Network Effect of Tik Tok
Tik Tok is an app that allows users to share short video clips of themselves over a large user base. If someone had asked me in January if Tik Tok was going to be a large social media platform I would have said they were crazy. The app at the time was constantly criticized and many contemporaries believed that the app would fade away. However, today this app holds over a billion users, monthly user base rivals – if not exceeds – those of Instagram and Snapchat and is still gaining in popularity. This rise can be explained by the network effect.
The app has increased exponentially in recent months because as more users join the base and interact with the platform by liking, commenting or posting content it becomes more valuable. Users have more incentive to interact with the content as they hope to gain popularity and go viral. Furthermore, as there are many viral trends it is easier for an individual to gain popularity on this platform than on others. For instance, a user with very few followers can go viral over night by posting content using certain hashtags and if people enjoy their video and interact with it is more likely to be displayed on a separate user’s phone. As such, Tik Tok also contains the principle of a video going boom or bust. If a video is posted and gains traction (interacted with by lots of people) then it is more likely to go viral on the platform as it will also be posted on different forms of social media including Instagram and Facebook. However, if the video is not popular off the bat then it is unlikely to ever gain traction and go bust.
Source: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/30/how-tiktok-holds-our-attention