In its early days, TikTok was often described as an app for dance videos aimed at teenagers. By 2025, it will be huge, with 170 million users in the United States, and the Department of Justice says it must be eliminated as a national security threat.
The platform's path from quirky dance app to federally banned has included recipes, niche dramas, microtrends, new entrants to popular dictionaries and overnight stars, and legal troubles. , Senate hearings, and ultimately legal issues. A Supreme Court precedent that has received wide attention.
Here we remind you of the timeline of this app's meteoric rise and the videos that dominated the algorithm, whether we wanted it or not.
2012
ByteDance was founded by Chinese entrepreneur Zhang Yiming. He reportedly sketched the rough concept of what would become TikTok on the back of a napkin.
2014
July
Musical.ly co-founders Alex Zhu and Luyu Yang have transformed the platform from an educational app to a lip-syncing app, allowing users to create 15-second videos of themselves singing along to popular songs.
2015
July
Musical.ly has taken the top spot in the Apple App Store in the US.
2016
september
ByteDance launches short video app Douyin in China. It became the most popular app of its kind in the country and was the predecessor to TikTok. Douyin is only available in China, and Chinese authorities use the app to spread propaganda.
October
Several “Musers” (short for Musical.ly users) appeared on the cover of Billboard, proclaiming that the app would “change the music industry.” Most of the stars on the cover are children.
2017
september
ByteDance launches TikTok in Indonesia.
november
ByteDance acquired Musical.ly and its 60 million users in the US and Europe for about $1 billion.
2018
August
Musical.ly has been discontinued as the app has been integrated with TikTok. US users will be automatically ported to the new app.
november
TikTok surpassed Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube in monthly downloads for the first time.
2019
February
TikTok has agreed to pay $5.7 million to resolve child privacy violation claims.
Ratatata! Ratatata! ah.
July
Thanks to TikTok, Lil Nas X's “Old Town Road” has become an inescapable earworm. Yay!
december
The US Department of Defense has warned military personnel to delete TikTok from both work and personal devices. Shortly after, the Marines begin blocking apps on government-issued devices.
Hype House, the home of many of TikTok's biggest stars, has been established. This and other so-called collaboration houses are places where TikTokers film content and support each other's professional careers as creators.
2020
February
Arguably the most famous dance on TikTok, the Renegade was made into a fable by users of the app who filmed themselves performing the choreography without crediting the Atlanta teenager Jalaiah Harmon, who created the move. It will be.
march
Curtis Roach's “Bored at Home, Bored at Home” became an anthem for people at home during the pandemic lockdown as more users joined the app. Taiga produced it as a single.
The Russian cereal jingle (which sounds like “me pan su su sum”) has become an app favorite.
september
The Trump administration announced a ban on several Chinese-owned mobile apps, including TikTok. Later that month, a federal judge granted an injunction against the ban.
Nathan Apodaca charms users with videos of him skateboarding to Fleetwood Mac songs and drinking Ocean Spray cran raspberry juice. The brand then gifted him with a new track, and the song “Dreams” climbed the charts again.
november
Charli D'Amelio, a teenager best known for filming dance videos in her bedroom, has become the app's most followed user with 100 million followers.
december
Musical theater kids and adults create a community-written TikTok musical based on the Disney Pixar animated film Ratatouille.
A casual video of a user named Bella Poarch rhythmically shaking her head to the song “M to the B” has been viewed 500 million times, making it the most viewed TikTok of the year.
June
Senegalese-Italian creator Khaby Lame has become the most followed creator on TikTok after reacting to nonsense life hacks.
A candidate who wants to appear on “Saturday Night Live” is abused.
July
Young people wear suits and dress up as “Gentle Minions” to attend the premiere of Minions: The Rise of Gru.
The brightly colored condiment known as pink sauce can confuse, amuse, or disgust people.
september
A Brooklyn elementary school student proclaims her favorite food: “Corn!”
TikTok's irony is not lost on the Food and Drug Administration, which has issued a completely serious warning against cooking chicken in NyQuil.
More and more young people are using TikTok as a search engine, reaching the TikTok platform before Google search.
October
Negroni. Svariato. With prosecco. Stunning.
The Biden administration has indicated it wants Congress to take further action against TikTok.
June
The purple McDonald's promotional drink Grimas Milkshake is the inspiration for a video in the dark yet comedic genre.
July
During the Hollywood strike, the actors union SAG-AFTRA told influencers that crossing the picket line would ultimately result in their union membership being revoked.
Girls' Dinner is appealing to snack fans, but it also spurs conversations about disordered eating.
Yes, yes, yes. Ice cream is very delicious! PinkyDoll inspires imitators around the world to act like video game characters for hours on end. She said she made between $2,000 and $3,000 per stream.
december
Originally from the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, Cecilia is one of many creators who introduce us to far-flung places that we can't see anywhere else.
Bow to everything. Literally everything.
2024
January
Millennials confess on TikTok that they don't know what to wear in the post-pandemic era. Gen Z has ideas.
december
Users come to the defense of Luigi Mangione, who was charged with the murder of a health insurance executive.
2025
January
Bad Bunny's “most Puerto Rican album yet” strikes a chord with abuelos and abuelas.
Lawyers for TikTok and its creators have argued before the Supreme Court that banning the platform violates the First Amendment.
As TikTok's future becomes uncertain, some people are downloading Red Note, a video-sharing app developed in China.
Hank Sanders contributed reporting.
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