For the last couple of years, TikTok’s stature as a social media platform has grown rapidly and is now a household name despite the presence of social media giants like Facebook and Twitter.
In the second half of 2021, TikTok boasted that it joined the elite club of social media applications to reach one billion active users.
According to data from Buyshares, TikTok is the second-fastest-growing social media platform to hit 1 billion users, just behind Facebook, after reaching the milestone in just 5.1 years.
TikTok: Second-fastest-growing social media platform
TikTok’s origin starts with an app that started in September 2016 and was popularized in Mainland China known as Douyin. TikTok is the international version of the Chinese app and has become a household name since.
The platform’s rise to popularity is happening at breakneck speed, with TikTok reaching the impressive milestone of 1 billion users in just 5.1 years.
Out of major social media platforms, TikTok accomplished the feat as the second-fastest-growing social media platform behind Facebook Messenger that accomplished the feat in just 4.9 years.
Arguably, however, the speed of TikTok’s rise is far more impressive than Facebook Messenger which was already in operation as an extension of the Facebook website before it was released as an app. This gave Facebook Messenger a significant headstart compared to TikTok.
The next fastest after TikTok is the Chinese app WeChat which took a little over 7 years to accomplish the feat.
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Facebook’s (now known as Meta) other apps such as its main app for Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp took 7.7 years, 8.5 years, and 8.7 years respectively, to reach the milestone. The video-sharing platform, YouTube, also took a little over 8 years to reach 1 billion users.
“TikTok is the social media platform that is generating a lot of buzz in the last couple of years, particularly among the younger generations,” said Robert Pascal, Tech Editor at Buyshares.
“The app’s popularity is impossible to miss as it has fully permeated mainstream pop-culture, ensuring that the 1B user mark is not the only milestone the platform will break in the near future.”
