Like us, you probably spent a lot of this year flicking through videos of outrageous beauty hacks, heartwarming love stories, and a sad-looking cat next to a glass of wine, on TikTok. It’s a place where musicians can break into superstardom in a flash, where fake conspiracy theories can flourish, and where you can learn genuinely useful information – like the teen girl who saved herself from a kidnapping with a hand signal she discovered on the app.
Turns out we’re not alone, as the video sharing platform has just ranked as the the world’s most visited website, according to new data. This ends the dominance of Google and its Maps, Photos, Books, News, etc. empire, as well as beating the likes of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, and Netflix.
Former social media sweetheart Instagram fell off the top ten list of 2021, but was replaced by WhatsApp – also owned by Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta. So, all is not lost.
The previous year, TikTok had ranked at number seven, taking a giant leap over 12 months to gain the number one spot – the only non US-owned company on the list. While some of this data can be attributed to the ongoing lockdowns, it reflects a changing appetite in favour of short-form video.
Here’s to more cult movie recreations, challenges that get you sent to hospital, and pop debuts in 2022!