Tue Oct 08 14:05:04 UTC 2024: ## TikTok Users Favor Entertainment and Influencers Over News and Politics: New Pew Research Study
A new study by the Pew Research Center reveals that American TikTok users primarily follow accounts focused on entertainment, pop culture, and social media influencers, while largely neglecting news and political content.
The study analyzed the accounts followed by a representative sample of U.S. adults on TikTok, finding that:
* **Internet-native creators and influencers dominate:** Nearly half of all followed accounts belong to these social media personalities, with the top 100 most followed accounts being dominated by internet celebrities and traditional celebrities.
* **Entertainment reigns supreme:** Over half of the analyzed accounts featured pop culture and entertainment-related content, while humor, personal vlogs, and viral music/dance clips were also prevalent.
* **News and politics take a back seat:** Only 10% of followed accounts discussed politics, and a mere 5% focused on news events. This trend was even more pronounced among accounts with a larger following.
* **Limited engagement with traditional media:** Very few users follow accounts belonging to politicians, journalists, or news organizations.
* **Younger users follow more accounts:** Those aged 18-34 follow significantly more accounts than older users, with a larger share of their following list consisting of “mega influencers” with over 1 million followers.
The study highlights a key distinction between TikTok and other platforms, specifically Twitter, where news and political accounts were more prominent among the most followed. The findings suggest that while TikTok users may encounter political content, they actively choose to engage with entertainment and influencer-driven content instead.
This research provides valuable insights into user behavior on TikTok, shedding light on how the platform’s algorithm shapes content consumption and the types of information users actively seek out.
First Piper 