TikTok has become into a worldwide phenomenon. “TikTok might be rewiring entertainment, providing the next generation of activists new means to share tales and upsetting the global online order,” writes Shira Ovide in an op-ed for The New York Times.
It appears like Ovide’s prediction is soon becoming a reality. Cloudflare Radar data reveals the social platform’s exponential expansion and global popularity.
TikTok is not only outperforming other social media platforms in terms of worldwide internet traffic, but it is also outperforming Google and its suite of services, such as Google Maps and Gmail.
The Radar project from Cloudflare publishes data on website traffic metrics and other current internet trends. TikTok.com was the most popular domain by the end of 2021, according to the company’s data.
Second place went to Google.com, which was followed by Facebook.com, Microsoft.com, and Apple.com.
It’s worth mentioning that TikTok’s parent firm, ByteDance, is one of the few significant IT businesses in China that also has a popular consumer app. In China, ByteDance operates Douyin, which is similar to TikTok features. Douyin traffic, on the other hand, is not sent to the TikTok.com domain.
Furthermore, YouTube’s site traffic is not included in Google’s domain. Instagram.com and WhatsApp.com are not part of Facebook’s domain.
According to Cloudflare, Google was the most visited domain in late 2020. Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, and Netflix came in second, third, and fourth, respectively. TikTok ranked #7 in terms of traffic.
According to the internet security agency, TikTok’s movement began in February 2021. For one day on February 17, TikTok was the most popular app.
This was followed by a few periods in March and May when TikTok was at the top for a few days. However, in August, TikTok began to take over the top rank on most days, while Google retained the top slot on a few occasions.
The social platform’s sustained domination and popularity is a stunning turn of events for a platform that was on the verge of being shut down in the United States.
President Trump signed an executive order in August 2020 that would have slapped penalties on the platform, citing security concerns related to its ties to China.
After court challenges, the Commerce Department eventually declared it would not enforce the order. President Biden, on the other hand, has scaled back his efforts.
