BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE– Eswatini has been listed in among the top five countries highly active on Tik Tok.
This was revealed in world programme and social media report compiled by Google’s headquarters, the report was released earlier today and can be accessed on any Google website.
Contained in the report was the list of countries that were sharing the spot with eSwatini. These countries were United Kingdom (UK), The Emirate of Dubai, South Africa, Croatia and Eswatini.
Worth noting is that Tik Tok is a short-form, video-sharing app that allows users to create and share 15-second videos, on any topic.
Tik Tok maintains a separate app for the Chinese market, known as Duyin, which has over 300 million active monthly users. The new app’s logo is a combination of the Musical.ly and Duyin logos.
Eswatini and South Africa tied on the same spot number five, the criteria used to come up with the top five lists was based on the number of people who have Tik Tok in each country. The number of views for popular Tik Tok accounts in that country.
“Since its launch, the TikTok app’s popularity has been growing tremendously. In October 2018, it was the most-downloaded photo and video app in the Apple Store, globally. The app reportedly has amassed over 500 million monthly active users, the US being the most popular country, where it has been downloaded over 80 million times,” read part of the report.
In addition the report mentioned that the app is liked and used by several celebrities, such as Jimmy Fallon, who helped drive the app’s popularity. The app has paid partnerships with several celebrities, in various regions, who promote the app to local audiences.
Jimmy Fallon’s interest in the app started naturally but was later capitalized on by the app, through a paid partnership. In November 2018, Jimmy Fallon started a ‘challenges’ section on his show and used TikTok as a platform for the challenge.
Celebrity partnerships have been a key tactic in Tik Tok’s geographical expansion strategy. The app uses celebrities and influencers to drive buzz around the platform and generate viral content.
Worth noting is that, this publication last week reported on eSwatini award winning comedian Sbusiso Ngwenya as he has been listed among top five Tik Tokers to watch out for in 2023.
This was a list compiled by a reputable South African magazine ‘Zalebs’ in their last issue of the year, issue number 32. Sbu was named among other four Tik Tokers as the face to look out for in 2023, it was further mentioned that local comedian was one to look out for.
Sbu was also the first liSwati to amass over a million views on Tik Tok; this was on a video he posted late last year. This was a video that was inspired by pastors when praying for demons.
