known as Musical.ly, compare against Facebook’s sister app, Instagram? Read more to find out.
TikTok vs. Instagram
Posting pictures of your newly acquired hobbies during quarantine is hard to beat, but what’s better than pictures? According to most social media users—videos! TikTok pulled ahead of Instagram by over 100 million more downloads.
But what about a fellow video app? Let’s see how TikTok squares up to multimedia platform Snapchat.
TikTok Takes on Snapchat
The magic of Polaroids is that you shake them to appear, but with Snapchat the magic is that once you see a snap they disappear. But how does the disappearing act of Snapchat compare to the more permanent videos of TikTok? According to the data, Snapchat wasn’t much of a contender.
Finally, let’s pair up TikTok against the jack-of-all-trades messaging app, WhatsApp.
TikTok vs. WhatsApp
Cross-platform VoIP service app WhatsApp held out fairly well against TikTok, but in this race of tortoise and hare, TikTok pulled ahead and secured a spot at the finish line with a triumphant ‘WhatsApp doc?’.
Interesting Findings:
TikTok ranked as the most downloaded social app in Google store, but in the App store, it ranked 2nd most downloaded app as entertainment.
- TikTok saw a two-hour boost from February 2020 to March 2020 in the user engagement average minutes per visitor. That’s a 100 percent increase.
- WhatsApp was the leading app until TikTok took over.
- In March, users spent an average of fourteen hours on Tiktok a month. That’s the equivalent of flying from LA to Dubai–a journey that takes roughly fourteen hours and fifty-two minutes.
Methodology
The Go.Verizon team sourced download information from Sensor Tower Quarter Analysis (PDF File), application stats from both the App Store and Google Store, and Statista to determine the app user engagement in average minutes.
Whether it’s grabbing that perfect pic of your meal before you dig in or filming your friends performing the latest stunt, count on a strong internet connection to power your love of social media. Call and sign up today for reliable high-speed internet.
From the average minutes’ information, we determined the average Hours: Minutes: Seconds per visitor spent on TikTok. From there, we estimated the millions of downloads in a day for Q3 2019, Q4 2019, and Q1 2020 for TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Snapchat. Sensor Tower had no information on Twitter, so it was excluded.
About Go.Verizon.com: Go.Verizon.com is an authorized premium partner of Verizon. Reporters may send questions to media@verizon-business.com.