TikTok has undoubtedly been one of the fastest-growing social apps in the world. It rivals the top three social apps in the world in terms of users: Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
Despite facing setbacks in several countries such as the US, India, and Pakistan, TikTok has managed to gain 1 billion monthly active users worldwide.
TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, was accused of being a security threat by the US last year. It accused TikTok of spying on its userbase with its data-collecting practices which allegedly breached privacy laws. It even faced a ban in the US during the Trump administration unless it was bought off by an American company.
Talks of a deal fell through once President Joe Biden took office later on.
Instagram hit the same milestone back in 2018 but has been struggling to stay on par with TikTok ever since. With TikTok popularizing its short video format, Instagram and YouTube decided to introduce their own iteration known as Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.
Back in July, the Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri admitted that TikTok was shaping up to be a huge competitor and that Instagram will have to shift its focus from being a photo-sharing app to four major elements – creators, video, shopping, and messaging.
