Surely you have ever wondered Who created TikTok and what is the history of this social networkone of the most popular of the moment.
In this article, we will answer the question of who is the creator of TikTok. We will also tell some curiosities about the famous platform and its founder.
Who created TikTok and what is its history?
The creator of TikTok is Zhang Yiming, a Chinese businessman with extensive experience in the technology industry. He enrolled in 2001 at Nankai University in Tianjin where studied Microelectronics and software engineeringgraduating in 2005. He worked at Kuxun and Microsoft as an engineer, although his time at the latter was brief.
Zhang Yiming founded his first company in 2009, which was called 99 Fang and focused on providing information about real estate. Finally, founded ByteDance in 2012 and in 2016, he decided to create something that could compete with Musical.ly. This year it launched the Douyin application in China, and although it changed to TikTok in 2017, the Asian country still knows it by its original name.
Creation and rise of TikTok
Zhang Yiming, with his company ByteDance, create Douyin app (2016), which was very successful. It even had downloads in other countries despite its Chinese configuration. In 2017, changes its name to TikTok to expand internationally. This same year, ByteDance buys Musical.ly, its main competitor, which had been on the market for more years.
In 2018, TikTok and Musical.ly unite increasing the number of downloads of the application by 40%. The following year, advertising was introduced to TikTok and in 2020 It became the second most downloaded app in the world. In 2021, it consolidated an alliance with Shopify and continues to write a success story in the international market.
Controversies in the history of TikTok
This application had some drawbacks that are worth mentioning, as they are part of its history and evolution:
- Its use was prohibited in India, Pakistan and the United States, although the latter lifted the ban some time later.
- It is considered that its content may be vulgarso temporary blockades were carried out in various countries to prevent it from being used.
- It can be addictive and a problem for productivity of users in their daily lives. However, this factor is a negative aspect of any social network due to its basic functioning.
- Privacy issuesespecially noted in 2020 for various discoveries and statements regarding the security of the application.
Zhang Yiming’s resignation
In May 2021, Zhang Yiming resigns as CEO and leaves his co-worker and co-founder of ByteDance Liang Rubo in charge, until then in charge of the human resources area. Although the creator of TikTok has stepped away from managing the project, great things are expected for the future of the platform.
TikTok today
Thanks to the number of active users, TikTok has become an important medium for dissemination of information and, therefore, an excellent advertising tool. Thousands of influencers and small brands are creating strategies that consider the benefit of this social network to make contact with their followers and obtain greater visibility.
Being useful for small businesses or already established companies, TikTok envisions a bright future in the world of business beyond entertainment. In this sense, the hundreds of influencers who make money in their daily lives through the various monetization methods on TikTok should also be considered.
This is all the basic information that users should know about the history of TikTok and its creator Zhang Yiming.