The online video platform TikTok has had worldwide a social, political, and cultural impact since its global launch in September 2016. The platform has rapidly grown its userbase since its launch and surpassed 2 billion downloads in October, 2020. It became the world's most popular website, ahead of Google, for the year 2021.^[1] TikTok's diverse content ecosystem includes popular niches such as music, fitness, beauty, education, and gaming, which cater to a wide range of audiences.^[2]

TikTok has been noted by many media outlets as having a major influence in the music industry. American artist Lil Nas X notably rose to fame after his song "Old Town Road" went viral on TikTok in 2019. He acknowledged the platform's influence in popularizing the song, saying "[TikTok] really boosted the song ... I credit them a lot".^[3][4] Doja Cat has also been noted as an artist who achieved mainstream popularity thanks to her success on TikTok. Insider noted in 2020 that "one of the most popular, pervasive dances of all time" from TikTok was set to Say So, which became her first no.1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.^[5] Pitchfork also noted Doja Cat's "astonishing, unprecedented TikTok reign", saying that before her fame on TikTok, "many people didn’t fully register Doja Cat as a star".^[6]

When it was launched, TikTok allowed users to upload videos that ranged from 3 seconds to 1 minute. The short video length limit led to users making sped-up versions of songs to use in their videos. This allowed them to fit more of the song in their video.^[7] Some artists, including SZA and Steve Lacy, released official sped-up versions of their songs after unofficial sped-up remixes of their songs went viral on the platform.^[8]

TikTok has also helped popularize older songs. Fleetwood Mac's song Dreams re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 over 40 years after its release after a video that featured the song went viral on the platform.^[9] Dan Whateley from Insider noted that songs could "rise up organically on the app even if they've been outside the mainstream for decades".^[10]

In September 2023, Billboard and TikTok launched a new chart called the TikTok Billboard Top 50 to track music that is popular on the platform in the United States.^[11]

Some artists have complained of a "burnout" due to TikTok's massive role in the music marketing process.^[12] American singer Halsey said in 2022 that her label was stopping her from releasing a new song if they didn't agree to "fake a viral moment on TikTok".^[13][14]

TikTok is becoming a growing source of news for Americans. Pew Research Center found that the percentage of US adults who regularly got their news from TikTok more than tripled from 3% of US adults in 2020, to 10% in 2022, and now 14% in 2023. The percentage of US adult TikTok users who regularly get their news from the platform increased from 22% to 33% in the same time period. This is much lower than the percentage of Facebook and Twitter users who regularly get their news from those platforms. However, unlike with TikTok, the proportion of Facebook and Twitter users who get their news from those platforms declined every year from 2020 to 2022.^[15]

An increasing proportion of Generation Z internet users have also started using TikTok as their preferred search engine over Google.^[16]

As the popularity of TikTok grows, more and more individuals join the platform. Hence, current political ideologies are being spread on the platform. TikTok has turned into a political landscape, where young individuals are consuming far-right related content on a daily basis. TikTok has allowed for far-right supporters to have a platform where radical views are naturalized. Statistics have shown that roughly 14% of adults regularly get their election and political news through the platform.^[17] TikTok has addressed multiple times that hateful content, related to far-right ideologies, is being banned and removed from their platform.^[18] However, most hateful content (related to religion, identity, race) have gone unnoticed by the system until December 2019. Although user protection has improved, hateful videos still go undetected by the platform. Additionally, since TikTok functions on an algorithmic system, individuals can get more exposure to hateful content without intending to do so.^[19]

TikTok content is able to influence the food choices of its users. A 2023 study of teenagers found that TikTok content influences both short term food decisions, such as trying a new food item or recipe, as well as long term food decisions, like dietary adjustments.^[20]

TikTok has also led to an increase in custom orders at restaurants, known on the platform as menu hacks. In 2021, some Starbucks baristas complained of an increase in complicated, custom drinks being ordered that were not on its menu after videos of the customs drinks went viral on TikTok.^[21][22] In 2023, Chipotle Mexican Grill added a viral TikTok custom order created by two influencers as a permanent item to its menu after receiving an influx of orders for the item.^[23] The same year, several videos of different Waffle House branches refusing to serve custom orders from TikTok went viral on the platform.^[24]

The wide audience that TikTok videos are able to reach compared to other platforms allows just a small number of viral videos about a similar style of clothing to create a new microtrend. The high quantity of new microtrends produced by TikTok users has increased the popularity of fast fashion retailers such as Shein, who are able to rapidly reproduce and sell items that are trending on TikTok.^[25] Fashion trends and fads that have become popular through social media platforms have collectively become known as "internet aesthetics".

Haul videos are popular amongst TikTok fashion creators.^[26] Shein successfully worked with influencers on TikTok and Instagram to grow its business by sending them free clothing and discount codes to share with their followers that earn them a commission on sales. Influencers are also paid to post haul videos for Shein with the free clothing.^[27] The popularity of haul videos on TikTok also results in users advertising Shein for free by making and posting their own Shein haul.^[28]

Videos about cosmetic surgery are very popular on TikTok.^[29] In January 2022, videos with hashtags related to plastic surgery had over 29 billion views combined on the platform.^[30] TikTok and Instagram have led to an increase in the number of cosmetic surgeries performed on young people.^[31]

In 2021, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery published an article that found that plastic surgeons were among the earliest adopters of social media and at the time the article was published, it was found that at least five plastic surgeons had surpassed 1 million followers on TikTok. The article noted that some surgeons were influencers on the platform and had the ability to influence public perception.^[32] A 2021 study published by the University of South Florida found that content posted on TikTok by plastic surgeons helped legitimize plastic surgery by educating their viewers and reducing their fear of the surgeries.^[33] Plastic surgery is also legitimized by the TikTok recommendation system which shows users who showed interest in plastic surgery videos even more plastic surgery videos via the For You Page, which makes plastic surgery seem more widespread than it actually is among both celebrities and normal people.^[33]

TikTok does not allow direct paid advertisements of cosmetic surgeries on its platform, but cosmetic surgery clinics are able to promote their services using normal unpaid posts, as well as by paying influencers or giving them free surgeries in exchange for the influencer posting a video about their cosmetic surgery experience.^[34]

Cosmetic procedures that have trended on TikTok include rhinoplasties,^[35] buccal fat removals,^[36] and botox injections.^[37] Cosmetic procedures sometimes trend in the form of an internet challenge on TikTok. The "#Nosejobcheck" challenge involves users posting videos of their noses before and after their rhinoplasties, with a specific background sound for the challenge used in the videos.^[38]

Videos discussing and recommending books has collectively become known as BookTok by users. Books that become popular on BookTok often experience a large increase in sales.^[39] The author Colleen Hoover who rose to popularity on BookTok saw six of her books reach the top ten of The New York Times Best Seller list in the paperback trade fiction section in October 2022.^[40] An analyst from the book sales tracking service BookScan said that BookTok "remains the industry’s most important platform for discovering new writers".^[41] Some publishers have paid popular BookTok influencers to recommend books to capitalise off of the phenomenon.^[42]

The success of BookTok content on the platform lead TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, to launch their own publishing company called 8th Note Press in 2023.^[43][44]

Trends on TikTok have contributed to the shortages of some medications. Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk produces three medications containing the active ingredient semaglutide. One of the drugs, Wegovy, is certified by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of obesity. The other two, Ozempic and Rybelsus, are only certified for the treatment of diabetes.^[45] In 2022, the United States suffered shortages of Ozempic after it became a trend on the platform to use the medication off-label for its weight loss effects.^[46] Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration reported that Ozempic's popularity on TikTok had contributed to a global shortage of the medication. It recommended that doctors not prescribe the medication to new patients and prescribe alternative medications to existing patients where possible.^[47][48] By March 2023, TikTok videos posted with the hashtag #Ozempic had amassed 690 million views.^[49]

TikTok has become a hub for mental health content, where users share personal experiences with depression and anxiety. While this has helped normalize conversations around mental health, it also raises concerns. Dr. Corey Basch, a public health professor, points out that TikTok’s algorithm can create echo chambers.^[50] Users who engage with posts about anxiety or despair may find themselves bombarded with similar content, which can lead to a harmful cycle.

This surge in mental health discussions has also contributed to more young people self-diagnosing conditions like ADHD and anxiety before consulting a professional. Researchers are concerned about the influence of profit-driven motives, with the platform promoting mental health apps and influencers sponsored by these companies. These services often advertise quick, quiz-based diagnoses, which may oversimplify complex issues. Additionally, misinformation is a growing problem, studies have found that some videos about therapies, like cognitive behavioral therapy, include inaccurate or misleading information

TikTok has played a huge role in shaping hustle culture, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, blurring the lines between work and personal life. With over 1 billion daily active users and 60% of U.S.^[51] Gen Z checking in regularly, the platform has made productivity a key focus for many users. People share their daily routines, promoting the idea that constant work leads to success. However, this pressure to always be "on" has its downsides. A 2022 study showed 77% of employees felt burned out, which is a consequence of hustle culture.^[51]

That said, some creators are pushing back, showing that it's okay to slow down. For example, Jonathan Graziano’s "Bones Day" trend encourages followers to take rest when they need it. TikTok gives a wide range of content, from productivity hacks to messages about self-care, offering users the chance to define their own balance.

TikTok is now the dominate social media platform amongst the newer generation. The popularity of TikTok has led various other web services to adopt similar features in order to compete with TikTok. Instagram launched added a short, vertical videos section called Instagram Reels to its app in 2020. YouTube followed with the release of YouTube Shorts in 2021.^[52] In 2022, Facebook launched a videos tab on its app that shows users a personalized selection of videos.^[53] The same year, Twitter announced that it would also be launching a short videos feature and Amazon added a scrolling feed with photos and videos of available products to its mobile app.^[54] In 2023, Spotify redesigned its home screen to have a similar scrolling interface to TikTok and Reddit also added a separate video feed to its mobile app.^[55][56]

A 2023 study by Oxford Economics estimated that small and medium-sized enterprises in the United Kingdom who posted on TikTok to advertise their and grow their businesses added £1.6 billion to the UK's gross domestic product in 2022 as a result of their TikTok activity.^[57]

A 2021 study by Adweek and Morning Consult found that 49 percent of TikTok users bought goods or services after seeing them being discussed or promoted on the platform.^[52]

In 2023, the European Journal of Business and Management Research published a study that found that TikTok users were much more likely to trust products shown in TikTok videos that had high quality videos, rather than products shown on the platform that were more useful or had lower prices.^[58]

When products go viral on TikTok, the impact on sales can be significant. Stanley tumblers saw their revenue jump from $73 million in 2019 to $750 million last year after going viral on the platform. Feta cheese sales soared by 200% in 2021 after the baked feta pasta recipe took off. CeraVe’s sales increased by over 60% in 2020 as TikTok users turned to the brand during lockdown. Other items, like Cat Crack catnip and Isle of Paradise tanning spray, sold out within days after viral posts.^[59]

In 2023, TikTok rolled out a shopping feature called TikTok Shop, making it easy for users to buy products directly from a range of sellers. This feature lets businesses sell products directly on the platform, using tools like shoppable ads, product showcases, and creator partnerships to boost sales and connect with their audience in a more native way.^[60] Some fashion and beauty brands have even started thinking about how a product could be featured on TikTok before they finish developing it.