[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The prominent American daily The Washington Post (WP) and global sports media ESPN are focusing on communication through the Chinese social networking service (SNS) TikTok. WP posts topical content such as North Korea’s missile launches or concerns about a U.S. economic recession, adding humor in short videos of around 10 seconds. Since posting its first video content in May 2019, it has secured 1.4 million followers to date. ESPN, riding the rapid growth of TikTok’s sports content, gained 9.1 million followers in one year from March last year to March this year, and currently 23.9 million people subscribe to the ESPN channel. The U.S. economic media Business Insider reported, “As TikTok’s popularity rises, both emerging news outlets and legacy media are making efforts to reach new readers and viewers.”
The growth of TikTok, which is sweeping the world with its 15-second short video service, is formidable. In the U.S., TikTok users’ time spent on the platform has surpassed Facebook and Instagram, and there are forecasts that it will even overtake YouTube this year. Regarding advertising revenue, one of the core revenue streams of SNS, Insider Intelligence projected TikTok’s revenue to grow from $3.88 billion (about 4.9 trillion KRW) last year to $11.64 billion this year, and $23.58 billion in 2024. If this happens, TikTok’s ad revenue will surpass Twitter and Snapchat this year, catch up with YouTube in 2024, and chase Facebook, the current number one.
The Era of Short Videos
On the 25th (local time), Bloomberg News analyzed that TikTok’s secret to popularity lies in short videos and its unique algorithm system that promotes them. As the digital era progresses, users’ attention spans have shortened, making shorter videos more prominent. While existing SNS platforms like Facebook analyze user behavior patterns to show only content users are interested in, TikTok exposes a wide range of content, allowing new content and creators with fewer subscribers to gain attention. This has rapidly expanded its user base, especially among teenagers.
Meta Platforms, Facebook’s parent company, and Google’s YouTube are strengthening their short video services called ‘Reels’ and ‘Shorts’ to compete with TikTok’s growth. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, is focusing on Instagram to catch TikTok. Instagram even personally contacts popular TikTok creators to attract them to Reels. YouTube recently experimented internally by inserting ads into Shorts and collecting feedback from advertisers.
TikTok: “Beyond the MZ Generation”
As TikTok has become a core player in the SNS market, it is gradually adjusting its strategy to the rapidly changing environment. To expand beyond its teenage user base, it added a Stories feature allowing short video posts and extended video length up to 10 minutes.
According to surveys by eMarketer and Insider Intelligence, the largest age group among TikTok users in the U.S. is 25-34 years old (25.2%), followed by 18-24 years old (23.9%) and 12-17 years old (17.7%). eMarketer stated, “The elderly and very young age groups have the highest growth potential over the next few years,” forecasting that users aged 65 and older will increase by 13.4%, and those aged 0-11 by 12.9% this year.
At the same time, TikTok announced a new advertising program called ‘TikTok Pulse,’ which will share a portion of ad revenue with creators. This is interpreted as TikTok, the platform, aiming to strengthen relationships with creators and advertisers to build a unified ecosystem.
Trump Tried to Ban It, But...
The issue remains that TikTok must resolve its relationship with the U.S. government. Since TikTok’s parent company is China’s ByteDance, the U.S. government has expressed concerns that Americans’ personal data could be transferred to the Chinese government. Former President Donald Trump attempted to ban TikTok’s use but failed, and recently, President Joe Biden reportedly drafted an executive order granting the Department of Justice authority to block adversarial countries like China from accessing U.S. personal data. The U.S. online media BuzzFeed reported in March that TikTok is rebuilding its system by relocating its data center to the U.S. to manage data of American users domestically.
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