What Is TikTok: Everything You Need to Know to Use TikTok

TikTok is no longer just a place for young people doing the latest dance trends. With videos ranging from grandparents sharing their outfits to foragers identifying edible mushrooms, there is room for many perspectives on TikTok. The platform is also a good opportunity to find customers—62% of US adults on TikTok use the social platform to learn about products. 

TikTok, which launched internationally in 2017, is the second-most downloaded social media platform. If you’re ready to capitalize on TikTok, here’s everything you need to know, including how it works and how to use TikTok to promote your brand.

What is TikTok?

TikTok is a leading video-centric social media platform with about 1.99 billion active users globally. The mobile app is the most popular way to access TikTok, but internet users can also access the web version. User-generated content in the form of short videos (three minutes or less) make up the majority of the content on the platform.

TikTok use is especially prevalent among younger users, with 73% of its US audience in the 18 to 24 age range. 

Aside from discovering short videos, TikTok is a powerful social media marketing tool for brands and creators to build an engaged audience and to sell products via TikTok Shop.

How to use TikTok

To watch a video, just open the app, and the content starts playing immediately. Videos are served in an infinite vertical feed, and swiping up reveals the next video.

TikTok has a few different feeds, such as Following, For You, and STEM. You can toggle between these streams at the top of the screen. The Following feed displays content from accounts you follow, while the For You feed presents TikTok users content tailored to their preferences, as determined by the TikTok algorithm. STEM features educational content on the topics of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. None of the feeds are exactly the same. 

By interacting with content, you can teach the algorithm what you want to watch. If you like a video, follow a creator, or watch a video all the way through, TikTok starts showing you related content. For creators, higher engagement rates mean broader sharing of videos.

TikTok is home to a wide variety of formats and niche communities. Like-minded people use hashtags—like #nursetok, #booktok, and #pettok—to discuss specific interests.

How does TikTok work?

The TikTok algorithm determines what videos users see in their For You feeds. To connect users with content they may like, the algorithm relies on several ranking factors, including:

• User interactions. This includes likes, shares, saves, comments, and the time a user spends watching a video. The accounts and hashtags a user follows or searches for also count as interactions.
• Video information. Captions, sounds, filters, and hashtags help the algorithm decide what your content is about. 
• Device and account settings. A user’s language preference, country setting, and device type can help the algorithm determine what to show them. 

The history and future of TikTok

Originally, TikTok was two separate apps: Musical.ly and Douyin. Entrepreneur Alex Zhu started Musical.ly, which focused on lip-syncing videos, in 2014. Two years later, the Chinese company ByteDance launched Douyin, a video-sharing app. 

Douyin quickly rose to popularity in China, where the government has banned other social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. Douyin’s popularity inspired ByteDance to launch a US version called TikTok. 

By 2017, ByteDance acquired Musical.ly, which had become popular among US audiences, and merged the app with TikTok. All Musical.ly accounts were converted into TikTok accounts. The Chinese version retained the name Douyin. Marketed as a photo- and video-sharing platform, TikTok is now one of the most popular social media platforms in the US and beyond.

Here are a few milestones:

• 2017: TikTok launches. 
• 2019: TikTok reaches one billion downloads worldwide.
• 2020: TikTok becomes the most downloaded app in the world.
• 2021: TikTok.com becomes the most-visited website, beating Google.
• 2022: The Unofficial Bridgeton Musical, which originated on TikTok, wins a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album, showing how the app continues to shape the music industry.
• 2023: TikTok Shop launches, giving individuals and businesses a way to sell directly and make money on TikTok. By the end of the year, TikTok generated $10 billion in in-app spending, mostly through users purchasing coins to purchase gifts for their favorite creators. 
• 2024: Internet personality Stormi Steele becomes the first seller to make more than $2 million in sales on TikTok Shop through one stream. 
• 2025: ByteDance retires the short-lived Instagram competitor TikTok Notes.

Privacy and security concerns

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has been embroiled in scandals concerning privacy and security for years. In February 2019, TikTok settled a federal charge that it violated child protection laws in the United States. By May 2020, privacy groups alleged that ByteDance continued to violate these same laws. 

A 2021 Wall Street Journal report found that TikTok exposed young people to harmful content. In response to mental health concerns, TikTok introduced updated Community Guidelines. Later, a 2022 BuzzFeed News report stated that ByteDance employees accessed private information from users.

While TikTok has vowed to make improvements, politicians have continued to pressure ByteDance to sell its ownership stake to an American buyer. In 2023, Montana enacted a statewide TikTok ban (although its legality was challenged in the courts). More than 30 states have barred TikTok from government-owned smart devices over data privacy concerns. Numerous other countries, including Canada, France, and Australia, have enacted similar legislation blocking the app from state-issued devices.

In March 2024, citing national security concerns, the United States House of Representatives passed a bill that would effectively ban TikTok in the US. The Senate followed in April. In May 2024, ByteDance sued the US federal government to challenge the law that would force it to sell its shares or face a ban.

By January 2025, the Supreme Court upheld the federal ban on TikTok, which went into effect on Jan. 19, 2025. The ban was short-lived, with President Donald Trump saying he’d sign an executive order to temporarily stop the ban. Since then, there have been talks between the Trump administration and the Chinese government to reach a deal. The app’s uncertain future has prompted many creators to seek TikTok alternatives.

Key TikTok features

• Video recording and editing
• TikTok Shop
• Stitch
• Duet
• TikTok sounds
• Filters
• Livestream
• Direct messaging

TikTok’s suite of features and user-friendly interface means you can make TikTok videos without any additional tools:

Video recording and editing

The TikTok app lets you record video clips and edit them directly within the app. This allows users to create videos without specialty editing software. Users can record videos of up to 10 minutes, use a green screen, try effects, and add sounds.

TikTok Shop

TikTok Shop turns your TikTok account into a digital storefront. This built-in commerce feature helps sellers, creators, and affiliates with business accounts sell directly to customers. Live Shopping enables real-time product sales during livestreams, while shoppable videos let you tag items in your content, with clickable links or icons for viewers to explore further details. This can encourage viewers to make purchases without needing to navigate away from the video content.

TikTok Shop’s gross merchandise value has grown to $33 billion in 2024. Brands like Phlur offer discounted items and free shipping, further incentivizing shoppers. 

Stitch

Stitching is how you incorporate existing content into your own videos. Stitched videos start by playing another user’s video and then “stitch” the new content onto the end. Use this feature to create a video reply, answer questions, or offer commentary. Stitches are a good way to jump on trending content and offer your own take. 

Duet

The duet feature is another way to add other videos to your content. In contrast to a Stitch, Duets play the original content and the new content side-by-side. This can be a good option if you’re following a step-by-step process or want to show a before and after. 

TikTok sounds

TikTok includes a library of background music and sound effects you can lay over video clips. Popular songs or other trending sounds often play a key role in viral trends.

Filters

You can choose from filters and other visual effects to enhance your video footage. This includes tools like beauty filters to enhance a subject’s appearance and augmented reality tools to add elements to a video’s surroundings. 

Livestream

With TikTok Live, you can broadcast from your smartphone in real time and interact directly with your audience. Viewers can write in with questions or comments during the broadcast.

Direct messaging

TikTok’s direct messaging feature allows users to communicate privately with one another. This feature looks similar to those on other social platforms. Each user has a private inbox for sending and receiving text-based messages or sharing videos.

How businesses can use TikTok

TikTok’s large engaged user base makes it a valuable app for brands. Here are a few strategies to try to reach potential customers on TikTok:

Create compelling, authentic content

Creating and publishing content is the best way to start building an organic following on TikTok. Brands often use TikTok marketing to publish educational content about their products. Some may also participate in trending topics such as hashtag challenges or create humorous short-form videos for entertainment.

While participating in trends can help your content get on users’ For You pages, being honest and sharing your brand story and challenges can also be compelling and help you connect with viewers. Michelle Razavi, founder of Elavi, which sells low-sugar, high-protein treats, embraces the less-produced, more off-the-cuff content that is popular on TikTok.

“[TikTok] allowed me to have permission to share our story in a more authentic, raw way,” Michelle says on an episode of Shopify Masters. “And the numbers were stronger. People resonated more with a more casual, random video versus some very polished, perfect professional one.” 

In one video, Elavi shares about pulling off one of its greatest projects to date: getting its protein brownies in 83 Costco stores. The video features text in the forefront and glimpses of the journey in the background while a song plays. 

After you create videos, you can look into your data to see what your audience likes most. Michelle began to pay attention to analytics on the platform to help guide how she’d create content. She looked at what sparked conversation and generated views and shares.

“That’s how we were able to develop a content strategy that is more organic, that is more authentic,” she says. “And we learned, ‘Oh, people really like that. People resonate with that.’ And it’s not as scary as you think once you do it a couple times.” 

Partner with influencers

Partnering with TikTok influencers can help you reach a larger audience. Influencers can promote your TikTok channel by using your content as the basis for a stitch or duet video. For the best results, seek influencers who focus on subject matter related to your products.

Swimwear brand Goldie gifted influencers products after it launched in the hope of gaining more traction. However, one of its most visible influencer collaborations happened organically. Sisters and cofounders Rima and Eddy Vaidila became friends with Victoria Paris, who has two million followers on TikTok, via their personal accounts before they introduced her to their collection of swimsuits. Victoria then became a fan of Goldie and began to post about it on her accounts. 

“Her genuinely loving Goldie and wearing it for an entire summer before we had actually spoken about doing a collaboration made it way more authentic,” Eddy says in an episode of the Shopify Masters podcast. “The authenticity of our relationship with her and then also our product that we were making with her was obvious to both audiences. And obviously she brought a much larger audience than we’ve ever had.” 

Not only could both Goldie and Victoria post about the collaboration, but it also encouraged users to do unboxings and share their reviews, which is user-generated content the brand then posted on its TikTok. 

Run advertisements

You don’t need a huge following to reach a large audience on TikTok. You can advertise on the platform to promote campaigns, attract followers, or boost sales. TikTok’s built-in advertising platform offers basic video features, including editing tools and video templates, to make creating an ad easier. TikTok ads can be short-form videos, still images, or user-generated content you pay to promote to a wider audience. 

For example, hair brand Color Wow Hair created an ad that seamlessly blends into a user’s For You page. It’s a demonstration of how one curly hair product can make a big impact on someone’s hair. If it were not for the “sponsored” sign at the bottom of the post, a user might not immediately think they are seeing an ad.

TikTok Ads has robust targeting dimensions, such as demographics, interests, behaviors, device types, and more. You can also create custom audiences based on user engagement with similar content or hashtags.