TikTok's popularity in recent years has skyrocketed. Even this short video application is predicted to become the third largest social media in the world by 2022.
Market research firm Insider Intelligence recently released its predictions for the growth in the number of social media users next year. In its report, Insider Intelligence said TikTok will have 755 million monthly active users by 2022, a 40.8% increase from 2021.
They also predict Facebook will have 2.1 billion active users next year, followed by Instagram with 1.28 billion users. TikTok is in third place, followed by Snap and Twitter.
"The rise of TikTok has been particularly challenging for Snapchat, where they are competing directly for a younger audience," said Principal Analyst Insider Intelligence Debra Aho Williamson, as quoted by TechCrunch, Tuesday (12/21/2021).
"While TikTok does not bear much resemblance to Twitter, its larger size compared to more established platforms is a clear reflection of the addictive nature of TikTok's content."
Insider Intelligence's predictions are somewhat different from Facebook's official report. In its latest financial report, Facebook reported having 2.91 billion active users. While Instagram was recently rumored to have two billion active users.
Insider Intelligence said they used a different calculation. They have a definition of monthly active users which may differ from what each platform measures.
For example, Insider Intelligence only counts users who log in at least once a month and they also don't include fake accounts in its calculations. This is done to provide a more consistent comparison between platforms.
The surge in TikTok's popularity has indeed been unstoppable in the last two years. Sensor Tower reports that the application from ByteDance was downloaded more than two billion times on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store in the first quarter of 2020.
In July 2021, Sensor Tower said TikTok (including Douyin in China) was the first non-Facebook mobile app to have been downloaded more than three billion times on the Play Store and App Store.
Insider Intelligence estimates that the number of TikTok users will still grow by 15.1% in 2022. Their market share will also reach 20%, and will increase to 25% in 2024.