A timeline and visuals on TikTok's rapid growth

TikTok is one of the fastest-growing social media platforms of all time

Centered around user-generated short videos, the platform was created by the Chinese technology company ByteDance Ltd. With over 1.8 billion users, the app has become a global force.

TikTok explained: how the app became a global phenomenon

Since 2018, the short-form, video-sharing app TikTok has gone from launching in the US to becoming a habit-forming cultural force that’s signed up more than half of the country's population as users.

TikTok boasts nearly 1.8B monthly users

The app has surged in popularity recently, with usage surging during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those users have generated high revenues, too, with over $23B in 2024.

How TikTok ate the internet

TikTok is now deeply integrated into American culture, thanks to the app’s powerful algorithm and focus on entertainment which have influenced popular trends and social media content consumption in the US. This immersive piece highlights TikTok’s role in helping shape everything from music to fashion and even politics in the US—while its connection to China has also drawn scrutiny and raised national security concerns.

Understanding TikTok-owner ByteDance's business model

ByteDance has ridden TikTok's major success to become the world's most valuable startup. This deep dive showcases some of the company's smartest moves and tactics, and where it's headed next.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew on its future

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew dives into how the trendsetting video app and cultural phenomenon works, from what distinguishes its algorithm and drives viral videos, to the challenges of content moderation and digital addiction in this wide-ranging conversation with the head of TED, Chris Anderson.

The TikTok sale went through in January 2026

The app's ownership is now majority American, though TikTok CEO Shou Chew, who is Chinese, remains on the board of directors. It's unclear what, if anything, has changed for American users, as the company has historically kept the specifics of its algorithm a secret.

Douyin is a dominant channel for government propaganda

Driven by strict censorship rules, ByteDance Ltd. spun off TikTok from its sister app Douyin—the version available in China—in order to flourish in international markets. This “60 Minutes” report compares the apps side by side.

TikTok doesn't exist in China

TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance Ltd., yet only the platform’s sister app Douyin is available in China. That's because the Chinese government regularly censors Douyin—something ByteDance likely believes would degrade TikTok, its international app.

TikTok's 'sonic logo' imprints the app's identity across platforms

As the app's popular videos spread to other platforms like Instagram and Reddit, the company sought a way to alert viewers that the content originated on TikTok. They decided on the sonic logo that now acts as a bumper on all of its shared videos, to attract users.

Watch a timeline of Tencent—one of China's earliest tech giants—despite the company's low profile.

Why TikTok's algorithm is likely driven by what you linger on

While the inner workings of the engine driving the vast majority of the app's engagement remain a secret, it is understood to rely heavily on what content users spend the most time watching rather than swipe past. Experts believe the app can develop user profiles robust enough for its algorithm to consistently match engaging content to in as little as two hours.

TikTok can turn everyday users into stars

TikTok is such a cultural force, it’s now a platform for turning ordinary users into stars. This "Planet Money" podcast episode performs a deep dive into how Tai Verdes went from working a day job and dreaming of becoming a successful musician to using TikTok to gain a following.

Most memes now begin on TikTok

The website Know Your Meme looked at the data for 700 to 1,400 memes uploaded to the platform each year from 2010 to 2022. In 2010, a majority of memes began on YouTube (34%) or 4chan (28%), but by 2022 most were starting on TikTok.

In 2025, ByteDance agreed to sell the app's US branch

In 2024, US lawmakers passed a requirement for parent company ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban in the country, which the company challenged in court. After several extensions granted by President Trump, ByteDance agreed to sell the company's US branch to a group of US investors, including Oracle, which will oversee the app's security and cloud computing.

Less than half of TikTok's US users have posted a video

Like most platforms, content is driven by a small number of active users—in TikTok's case, 25% of accounts are responsible for an estimated 98% of content posted.

A creator economy timeline

Long before anyone memorized a TikTok dance, the creator economy began with regular people blogging about their personal lives. Eventually, it snowballed into the creator economy we know today. The Washington Post created an interactive timeline to help visualize how the creator economy got from point A to point B.

Listen to a podcast episode that explains how the Chinese discount e-commerce retailer Temu became one of the most downloaded apps in the US.

What Trump's second 75-day extension means for TikTok sale

After President Trump took office in January 2025, he offered TikTok the opportunity to find a US company to buy the app within 75 days. In the meantime, the app continued operating. In April, Trump extended that deadline by an additional 75 days. This BBC article breaks down what that means for the company's potential buyers and for its users.

TikTok intentionally keeps users scrolling, something researchers have found makes it more addictive than other short-form video platforms.

How to read the news on TikTok

There's plenty of news on TikTok, but that doesn't mean it's all reliable. This guide, written by a communication technology professor, breaks down the ways the app's algorithm delivers news. It also covers how users can determine whether or not a story is factual or misleading. Most strikingly, the professor warns readers that if they didn't search for a TikTok video, then "it probably found you."

TikTok's top 10 users have over 1B followers

Influencers like Charli D'Amelio and MrBeast, as well as more traditional stars like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, produce content that keep people scrolling.

TikTok's personalized algorithm activates the brain's reward system

A 2025 Washington Post study found that 75% of the TikTok users it studied nearly doubled their time spent on the app within a month. Experts in design and psychiatry say this is due to the app's interface and algorithm, which, after learning about the user's preferences, recommend videos more likely to activate that person's dopamine reward system than non-personalized suggestions.

The average TikTok user spends 95 minutes on the app per day

According to HubSpot, the average TikTok user spends 95 minutes per day using the app, and an estimated 90% of users access TikTok daily. TikTok also has the highest average session length among social media platforms: Its users spend almost 11 minutes per session.

Tencent has relatively low name recognition outside of China—despite being the world's biggest video game publisher—operating a 1.4-billion-user messaging network, and holding more than 80 companies with valuations exceeding $1B.

TikTok's algorithm has changed the way hits are made

Songs aimed at TikTok's algorithm—designed for viral dances or soundtracking common experiences—often find success on the Billboard charts. An early example was Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road," which used his memes and a country-trap beat from the Netherlands to rise to the top of the Billboard charts.

Read a breakdown of WeChat, the central technology in Tencent's empire that boasts roughly 1.4 billion users and hosts e-commerce, payment, and messaging services all in one place.

What Trump's executive order provides TikTok

Just a few days into his second term, President Trump paused the US law banning TikTok through an executive order. While that may sound like an all-out reversal, it's more of a time out, granting ByteDance an additional 75 days to find a US-based seller. This resource breaks down what Trump's executive order provides the Chinese company and what it might mean for the future of the app.

Roughly 62% of US adults under 30 say they use TikTok

A Pew Research Center publication reports that most members of Gen Z use the app. That's significantly more than other age groups: 39% for those ages 30 to 49, 24% for those 50 to 64, and 10% for those 65 and older.

US lawmakers banned TikTok in 2024 for security purposes

After years of concerns about ByteDance Ltd.'s affiliation with the Chinese government, Congress passed a bill banning TikTok in the US. The main argument favoring the ban is that Beijing could use the wildly popular app to run foreign influence campaigns. Americans opposed to the ban say the law will negatively impact the livelihoods for TikTok shops and influencers.

In 2018, Tencent's market capitalization hit $580B, surpassing Facebook (now Meta) for the first time.

TikTok is transforming the English language

Linguists like Adam Aleksic have argued that the way internet slang—especially the kind that thrives on TikTok—enters the real world isn’t so different from how English evolved in its earliest days.

Read an overview of Tencent's biggest business moments, from the 2011 WeChat launch to streaming deal with Universal Music Group.

The evolution of X, from startup to Musk-owned giant, reflects rapid tech shifts

Twitter began in 2006 as a side project and grew into a major global platform, widely used for news, activism, and political discourse. Despite mainstream success, it faced ongoing management turmoil, business struggles, and rising concerns over misinformation and user safety.

TikTok isn't factored into a song's rank on the Billboard charts, but it can have an impact

Billboard ranks a song's chart position based on its radio airplay, its physical sales, and its streaming numbers (across Spotify and other platforms), but doesn't include user-generated content, meaning it doesn't include TikTok videos. Keith Caulfield, Billboard's managing director of charts and data operations, notes that TikTok still has an impact, though, because listeners will often stream the app's most popular songs on other platforms.

Trump has extended TikTok's sale deadline three times

In 2024, US lawmakers passed a requirement for parent company ByteDance Ltd. to sell TikTok or face a ban in the country, which the company challenged in court. In early 2025, the law took effect, though President Trump paused it three separate times, affording the company more time to sell.

A timeline of Google's growth

As of 2025, Google will approach its third decade of existence. A period that's seen the company go from dominating the search market to the launch of one billion-user product after another, from Gmail to YouTube. This detailed timeline lays out what happened when, laying out Google's history in detail. It marks key milestones, like the introduction of Google Maps, and what year they happened.

TikTok is changing the building trades

Plumbers, welders, and general contractors are meeting their customers on TikTok. This article delves into the growing group of tradespeople documenting their work (and advertising their services) on the popular app. The profiled workers are convinced this is the new way to sustain a life in the trades.

In 2022, there were 4.2 billion social media users across the globe

Among them were 200 million creators. Linktree, a company that helps create links in people’s social media bios (and much more), gathered the most important numbers from 2022 to get a more accurate picture of what the creator economy looks like, numerically speaking.

Inside the life of a 13-year-old beauty influencer

Thirteen-year-old Evelyn started posting get-ready-with-me style videos the summer before she entered 7th grade. Pull back the curtain on how she rose to internet fame through cutting observations of her peers at school, and how platforms like TikTok have responded to those under 13 joining the creator economy.

See a breakdown of every single video game Tencent has invested in.

X (Twitter) started as a way to share short updates via text

What began as a way to share 140-character updates quickly grew into a vital platform for activism, politics, and pop culture. Hashtags, trending topics, and retweets—now common across the internet—originated on the platform.

Explore Wikipedia, but TikTok-style

Wikipedia's vast trove of information can be a bit dull to navigate. This homemade website takes real Wikipedia pages and places them in a swipeable format similar to TikTok, so you can learn about very random things in a similar mode as the culture-shifting TikTok app. Check it out here.

Why TikTok loves fast-casual restaurant Chili's

The company noticed TikTokers posting enthusiastically about its food and began partnering with creators on the platform. The videos include mukbangs, a South Korean trend in which users eat a massive amount of food, and #cheesepulls, where Chili's mozzarella sticks are stretched to their limits.

Explore a visual timeline of fintech’s history and growth

From the debut of the world’s first ATM in 1967, to Apple Pay launching in 2014, financial technologies have come a very long way in a relatively short historical period. A colorful visual timeline highlights some of the most important milestones along the way.

The first social media platforms date back to the late 1990s, and their algorithms were typically chronological, with entities like MySpace and Facebook feeding users content from the most recent posts to the oldest.

WeChat has become China's primary news platform, due to expansive user base and legacy media's adoption of the platform.

Listen to an interview with Tencent's chief financial officer Arthur Wang to hear how the company is leveraging to AI to stay ahead of the technological curve.

Music today is often intended to circulate on social media

Artists are increasingly using TikTok and other short form video platforms as a space to promote their music. One scholar notes this emphasis, and connect it to Taylor Swift's early use of social media to promote her own work and brand.

How to catch a TikTok thief

Someone took a 10-second clip of a parody video made by Hugh Clegg and posted it to TikTok, where it racked up millions of views. The uncredited clip meant viewers assumed it was owned by the uploader, an assumption Clegg was eager to rectify. His messages and comments had no real effect outside of earning him temporary bans for "spamming." So he decided to moonlight as a private eye.