Research indicates that nearly half of adults on TikTok have never uploaded a video.
A recent study from the Pew Research Center suggests that adults on TikTok tend to be camera-shy, with nearly half of the respondents admitting to never having posted a video on the platform. Additionally, a significant portion of users have not even updated their bio, indicating a reluctance to engage in creating original content.
This trend aligns with the longstanding observation known as the “1% rule” in social media, where only a small percentage of users actively contribute content, while the majority prefer to consume passively. Although this concept originated over a decade ago, it remains relevant today, highlighting the prevalence of lurking behavior across various platforms.
The extent of non-posting on TikTok, as revealed by the study, is particularly noteworthy compared to other social media platforms. While previous research has shown that a sizable portion of Twitter users post infrequently, TikTok’s non-posting rate surpasses even that of Twitter. This disparity could be attributed to the relative ease of sharing thoughts through text on Twitter compared to the more intimidating prospect of creating video content on TikTok.
Interestingly, the study found that a small percentage of highly active users are responsible for the majority of content creation on both TikTok and Twitter, underscoring the concentration of posting activity among a select group of individuals.
The study also revealed that age does not significantly impact adults’ TikTok posting habits. While individuals aged 18 to 34 are more likely to use TikTok compared to those aged 35 to 49, a similar proportion of users in both age groups refrain from posting content. Additionally, the research found that a large majority of TikTok users find the content on their For You page to be at least somewhat interesting, with those who actively post skewing towards finding their algorithmic feeds very interesting.
These findings come at a time when TikTok’s user base continues to expand, with a third of U.S. adults now reporting that they use the platform. Among the 18- to 34-year-old demographic, this percentage jumps to 56%. As TikTok becomes increasingly influential, both as an entertainment platform and a source of news, it and its content creators are assuming a greater responsibility. Notably, more people are turning to TikTok as a news source, with the percentage of U.S. adults obtaining news from the platform quadrupling over the last three years to reach 14%.
