TikTok is a popular short-form video app that has become a global phenomenon. Here is a timeline of the key events in TikTok’s history:
2012: TikTok’s Origins as Musical.ly
The foundations of TikTok began with the launch of the app Musical.ly in Shanghai, China in 2012. Musical.ly was founded by Alex Zhu and Luyu Yang as a platform for creating and sharing short lip-sync videos set to music. The app quickly gained popularity among teenagers and young people around the world.
2014-2016: Musical.ly Gains Popularity
Over the next few years, Musical.ly continued to grow its userbase, especially among Generation Z. By 2014 it had hit 1 million registered users globally. In 2016, Musical.ly launched live streaming within the app, allowing creators to broadcast live to their followers. This helped further boost engagement on the platform.
2017: Musical.ly Hits 60M Users
In June 2017, Musical.ly announced it had reached 60 million monthly active users worldwide. The app was available in over 30 languages and users were sharing an average of 13 million videos per day. Musical.ly started introducing popular influencer campaigns, linking up creators with major brands for sponsored content.
2017: ByteDance Acquires Musical.ly
In November 2017, Chinese tech company ByteDance acquired Musical.ly for around $1 billion. ByteDance already owned the Chinese short video app Douyin, which they wanted to expand overseas under a new brand name: TikTok.
2018: TikTok Launches Globally
In August 2018, ByteDance combined Musical.ly with their existing TikTok app to create one unified video app. TikTok launched in markets outside of China, while Douyin continued to operate within mainland China. This gave ByteDance an instant global userbase, with TikTok starting out with over 500 million monthly active users.
2018: Rapid Growth for TikTok
Over the next few months, TikTok saw explosive download growth across the United States and other markets. TikTok overtook competitors to become the most downloaded app globally in October 2018. Popular features like reacting to videos with duets kept users engaged on the platform for longer.
2019: TikTok Hits 1 Billion Downloads
In February 2019, TikTok hit 1 billion total downloads worldwide across iOS and Android devices. The app was now being used in over 150 markets and 75 languages. India became TikTok’s largest overseas market with over 120 million active users.
2019: TikTok Begins Advertising and Ecommerce Plays
To monetize its huge userbase, TikTok began rolling out various advertising options for brands in 2019. First came branded AR lenses and filters, then TopView in-feed video ads. TikTok also started experimenting with ecommerce via hashtag challenges that encouraged users to buy products associated with a branded hashtag campaign.
2020: TikTok Usage Skyrockets During COVID-19 Pandemic
With people stuck at home due to COVID-19 lockdowns, usage of TikTok skyrocketed in early 2020. Downloads of the app hit around 315 million just in the first quarter of 2020 – the highest ever for any app in a quarter.
TikTok introduced features like duo live-streaming to capitalize on this growth. The app became known for trending dance challenges, with hits like ‘Renegade’ going massively viral globally.
2020: Political Controversies and Ban Threats
TikTok’s Chinese ownership started attracting political controversy and security concerns in some Western markets. In June 2020, India banned TikTok along with dozens of other Chinese apps amid border tensions with China.
In the US, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested banning TikTok over data privacy worries. But a full ban never eventuated, with TikTok instead agreeing to sell its US operations to American companies Oracle and Walmart.
2021 and Beyond: TikTok Continues Evolving
Into 2021 and beyond, TikTok kept introducing new features and content categories to maintain growth. This included longer 3-minute videos, better commenting and messaging, and an increased focus on areas like cooking, finance and fitness content.
TikTok also launched a $200 million creator fund to incentivize more content creators to the platform. It started testing TikTok Stories and expanded ecommerce capabilities for retailers.
As of 2022, TikTok has well over 1 billion monthly active users worldwide and continues to challenge longtime social media giants like Facebook. It has transformed into the premier destination for short-form viral video and launched the careers of many popular creators and influencers.
TikTok’s rise has been remarkably rapid – from its Musical.ly origins less than a decade ago to becoming one of the most downloaded and culturally influential apps today. It continues to innovate with new features and recommends an endless stream of engaging content to keep its community entertained and coming back.
While political controversies will likely continue, TikTok now has a deeply entrenched position in the social media landscape. It has changed the entertainment consumption habits of younger generations and given a platform to talent across the globe. The TikTok phenomenon shows no signs of fading anytime soon.
With many more innovations surely to come, TikTok still has an exciting history ahead as it strives to become the global leader in short video sharing well into the future.
