With over 2 billion downloads globally since its launch in 2016, TikTok has quickly grown into one of the most popular social media apps in the world, with over 1 billion monthly active users ([1]). The app allows users to create 15-60 second videos set to music and share them with followers and the larger TikTok community. But who created this wildly popular platform that has taken the social media world by storm in just a few short years?
The History of TikTok
The origins of TikTok can be traced back to 2014 with the launch of the app Musical.ly by co-founders Alex Zhu and Luyu Yang. Musical.ly was a short-form video platform that allowed users to create 15 second lip-syncing videos to popular songs. The app grew rapidly, amassing over 100 million users by 2017 (http://justperi.com/social-media/case-study-on-fast-emerging-social-network-worldwide-tiktok/).
Seeing the potential for short-form video, Chinese tech company ByteDance acquired Musical.ly for $1 billion in November 2017 (https://thestrategystory.com/2020/11/02/tiktok-is-a-story-of-differentiation-and-unseen-growth/). ByteDance already had experience in the space with their Chinese app Douyin.
In August 2018, ByteDance combined Musical.ly with their own TikTok app, merging the user bases and relaunching as one unified platform. This marked the official launch of the TikTok app as we know it today.
Zhang Yiming – Founder of ByteDance
Zhang Yiming is the founder and CEO of ByteDance, the Beijing-based tech company that acquired Musical.ly and launched TikTok in 2017 (https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/people/yiming-zhang). Zhang was born in 1983 in Longyan, China. He studied software engineering at Nankai University before founding ByteDance in 2012 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Yiming).
Prior to ByteDance, Zhang founded 99fang.com, a real estate search portal that he later sold for several million RMB. He also held engineering roles at Microsoft and Kuxun before becoming an entrepreneur (https://www.forbes.com/profile/zhang-yiming/).
With ByteDance, Zhang focused on using artificial intelligence to deliver personalized content recommendations to users. This breakthrough allowed ByteDance’s products like Toutiao and TikTok to achieve tremendous growth (https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/people/yiming-zhang).
The Launch of TikTok
TikTok was launched in September 2017 by the Beijing-based tech company ByteDance, which had acquired the popular lip-syncing app Musical.ly for around $1 billion just 10 months earlier (Source). While TikTok built on Musical.ly’s success and userbase, especially among teenagers, there were some key differences between the two apps.
Where Musical.ly was focused solely on lip-syncing and dancing videos up to 15 seconds long, TikTok expanded the possibilities by allowing videos up to 60 seconds and incorporating additional features like filters, effects, and stickers. TikTok also focused more on short-form entertaining videos in general rather than just lip-syncing. This enabled greater creativity and variety in the types of content users could produce and engage with on the platform.
By leveraging Musical.ly’s existing userbase and introducing an improved user experience, TikTok was able to achieve rapid growth right from the start. Within a year of launch, TikTok had over 500 million monthly active users globally and was well on its way to becoming one of the fastest growing social media apps in history (Source). Its merger with Musical.ly and focus on short-form video gave TikTok the foundation it needed to take off.
TikTok’s Explosive Growth
After launching outside of China in 2017, TikTok saw a meteoric rise in global users. By mid-2018, TikTok had been downloaded more than 104 million times on the App Store and Google Play (TikTok User Statistics). By 2021, TikTok hit over 1 billion monthly active users globally (TikTok Revenue and Usage Statistics).
This growth rate outpaced many other top social apps. For comparison, it took Instagram 6 years to reach 1 billion monthly active users after launching in 2010 (TikTok Statistics). Snapchat also took 6 years after its 2011 launch to pass 1 billion monthly active users. TikTok achieved the same feat in just 4 years, demonstrating the app’s incredible viral growth.
A key driver of TikTok’s rapid adoption was its innovative short-form video format tailored to mobile devices. This tapped into the rising popularity of short, entertaining video content among young people. TikTok made creating and sharing such videos incredibly easy and fun through its creative tools and viral distribution.
TikTok’s Product Team
Behind the incredible user growth and engagement of TikTok is the product team responsible for building the addictive product experience. Early on, TikTok focused on building a dynamic, personalized feed that provided a continuous stream of short, entertaining videos tailored to each user’s interests (TikTok Careers). This created the “endless scroll” experience that keeps users coming back.
The product team also developed TikTok’s creative tools like trending sticker packs, music clips, and video effects that enabled users to easily create their own content. Features like duets and reactions further fueled engagement and viral videos (TikTok Careers). This understanding of how to empower users as creators was key to TikTok’s explosive user growth.
Continued innovation by the product team has added live streaming, ecommerce, augmented reality effects, and newer recommendations algorithms. Credit is due to the product leaders driving the platform’s evolution and retention (TikTok Careers).
The Impact of the Merger
The merger between Musical.ly and TikTok in August 2018 proved to be a major catalyst for TikTok’s explosive growth. The two platforms had built loyal user bases around short-form video, but each offered unique strengths. By combining their technology, resources, and audiences, TikTok gained significant synergies.
Musical.ly had pioneered the concept of lip sync videos and developed innovative video editing tools that appealed to young creators. At the time of the merger, Musical.ly had around 100 million monthly active users, the majority under the age of 24. Meanwhile, TikTok had gained traction in Asia with its advanced AI recommendations and expansive creator community. Together, the merged platforms provided broader appeal across different demographics and geographies (The Business Strategy of TikTok).
The merger also allowed TikTok to tap into Musical.ly’s creator base in the West. These creators brought established fan followings and domain expertise in short video production. By onboarding them to TikTok, the platform could expand its reach and content diversity. Within a year of the merger, TikTok saw its global downloads grow by 75% (TikTok News: Timeline of the Network’s Evolution).
Overall, the synergistic combination of Musical.ly and TikTok provided TikTok with the technology, user base, and creator talent to fuel its emergence as a leading global platform. The merger exemplified TikTok’s strategic approach to growth through acquisition and integration.
TikTok’s Continued Evolution
Despite its rapid growth and huge popularity, TikTok has continued to innovate by regularly rolling out new features and capabilities aimed at creators and marketers. According to Social Media Examiner (1), some of the latest updates allow more customization of each user’s “For You” feed and provide new options for advertisers.
Over time, TikTok has gradually increased the maximum length for videos from 15 seconds initially to 60 seconds today. As explained by LinkedIn (2), it has evolved from just a lip-syncing app to a diverse platform enabling all kinds of creative content. TikTok now powers a wide range of trends from dance challenges to cooking demos.
According to Metricool (3), other notable TikTok innovations include the launch of TikTok Shopping for ecommerce, TikTok Resumes for recruiting, tools for Livestream shopping, and advanced advertising options like augmented reality and Collection Ads. TikTok continues to roll out enhancements, showing that it aims to be much more than just a viral video app.
The Future of TikTok
As TikTok continues its rapid growth, the company aims to expand its capabilities and audience while facing stiff competition. Some analysts speculate that TikTok will look to bolster its advertising tools to better compete with platforms like Meta and YouTube. According to one report, TikTok is testing a new ad product that would enable brands to integrate their product catalogs into the app and tag products in TikTok videos (https://businessmodelanalyst.com/tiktok-business-model/)
TikTok is also likely to further invest in video commerce, building on features like TikTok Shop that allow creators to sell goods directly within the app. The platform may explore live streams for shopping similar to Facebook Live and YouTube Live shopping. As it expands e-commerce offerings, TikTok will need to court more brands and merchants to its platform.
Many experts predict that TikTok will continue expanding its creator fund initiatives as it competes for talent with rival platforms. TikTok may also enhancement tools for creators to collaborate, cross-promote each other, and better monetize their content. The company will need to strike a balance between pleasing creators and maintaining its fun, authentic experience for general users.
As competition heats up, some analysts expect TikTok to diversify revenue streams beyond advertising. This could include paid subscriptions or tipping options for exclusive content. TikTok may also look to launch new short-form video products that complement its core app experience.
With growing scrutiny over data privacy, TikTok will need to further invest in transparency around how it handles user data. Additional partnerships, acquisitions or regional expansion could be pursued as TikTok aims to be a mainstream hub for short-form mobile video.
Conclusion
TikTok has become one of the world’s most popular and influential social media apps in just a few short years. Its origins can be traced back to ByteDance, a Chinese tech company founded by Zhang Yiming in 2012. Yiming recognized the potential for short-form video sharing apps and launched Douyin in China in 2016. Meanwhile, Musical.ly, a similar app created by Alex Zhu and Luyu Yang, was gaining traction in the US. Seeing an opportunity, ByteDance acquired Musical.ly in 2017 for $1 billion and merged it with Douyin to create TikTok.
Under Yiming’s leadership, TikTok has grown at an astonishing rate, tapping into the global demand for bite-sized, entertaining videos. While other social apps were focused on status updates and photos, TikTok correctly predicted the rise of short videos as the future of social media. Its fun features like reactions, duets, filters and special effects gave it a unique appeal. Today, TikTok has over 1 billion monthly active users worldwide and has become a cultural phenomenon and launchpad for viral trends, memes, dances and music hits. While regulatory and security concerns remain, TikTok continues to evolve by adding ecommerce, entertainment and other offerings beyond videos. With its remarkable growth and influence, TikTok has cemented itself as a leading force in social media and technology.
