TikTok’s popularity in the U.S. may be reaching a plateau after years of massive growth, according to various research reports that piled up within hours this week.
According to data from Apptopia, TikTok downloads through November 30 of this year were down 20% compared to the same period in 2022, and TikTok had 5.9 million U.S. downloads in July this year, down 32% from a year earlier. This is the lowest in recent years. Last July.
Data.ai, a company formerly known as App Annie, reported a similar conclusion in data shared with NBC News, with U.S. downloads down 18% this year. Apptopia and data.ai both show his double-digit growth in TikTok downloads around the world, suggesting the slump may be specific to the United States.
Apple announced Tuesday that TikTok has dropped several spots in its annual report on the most popular free iPhone apps. TikTok was No. 1 in 2022, but fell to No. 5 in the U.S. this year.
In a separate report on Tuesday, technology services company Cloudflare said TikTok dropped one spot from third place a year ago to fourth place this year in its annual ranking of the most popular internet services.
And while the percentage of American teens who use TikTok is likely unchanged over the past 18 months, the video app remains popular, with 63. % of respondents said they use TikTok in a survey.
All of these are signs that TikTok’s cultural cache may not have much room to grow, years into what some people call the TikTok era. While the app still has cultural influence, with videos frequently reposted on other technology platforms and driving conversation online, TikTok has reached a plateau, or at least the end of its hype cycle. may be.
“We’re going to reach a saturation point,” said David Belson, head of data insights at Cloudflare.
“There are only so many people who end up using it, and they only have so many hours in a day to use it,” he said.
A representative for TikTok had no immediate comment on the data Wednesday.
All top social media businesses hit a plateau at some point, finding it difficult to acquire new users and unable to maintain double-digit growth. In the last quarter of 2021, Facebook reported a decline in its user base for the first time in its 17 years, making him one of the clearest examples of this.
TikTok, which has Chinese owners, faces further political threats from politicians and national security officials seeking a ban as a potential vehicle for foreign propaganda and a threat to Americans’ personal data. are doing. The debate remains unresolved, with lobbyists for and against the ban engaged in heated debate in Washington.
TikTok had one bright spot in the Pew survey results. That is, support for the ban has declined among adults. In March, 50% supported one side and 22% opposed, but in the latest survey conducted from September 25th to October 1, 38% supported and 27% opposed. The divisions of opinion have become even narrower. Of the teens surveyed, 50% said they opposed the ban and 18% supported it.
Pugh also asked teens ages 13 to 17 what apps they use. YouTube topped the list with 93%, followed closely by a cluster of three apps: TikTok at 63%, Snapchat at 60%, and Instagram at 59%. This number was similar 18 months ago.
“We saw a big stabilization in 2022 and 2023, and it wasn’t unique to TikTok,” said Jeffrey Gottfried, associate director of research at Pew.
Social media consultant Matt Navarra agreed that TikTok may have reached a saturation point in the U.S., but said tastes may be changing. He pointed out that this year’s No. 1 app for iPhone is the shopping app Temu, and that TikTok is just beginning to enter the online shopping market.
In contrast, TikTok has always focused on two things. One is to encourage people to create videos for strangers, and the other is to encourage people to watch videos created by strangers.
“Snapchat hasn’t been very good as a social app in the traditional sense, in terms of having messaging capabilities and connecting with your closest friends and contacts. Snapchat was never set up that way. But Snapchat is the opposite,” Navarra said.
But now other apps like Instagram and YouTube offer similar product features to TikTok.
“There’s more competition than ever before,” he says.
Navarra noted that Apple’s rankings may have a silver lining for TikTok. CapCut, the video editing app that shares parent company ByteDance with his TikTok, ranked in second place for him.
He said he saw no evidence that U.S. political controversy or TikTok’s Chinese ownership had a negative impact on the app’s popularity.
“I think some people worry about it or worry about it, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a big factor,” Navarra said.