While TikTok’s time in India may have ended a year ago, erstwhile TikTokers have found new homes.
On May 29, the Chinese video-sharing app TikTok removed a video by viral internet sensation and comic Saloni Gaur. Famous for her witty character 'Nazma Aapi', Gaur had posted a video on the platform with jokes on China.
Gaur responded on Twitter, questioning the freedom of speech on TikTok. The video was eventually restored a couple of days later. But in a month’s time, TikTok was out of the country when the Indian govt banned the app on June 29, 2020.
It has been a year since the platform, superhit in India with millions of users, was shown the door by the government.
TikTok is all but forgotten. On the other hand, Nazma Aapi has leaped from one viral video to another. Gaur is a bigger sensation than ever, with over 281k followers on Twitter, 553k followers on Instagram and 462k on YouTube. And she is not alone.
While TikTok’s time in India may have ended a year ago, erstwhile TikTokers have found new homes. YouTube, Twitter and Instagram have been joined by homegrown apps like Chingari, Moj, Roposo, MX TakaTak and Rizzle.
Both content creators and digital marketers fast overcame the loss of TikTok’s platform as new homegrown apps emerged to plug the gap.
These apps found a new playing field. User influx enabled them to add better tech and more features.
TikTok may have been the centerstage for the genesis of the short format video platforms, but its leaving India hasn’t deterred growth in the sector.
Short format video platform apps have seen the userbase grow by 65 percent YoY for thee last couple of years, as per a FICCI-EY report in 2021. The report estimates that India has over 50k content creators who boast more than 100k followers on short video platforms.
Over 60 percent of the audience comes from Tier-2,3 cities and rural areas, which regional content the driving force.
As per a RedSeer Consulting report, homegrown short-video apps successfully retained 67 percent of the users from when TikTok was around. Furthermore, they have onboarded more than 30 percent new users in the last one year.
Today, ShareChat's short video app Moj has 120 million monthly active users. Chingari and Roposo apps have been downloaded by 70 and 100 million users, respectively.
Most homegrown apps are surging to record growth in less than a year of the TikTok ban. This goes to show that while TikTok was the sensation, it was the content creators, the erstwhile TikTokers, who pull the strings of success.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "A year of TikTok ban: Where are India’s TikTokers now")
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}