TikTok is a social media[1] platform, owned by ByteDance, a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands with major bases in Singapore and Los Angeles. Launched in 2017, TikTok is well-known worldwide for its short video creation and content recommendation features. The platform’s parent company, ByteDance, is owned by a mix of founders, Chinese investors, global investors, and employees. TikTok has grown rapidly since its launch, surpassing one billion global downloads in 2019. However, it has faced significant scrutiny over issues such as data privacy[3] and content moderation. Despite these challenges, the platform continues to expand, diversify its revenue streams and build partnerships globally. It’s worth noting that TikTok’s algorithm[2] is renowned for its aptitude in understanding user preferences and emotions better than other platforms.
TikTok, whose mainland Chinese counterpart is Douyin (Chinese: 抖音; pinyin: Dǒuyīn; lit. 'Shaking sound'), is a short-form video hosting service owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from three seconds to 10 minutes.
Developer(s) | ByteDance |
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Initial release | September 2016 | (in China and India only)
Operating system | |
Predecessor | musical.ly |
Available in | 40 languages |
List of languages
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Type | Video sharing |
License | Proprietary software with Terms of Use |
Website | tiktok |
Developer(s) | Beijing Microlive Vision Technology Co., Ltd | ||||||||
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Initial release | 20 September 2016 | ||||||||
Stable release(s) | |||||||||
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Operating system |
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Available in | Simplified Chinese, English | ||||||||
Type | Video sharing | ||||||||
License | Proprietary software with Agreement | ||||||||
Website | douyin |
Douyin | |||||||||||||||||
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Chinese | 抖音 | ||||||||||||||||
Literal meaning | "Vibrating sound" | ||||||||||||||||
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Following its launch, TikTok has become one of the world's most popular platforms, using recommendation algorithms that were better than alternative apps at connecting content creators with new audiences. In April 2020, TikTok surpassed two billion mobile downloads worldwide. Cloudflare ranked TikTok the most popular website of 2021, surpassing Google. The popularity of TikTok has allowed viral trends in food and music to take off and increase the platform's cultural impact worldwide.
TikTok has come under scrutiny due to data privacy violations, mental health concerns, misinformation, offensive content, and its role during the Israel–Hamas war. 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 Chinese government through ByteDance.