One-fourth of TikTok users responsible for nearly all content: Study

A small share of adult TikTok users are responsible for producing nearly all the content on the platform, according to a Pew Research study released Thursday.  

The most active 25 percent of U.S. adult TikTok users produce 98 percent of public content on the platform, the study found.  

Nearly half of users, 48 percent, have never posted any videos, and 60 percent have never posted public videos, based on the study.  

Pew also found that among users who do post content, most don’t do it often. The “median poster” has put up a total of six public videos in the life of their account and has a total of 149 likes in return, according to the study.  

Pew’s findings suggest most users use TikTok to primarily view content made by others and seldom post, if at all.  

The behavior around posting is similar between younger adults, aged 18 to 34 years old, and older adults, aged 35 to 49, though younger adults are “much more likely” to use TikTok compared to the older age group, based on the poll.  

The users who have posted videos on TikTok are more active and customize more of their content. The more active users tend to follow more users, have more followers, and have their account bios filled in, according to the poll.  

The poll also found that 85 percent of TikTok users said their algorithmically generated “for you” page is at least somewhat interesting, including 40 percent who said it was either “extremely” or “very” interesting.  

The more active users are somewhat more likely to find the content on their “for you” page “extremely interesting,” according to the poll.  

Pew Research surveyed 2,754 U.S. adult TikTok users in August. The results of the new study looking at adult TikTok users’ behavior are based on 869 of those respondents who volunteered a valid TikTok handle for research purposes to allow Pew to analyze their observed behaviors on the platform.