How TikTok Deletes The 'Tacky' Image And Becomes A Popular Platform

Illustration (Raga Granada/VOI)

We have discussed the secret of Reasons For TikTok Content To Go Viral Faster in the previous article. In order to achieve that, TikTok has had a long way to go. Still in VOI's Article Series "Tactics to Get Up on the TikTok Stage," about the transformation of TikTok, which was once considered easy to be recognized as a platform for creative people today.

It took only a few years for TikTok to become an important part of the world's internet culture. Before surpassing the two billion downloads it is today, TikTok has gone through the ups and downs. Including the matter of rebranding transformation which was once considered tacky.

The mastermind of TikTok is Zhang Yiming, a man from China. His company, ByteDance, has experienced tremendous growth. Zhang started his company in 2012 with the launch of an online news service that relies heavily on artificial intelligence (AI). Several years later, he created TikTok and Douyin (Chinese version of TikTok).

Long before TikTok, however, was the popular Musical.ly. Musical.ly at that time was widely used by teenagers to lip-sync with selected songs. Musical.ly was then acquired by ByteDance in November 2017.

They are absorbing a lot from Musical.ly into the TikTok app. Existing Musical.ly users migrated to their new TikTok accounts, which have been updated with a new interface but still retain the core feature of both apps: short videos.

The Musical.ly app, which enjoyed teenagers and reached one hundred million monthly active users at the time, was part of ByteDance's larger strategy to enter the US market. In the first quarter of 2018, TikTok was the most downloaded iOS app in the world, according to a report from US research firm Sensor Tower.

Illustration (Source: Unsplash)

TikTok's video that was very viral for a long time was in early 2019. The video has the theme 'glow up transformation', which shows users who are currently considered prettier or more handsome than their former self. There was also a comedy video with Peppa Pig, which TikTok eventually banned as a "subversive gangster" icon.

All of this makes TikTok a lot of fun to use and helps explain why TikTok has become so popular so quickly. In September 2018, TikTok's popularity surpassed Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat in monthly installs on the App Store.

In addition, TikTok is known to have been downloaded more than one billion times in 2018. This number is indeed smaller than Facebook (its 2.27 billion monthly active users globally, including Instagram and WhatsApp, which it owns), but is far ahead of Twitter (336 million) and Snapchat (186 million). As of February 2019, 27 million of TikTok's active users are in the US.

Based on Sensor Tower's research in the second quarter of 2020, TikTok was downloaded by more than 300 million users in the first and second quarters of 2020. TikTok was also the most popular non-gaming application during June 2020. TikTok became the most downloaded application even though it was banned in various countries such as India and was hated by former US President Donald Trump.

TikTok even beat the video conferencing application, Zoom, which was widely used during the COVID-19 pandemic. A report from Sensor Tower noted that TikTok was downloaded 87 million times in June 2020. An increase of 52.7 percent year on year compared to June 2019.

TikTok in Indonesia

TikTok's popularity has also reached Indonesia. Around 2018, many social media users in Indonesia started using it. But not like today, at that time TikTok was considered tacky. This is because the TikTok image, which only contains people dancing "is unclear", was even considered negative because there were users who danced using minimal clothes and were considered a place to show off their bodies.

In the middle of the tacky image, there is one user who has many followers. He is Bowo Alpenliebe or whose real name is Prabowo Mondardo.

Considering that at that time TikTok was still considered negative, at that time Bowo had more than 800 thousand followers. The content consists of him dancing to various music. However, Bowo's name became increasingly sticky after holding a 'meet and greet'.

At that time Bowo was 13 years old. It is known that the 'meet and greet' also has an entrance fee of IDR 80 thousand. Indonesian citizens did not remain silent, they threw lopsided comments about the event. Indonesian citizens think that Bowo is not worthy of conducting fan meetings, let alone paying. Apart from that, another thing that is most unfortunate is the attitude of Bowo's fans who do not make sense because they adore Bowo excessively.

The Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) then opened its voice and regretted the behavior of citizens who criticized Bowo on social media. "It is very inappropriate for an adult to curse at Bowo in inappropriate language," said Retno Listyarti, Commissioner for Education of KPAI in July 2018, as quoted by Tirto.

The scolding for Bowo and TikTok faded after the social media was blocked in Indonesia. The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology considers that TikTok has negative content, especially for children. However, TikTok can be used again in Indonesia after negotiating. Even now, TikTok is more popular and used by many people.

Infographics (VOI/Raga Granada)

TikTok's popularity

TikTok does look strange at first, but it's the oddity that makes it even more different and more famous. When people are bored with text-based social media like Twitter or Facebook and are tired of Instagram which contains photos that seem showy, TikTok is here to laugh.

An example can be seen from the TikTok Siska Kohl account. Siska Kohl often shares herself trying out new expensive and distinctive things with the words "let's try." On Twitter or Instagram, some netizens see themselves as spoiled and rich women who only show off their parents' possessions. But for TikTok users, Siska Kohl's content is just funny. It has even been made a parody by other TikTok users. This proves that there is only a 'fun' element to be found on TikTok.

In addition, CNN reports that ByteDance has a strategy of using AI for machine learning and algorithms to find out what people like, which influences TikTok's popularity. This allows TikTok to give users more of what they want to see.

However, TikTok also experienced rejection by being blocked. In 2020, the Indian government banned TikTok and other Chinese-made apps that it said were dangerous to the country. The application is deemed to be detrimental to India's sovereignty and integrity, Indian defense, state security, and public order. The ban followed tensions that were rising along the disputed border between the two countries at the time.

Apart from India, the US also had a discourse on using TikTok in this superpower country. This is because the Donald Trump administration sees that TikTok belongs to a Chinese company, whose user data can be affiliated with the Chinese government. At that time, the US-China were also arguing over the trade war and handling COVID-19.

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