The co-evolution of two Chinese mobile short video apps: Parallel platformization of Douyin and TikTok

Abstract

TikTok is the international twin of China’s mobile short video app, Douyin, and one of the fastest growing short video platforms in the world. Owned by Chinese tech giant, ByteDance, TikTok and Douyin share many similarities in terms of appearance, functionality, and platform affordances; however, they exist in radically different markets and are governed by radically different forces. Unlike other popular mobile media platforms in China and internationally, TikTok and Douyin are neither part of the big three tech giants in China nor the big five in the US. This provides an interesting case study to investigate how an emerging internet company adapts its products to better fit divergent expectations, cultures, and policy frameworks in China and abroad. Using the app walkthrough method informed by platformization of culture production theory, this study highlights the similarities and distinctions between these two platforms. We argue the co-evolution of Douyin and TikTok is a new paradigm of global platform expansion that differs from strategies of regionalization adopted by previous major social media platforms. We contribute to platformization theory by developing the concept of parallel platformization to explain ByteDance’s strategies for surviving in two opposing platform ecosystems in China and abroad.

On the Psychology of TikTok Use: A First Glimpse From Empirical Findings

“…As of November 2020, 800 million monthly users have been reported 1 , and 738 million first-time installs in 2019 have been estimated 2 . TikTok use is allowed for those 13 years or older, but direct messaging between users is allowed only for those 16 or older (in order to protect young users from grooming) 3 . In China, the main users of TikTok are under 35 years old (81.68% (2)).…”

“…Meanwhile, to protect children and adolescents from unsuitable content (such as smoking, drinking, or rude language), TikTok's engineers also developed a version of the app, which filters inappropriate content for young users ( 2 ). Of note, at the moment of writing, the app operates as TikTok on the global market and as DouYin on the Chinese market ( 3 ). Similarities and differences of the twin apps are further described with a content analysis by Sun et al ( 4 ).…”

“…https://www.omnicoreagency.com/tiktok-statistics/ (accessed March 9, 2021) 2. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1089420/tiktok-annual-first-time-installs/ (accessed March 9, 2021) 3. https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Ab-16-TikTok-fuehrt-Mindestalter-fuer-Direktnachrichten-ein-4703887.html (accessed March 9, 2021).…”

Intersections between TikTok and TV: Channels and Programmes Thinking Outside the Box

“…TikTok is a version of the Chinese application Douyin, which was launched in September 2016 by ByteDance (Kaye et al 2020), which has been adapted for the international market. Douyin's success in China led the company to create the TikTok brand for expansion to other countries from September 2017, eventually buying and merging with Musical.ly in August 2018.…”

“…In the continuous process of adapting to the changing characteristics of major social networks, media outlets have recently encountered the unexpected rise of TikTok. In 2019, the Chinese platform became one of the most popular among young audiences worldwide and revalued the format of user-produced short videos (Kaye et al 2020). Given the success of this social network, media organisations have been gradually incorporated (Vázquez-Herrero et al 2020) to position their brands and content.…”