TikTok is now the world’s most downloaded app

Chinese short-video platform TikTok has overtaken Facebook as the most downloaded social media app in the world, the media reported. Until 2021, Facebook had held that title. According to a global analysis compiled by Nikkei, a global survey of downloads in 2020, TikTok has officialy overtaken Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and every other messaging platform for the first time to become the most downloaded social media app in the world.

The report said that TikTok’s parent company ByteDance launched the international version of short-video platform in 2017, and has since overtaken Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger, all of which are Facebook owned, in downloads, even in the US. The app’s popularity grew during the pandemic, when it became the leading download in Europe, South America and the US, the report said on Monday. Chat and communications platform Discord has benefited from people’s need to isolate during the pandemic. TikTok has even been inspiring other platforms to mimic its style, after seeing its popularity boom—such as Instagram Reels, or YouTube Shorts. It is popular among gamers for chatting when online and has been funded by Sony Group. TikTok has started a whole new trend of video style, which has been picked up by several fellow social media apps over the past year. The possibilities have become endless, and thousands of business have taken advantage to advertise their products or services as well as provide entertainment.