Samuel Bestvater

A new Pew Research Center analysis of the accounts Americans follow on TikTok highlights the centrality of internet-native content creators, prominent influencers and traditional celebrities on the popular short-form video platform.

A new Pew Research Center study matching the survey responses and on-site behaviors of US adult TikTok users finds that a minority of avid posters create the vast majority of content on the site. And most users post seldom, if at all—instead using TikTok primarily to view and consume content made by others. Among our key findings about how the American public is using TikTok:

In July 2013, activists first used the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag to spark conversation about racism, violence and the criminal justice system following George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. Ten years later, Black Lives Matter stands as a model of a new generation of social movements intrinsically linked to social media.