A Detailed Comparison Between TikTok and Instagram
Instagram has been around for as long as we can remember. Millions of people are using this platform to share with their followers what is happening in their everyday lives. Due to its compelling features as communication capabilities, Instagram became very popular, making it one of the social media giants right now.
On the other hand, TikTok just gained its popularity not too long ago. But the number of people using it is almost as many as the number of Instagram users. This made Instagram feel that TikTok might take its popularity crown away. As a result, it has created a feature that is very similar to TikTok — Instagram Reels.
In this article, we are going to do a comparison between these two competing platforms.
What is TikTok?
Back then, the most popular short-form video making and sharing app was Musical.ly. It had more than a hundred million users. Up until August 2018, the platform allowed users to access a plethora of dialogue and music options that they could lip sync to create entertaining videos.
But in August 2018, Musical.ly was taken over by TikTok, a similar platform created by the Chinese company ByteDance. In just a snap, all the accounts on Musical.ly moved to TikTok.
Basically, TikTok is a short-form video-sharing app that lets users create and share videos that are 15 seconds long. The videos that users can create can be about any topic.
Moreover, TikTok has a different app for the Chinese market. It is known as “Duyin”. This app has more than 300 million active monthly users.
Ever since it was first launched, there has been tremendous growth in TikTok’s popularity. In October 2018, it became the most downloaded video-sharing platform in the Apple app store globally. Reportedly, TikTok has amassed more than 500 million monthly active users. It was most popular in the US, where it has been downloaded more than 80 million times.
What is buying real Instagram followers?
Instagram is a platform that differs from other social media apps. Rather than words, it is almost entirely built around sharing videos and images.
There are more than a billion registered or purchased Instagram followers or accounts today. The platform is owned by Facebook and was launched in 2012. Ever since it was introduced to the public, Instagram has become a part of people’s daily lives.
Almost everyone right now already has an Instagram account. Small businesses, giant companies, cultural institutions, news organizations, celebrities, name it, Instagram has it.
Tiktok vs. Instagram: A Comparison
When we compared TikTok with Instagram, we included all the popular features that Instagram has. Those are Instagram Feed and Stories, as well as IGTV.
Below are the aspects that we compared between TikTok and Instagram:
Ads
As of the time of writing, the ads showing on TikTok are not so many. However, considering the popularity that it has gained, the number of ads that it shows would probably increase. You yourself can make ads on TikTok. To do that, you can check out the advertising guide of TikTok, which explains all the kinds of ads that the platform has.
On the other hand, the ads on Instagram are quite many. For every feed, there is a post and ad ratio of 4:1 That would be an ad for every post. On Instagram Stories, the ratio is also 4:1, or an advertisement for every four users. This may be a good marketing and revenue strategy for Instagram. However, the number of ads that it shows could be too much for users. And by too much, that means nearly 20 percent of Instagram’s content is ads. Such is very invasive and is not friendly to users.
Platform Demographics
Instagram is known as the leading platform when it comes to influencer marketing. In a survey done in 2019, marketers are saying that Instagram is the most strategically important social media platform for influencer marketing.
Right now, Instagram has a value of $20 billion. This makes the platform the monolith in revenue. In addition, it has earned more than 113 times more revenue in comparison to TikTok. In fact, TikTok’s $20 billion valuation is partly due to influencer marketing on Instagram. That is roughly $1.7 billion.
Both platforms are comparable in terms of demographics. However, they differ geographically. Instagram has 1.8 billion users. 12 percent came from the United States, making it the country with the highest representation on Instagram. On the other hand, Brazil and India remain the top countries responsible for most of TikTok’s downloads, while the US sits in third place with more than 3 percent.
Features
One of the reasons TikTok is one of the most popular short-form video platforms globally is its ease of use. The app has a simple premise that focuses on dancing, lip-syncing, pranking, and other comedic acts.
Meanwhile, Instagram has transformed from being a photo-sharing platform and added Stories and IGTV to its features. Due to its 10-year growth, it became the leading g platform for brand social engagement.
In terms of features, the two have significant differences. Currently, TikTok does not have a long-form video feature. It only allows users to create videos at a maximum length of 15 seconds and then loop them for 60 seconds. On the other hand, Instagram has a long-form video feature called IGTV. The maximum length that it has is up to one hour. In addition, Instagram is working on IGTV to make it available for the platform’s monetization features.
Both apps also have in-app purchase capabilities. Instagram has Badges, while TikTok has a virtual currency that users can use to purchase and award virtual gifts to the creator. Such a feature is similar to many gaming platforms such as Twitch. Ever since 2018, users in the US have already spent more than $23.1 million on the virtual currency of TikTok.
Date: June 15, 2021 / Categories: Interesting, / Author: Joy P
