Smartphone users use many mobile apps, including Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp, and more. However, the two most popular apps downloaded by millions are Instagram and TikTok. These two apps are very similar, with small differences and uses for each app and user. Both have pretty similar targeted audiences, with a near 50-50 split of men and women, ranging in age from 18 to 24.
Instagram is an app used by many celebrities and influencers to post about their day or upcoming projects or sponsors. However, the average user of Instagram will typically use this app to keep up with these celebrities and influencers and/or to keep in contact with friends and family or even to meet new friends or partners. Instagram has features such as photo posts, video posts, stories (short clips of videos that expire in 24 hours, similar to Snapchat, another popular mobile app), lives (live streams of users for followers or any passerby to tune into), and recently Reels (similar to TikTok’s main source of media which are 5 second to 10 minute videos posted to users’ profile(s)).
Instagram is charted to have 696 million downloads in 2023 alone and was bought by Meta in 2021 which continued its growth into popularity. With this purchase came Instagram Threads and a place for users to shop for products and apparel. It is also stated that users can make from $10-$100 per post with 500 to 10,000 followers. There are many ways users make money from Instagram from simple sponsored posts to selling their own products on their profiles which anyone can do and has the capability of doing.
TikTok
TikTok is a very diverse and, in my opinion, very strange app. TikTok came from the previously famous app, Musical.ly which was removed from app stores for a few years before turning into the TikTok we know now. It did start off with users treating it like Musical.ly with the lip-synching and dancing to the very diverse platform users go to for many wants and needs. Users can find just about anything on TikTok from funny videos to lip-synching and dancing videos to finding restaurants near you.
TikTok is a platform primarily used by teenagers but has a wide age range of users and posters. It is has become a very popular platform for users to express themselves through creative content, with features such as lip-syncing, dancing, reposting, duets/stitches (ways other posters can interact with one another’s followers and gain traction), and comedy. The app has a dedicated young community, with users competing in challenges and seeking likes, followers, and featured videos. It is also a platform for anyone wanting to start businesses or music careers. Users can find many profiles promoting music or songs in process that other users have made and even products that other users have handmade for sale. However, this is where the strangeness takes action. Posters can make from 2-4 cents per 1,000 views and 20-40 dollars for 1 million views which is much different from its counterpart Instagram and famous video platform YouTube. TikTok does pay per view like these two do. Users, in order to make more money, have to sell their own products or music for examples or have a higher following enough to obtain sponsorships which provide higher income. There is also TikTok Shop which allows in-platform sponsorships and revenue. It is also a strange app in my opinion because of the amount of safety concerns. It is a platform used mainly by teenagers and young adults which can cause concern for parents and is also, similarly to any social media platform, subjected to harassment and bullying by anonymous users without any reprimand from the platform its self. Despite this though, TikTok continues its growth in the mobile app game and continues to provide users and posters with content they look for.
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