Despite its growing popularity, TikTok remains a platform where the majority of users are content to consume videos. A recent study by the Pew Research Center reveals that the most active 25% of US adult users produce 98% of public content on TikTok. Moreover, the report states that about half of all US adults on the site have never actually posted a video themselves.
The top 25% of US adult TikTok users who are the most active in terms of posting produce 98% of all publicly accessible videos from this group, according to analysis from Pew Research surveying 2,745 US adults using TikTok in August 2023. The research highlights a significant concentration of publishing activity, with a minority of very active users generating the majority of content.
Younger users might not necessarily post more
The research reveals that almost half of the American TikTok users surveyed have never posted a video. What’s more, most of them haven’t even filled in their biography.
Users aged 18 to 34 (52%) are more likely to use TikTok than their elders. However, only about half of them have actually posted content, a figure similar to that of the 35-to-49 age group (60%), the study points out.
Greater engagement with the platform
Users who post videos are generally more active on TikTok: they follow more accounts, are followed by more people themselves, are more likely to have filled out their bio, and are somewhat more likely to find the content of their "For You" page highly interesting, the research reports.
The analysis found that the median poster has uploaded six videos and received a total of 149 likes. Moreover, a median poster will also follow almost four times as many other accounts as someone who doesn’t post.
TikTok’s recommendation algorithm, experienced via the "For You" page, seems to be working effectively for the platform’s users. Indeed, 85% of users find the content of this page at least somewhat interesting, with 40% describing it as extremely or very interesting. Only 14% found it of little or no interest.
