TikTok’s monthly active users (MAU) are estimated to hit 1.2 billion in 2021, according to mobile analytics firm App Annie. The short-form video app’s hot streak has continued, with its user base having tripled since 2018, TechCrunch reported. Further, its growing advertising business and sales of virtual gifts for tipping creators made TikTok the number two non-gaming app by consumer spending in the third quarter of this year.
Why we care. It’s been a chaotic 2020 for TikTok. It’s fate in the U.S. is still up in the air with the Trump administration’s ban blocked in federal court and the proposed deal for Oracle and Walmart to take ownership stakes in a new TikTok Global entity still under review. And yet, TikTok’s popularity with creators, users and advertisers shows no signs of slowing.
