36% of the accounts followed by the users surveyed posted humorous or comedic content on TikTok, explains the Pew Research analysis. — Photography Antonin UTZ/AFP
Often perceived as a platform for light-hearted entertainment, TikTok has become a must-have for American users. A recent study by the Pew Research Center reveals a surprising trend: US adults mainly follow pop culture and entertainment accounts, leaving traditional media and political figures to the sidelines.
The majority of TikTok's adult users in the US follow content creators and influencers who have gained popularity through social networking, as well as more mainstream celebrities. These groups account for around half of the accounts followed by American adults on the platform. By contrast, politicians, figures of civil society, and traditional media outlets and journalists are almost absent from users' lists: "Each of these groups makes up less than half of 1% of all the accounts we examined. And the typical US adult on TikTok follows no accounts in each of these categories,” the study states.
The study, conducted by the Pew Research Center, was carried out among 664 US TikTok users from June 14 to 20, 2024, analysing the accounts they follow and categorising them according to their content. The results show that 59% of the accounts being followed post content relating to pop culture and entertainment. Other popular themes include humour, personal vlogs and viral music or dance videos, each accounting for around a third of the accounts analysed.
Not much room for news and politics
Although more and more TikTok users report seeing political content in their news feeds, this type of content is rare among the accounts they choose to follow. Only 10% of followed accounts post content relating to political or social issues, and only 5% discuss current events.
Accounts that discuss politics often do so by mixing this content with humor and entertainment. For example, 43% of followed accounts that discussed politics or current events during the study period also discussed pop culture and entertainment. In addition, 36% posted humorous content, and 17% posted sponsored content.
The study reports that accounts with large numbers of followers are less likely to discuss politics or current events. Only 7% of accounts with over a million followers discuss these topics, compared to 12% of accounts with fewer than 500,000 followers. Meanwhile, popular accounts are more likely to post sponsored content.
US TikTok users follow a wide variety of accounts, from small personal accounts to those with millions of followers. On average, users aged 18 to 34 follow more than three times as many accounts as those aged 50 and over. "They also follow a larger number -- and a larger share -- of very popular accounts with more than one million followers," the study states.
The study also points out that the lists of accounts followed by American users are almost entirely bespoke. Of the 250,000 accounts followed by the 664 users in the study, only 5% are followed by five or more users.
TikTok vs X
Compared to a similar study conducted on X (formerly Twitter), in 2022, following behavior on TikTok shows a notable difference. On Twitter, the accounts followed by the largest number of US users include a much higher proportion of media outlets or journalists, governmental or political figures, or policy/advocacy groups. These accounts are almost non-existent among the most-followed accounts on TikTok, the study points out.
The Pew Research Center analysis highlights a clear trend: adult TikTok users in the US favor entertainment and pop culture, shunning traditional media outlets and political figures. This preference for light-hearted, entertaining content reflects the primary use of the platform among its users, who go there to seek entertainment above all else. – AFP Relaxnews
