The social media app TikTok has become much more popular in the past year. The number of users increased by almost 150 percent. The app is even more popular among young people than Facebook, research agency Newcom reports after a poll among more than 7,000 Dutch people aged 15 and older.
1.7 million Dutch people use TikTok and that is almost 2.5 times as many as a year ago. Daily use even tripled. Every day more than 800,000 Dutch people are now on the app to post or watch videos.
TikTok is growing fastest among young people. In the age group of 15 to 19 years, the number of users increased from 180,000 to 490,000. It grew from 110,000 to 360,000 among 20 to 24-year-olds.
WhatsApp remains the most popular
WhatsApp is still the most popular social media app with 12.4 million users, followed by Facebook and YouTube. Besides TikTok, the biggest risers are Tumblr (24 percent growth), Pinterest (10 percent) and LinkedIn (6 percent).
Social media use in 2021
Social medium | Users | +/- |
12.4 million | +3 percent | |
10.4 million | +0 percent | |
YouTube | 9.1 million | -1 percent |
5.9 million | +5 percent | |
5.0 million | +6 percent | |
3.9 million | +10 percent | |
2.9 million | +5 percent | |
Snapchat | 2.6 million | -2 percent |
TikTok | 1.7 million | +149 percent |
Tumblr | 0.5 million | +24 percent |
Instagram is in fourth place with 5.9 million users, 5 percent more than last year. A year ago, the growth was still 14 percent. The app has now almost stopped growing among young people, the researchers conclude.
More apps, a little shorter online
On average, the Dutch are active on 3.9 different apps, compared to 3.7 last year. They are on 2.1 platforms every day, up from 1.9 last year.
Young people also spend a lot more time on social media. 15 to 19-year-olds estimate that they spend an average of 2 hours and 40 minutes online every day, 17 minutes longer than last year. In total, the time of all age groups on social media decreased by 1 minute, to 1 hour and 37 minutes.