TikTok beats Facebook by downloads. Chinese soft power goes through apps

by time news

Most installed application in 2020. And then 383 million downloads, in the first six months of 2021 alone. Are we talking about Facebook or Instagram? No, of TikTok. The video sharing app, the international version of the Chinese “sister” Douyin and owned by the equally Chinese ByteDance, is the most downloaded in the world. For the first time since it was launched, namely in September 2016, TikTok surpasses any rival, including the giants of the United States. A result that does not bring glory (and money) only to the app itself, but which represents an important asset for the China.

CHINA BETS ON APPS TO INCREASE SOFT POWER

It has always been said that Beijing lacks soft power. Assumed difficult to deny, even if only stopping at the sensational inequality of cultural or entertainment products made in the USA that has conquered the global scene and those who have done so with the made in China label. Yet something is changing. If until recently China tried to influence the products or industries of others, or took them as a model, now it is able to offer something of its own even outside its own borders.

BEIJING BUILDS ITS OWN NARRATIVE

An example comes for example from the cinema, where the holdings of the Hollywood majors have increased dramatically in recent years and the weight of the immense Chinese market can decree the success or failure of a film. Now, however, China is trying to strengthen the local industry. For example, focusing on science fiction, not only in the dining room but also in the bookshop. Objective: to create one’s own narrative not only political-historical-social, but also using the tools of the entertainment industry as a means of dissemination.

THE INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS OF TIKTOK

And which tool is more popular than a smartphone app? According to a report from Sensor Tower, in 2020 TikTok was downloaded about three billion times worldwide. A resounding success, which comes after Douyin’s already enormous success within the Chinese territory. With TikTok, however, an “international” app that still has China at the top of the family tree, success has gone global. In the first three months of 2020, there were 315 million downloads, the highest number ever for any app in a single quarter.

The result is even more sensational if we take into consideration the controversies about the alleged risks to data security and the (attempted) bans of the Trump administration, blocked by US justice and by Joe Biden himself, who however asked for an even more in-depth examination. on all Chinese apps operating in American territory. Well, it is precisely from that territory that TikTok sees most of the registrations arrive.

TIKTOK, MOST USERS ARE IN THE USA. DESPITE TRUMP (AND BIDEN)

In fact, US users of TikTok are nearly 66 million, higher than any other country in the world. And not a little, given that in second place is Indonesia with 22.2 million users. In third place is Russia with 16.4 million and in fourth place Japan with 12.6 million. Italy is in eighth place with 8.3 million downloads, behind France (9.3 million), Germany (9.1 million) and the United Kingdom (8.5 million).

NOT ONLY TIKTOK: FROM WECHAT TO TANTAN, THE OTHER “GLOBAL” CHINESE APPS

But TikTok isn’t the only example of a successful Chinese app in the world. Suffice it to mention the case of WeChat, Tencent’s superapp which, albeit with limited functions abroad, continues to expand globally thanks to the diaspora of Chinese citizens. Then there is Tantan, the dating app made in China that has nearly 400 million users around the world. Not to mention Didi, the ride-hailing service active in about 400 cities on all continents recently ended up in the crosshairs of the authorities for the hypo on Wall Street.

The government is operating a tightening in which the capital of the tech giants is shrinking, starting with Alibaba to move to Tencent and Pinduoduo. At the same time, however, the international spread of Chinese apps serve an important purpose: to increase Beijing’s soft power, an essential feature for those who want to be a power.

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