Instagram dethrones TikTok as the most downloaded app
Technology
The popularity of Instagram rose due to its reels feature copied from TikTok
(Web Desk) - In 2023, Instagram surpassed TikTok as the most downloaded app worldwide, with 768 million downloads, marking a 20% increase from the previous year.
This shift occurred amidst growing scrutiny of TikTok by US regulators due to security concerns, leading some lawmakers to caution against its usage.
Meanwhile, TikTok experienced a modest 4% increase in downloads, reaching 733 million. Abraham Yousef, senior insights manager at Sensor Tower, attributed Instagram's success to the popularity of its reels feature, along with its established social media functionalities.
TikTok gradually saw its advantage over Instagram diminish in 2021 and 2022, culminating in its loss of the top spot as the most downloaded app in the previous year. This shift occurred as Instagram's monthly active user base reached 1.47 billion, according to Sensor Tower.
In the final quarter of 2023 alone, Instagram saw an influx of 13 million new monthly active users, reflecting the effectiveness of its marketing tactics, customer engagement efforts, and ability to retain consumers.
During the same timeframe, TikTok experienced a decline of 12 million users, concluding 2023 with 1.12 billion monthly active users. Despite its smaller user base, TikTok users exhibit a higher level of engagement compared to Instagram, as noted by the Financial Times.
According to the report, TikTok users spent an average of 95 minutes on the platform in the fourth quarter of 2023, whereas Instagram users spent 62 minutes, users on platform X spent 30 minutes, and Snapchat users spent 19 minutes.
This heightened engagement on TikTok is primarily attributed to its unique capacity to deliver content tailored to users' preferences.
TikTok's algorithm offers the potential for rapid and widespread content virality, attracting creators seeking swift success through its Creator Fund.
Eligible creators can earn up to 40 cents for every 1,000 views, potentially resulting in substantial earnings. For instance, a creator whose video garners 1 million views could receive a windfall of $400,000 through this program.
In contrast, Instagram does not have a company fund for compensating creators. Instead, it allows creators to generate revenue through brand partnerships and sponsored posts, where rates are typically determined by their follower count and engagement rate.
ByteDance, a prominent Chinese technology giant, introduced TikTok in 2016. Following its merger with Shanghai-based lip-sync social media platform Musical.ly in 2018, TikTok surged in popularity, becoming the most downloaded app in the United States.
Within the initial six months of 2018, TikTok garnered over 104 million downloads exclusively from Apple's App Store, as reported by Sensor Tower. Amidst the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, TikTok's user base experienced significant growth.
Concurrently, in that same year, Instagram launched "reels," a feature allowing users to share short video clips. This move was widely perceived as an attempt by Instagram to emulate TikTok's successful approach in attracting millions of Generation Z consumers, as noted by the Financial Times.
