TikTok
March 9, 2020
TikTok, the first Momentum Social App
For an example of a momentum analysis applied to an app, we can look at TikTok, the video-sharing platform. Originally labeled “for kids” much like Vine and Musical.ly, TikTok is currently the fastest growing social media network in the world, with U.S. users increasing fivefold in a span of 18 months. The app’s rising trajectory stems from becoming the “anti” social media platform. TikTok is inclusive, authentic, encouraging participation and imperfect expression while serving content the way digital natives want it: fast, fun and unfiltered.
This is how TikTok leaned into all five of the key drivers of momentum.
Disruption: As Facebook and Instagram aged up into channels fit for targeting and ad campaigns, they’ve turned off users by relegating them to mere consumers. TikTok captured youth and changed the game by filling feeds with content made by amateurs, embracing meme culture and celebrating copycats in all their TikTok dance glory, making it easy for anyone to create and engage.
Innovation: TikTok’s lottery-style model for content promotion broke the Kardashian mold of needing influence to become influential, enabling normal high schoolers to become overnight sensations.
Sticky: Programmed to learn from user behavior, TikTok pulls us into a TikTok hole by serving us a nonstop stream of video clips it knows we’ll enjoy, and further elicits engagement through built-in functionality that lets us immediately imitate what we see, adding to the conversation.
Polarization: In contrast to social media’s curated, Insta-worthy world, TikTok has created a community free of judgment and perfection, where misfits, shy, and average people can expose their real selves, and are even celebrated for it.
Social Impact: By letting people from all walks amplify the life hacks, dances, stand-up routines, and silly content they otherwise wouldn’t have a place to share, the TikTok platform provides a new way for newcomers to gain cultural relevance and find success.
The challenge for TikTok will be to keep the momentum going as its awareness (aka mass) increases. Already, we’ve seen signs of stagnation as the app is absorbed into mainstream culture, and it will take much more disruption and innovation to create enough velocity to drive a new wave of momentum.
This means innovating in ways that win over the next wave of users while keeping the interest of the early adopters. Monetizing content like Facebook and Instagram might turn off users who see the site as selling out. Also, as TikTok’s content continues to expand beyond its core creators and outside of entertainment into areas like politics, will its original audience abandon it for the next shiny new app? Or, in the social media dogfight, will the giant platforms succeed in stealing TikTok’s thunder as they battle for share of momentum?