Only half of TikTok users actually post on the platform, report finds
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The top 25% of TikTok users produce 98% of the public videos found on the platform, according to a report from Pew Research Center.
Why it matters: Americans are flocking to short-form video platforms like TikTok for news and information, which means a small number of active users have increasing influence.
State of play: Pew Research surveyed 2,745 U.S. adult TikTok users in August 2023 and found that while one-third of adults are on TikTok, only about half actually post content on the platform.
By the numbers: Users between the ages 35-49 are are more likely to post on TikTok than other age demographic, according to the report.
- Roughly half of users between the ages of 18-34 have never posted and 70% of all users lack information in the bio of their accounts.
- Users that do post have put up a total of six public videos and received an average of 149 "likes" in return.
- Meanwhile, 49% of users have never received a "like" and the average adult is followed by just 36 accounts.
Between the lines: This signals that most content is discovered through the "for you" page, and 40% of users say this content is either extremely or very interesting to them.
The big picture: This is in line with user habits across other social media platforms as well, says Samuel Bestvater computational social scientist for Pew.
- Yes, but: Other platforms see some type of posting — whether it's a short tweet or Facebook status update — while TikTok sees little to nothing.
What they're saying: That's likely due to the platform's barrier to entry, says Bestvater.
- "If I were to speculate, I would say that a big part of that is because creating videos is a more involved process than just typing out a tweet — and that could be a big part of what's driving that difference in posting behavior."
Go deeper ... Americans flock to TikTok for news.
