TikTok is mostly full of lurkers, study finds

There are more lurkers than creators on TikTok, a recent Pew Research Center study has found. The fact tank surveyed 2,745 adult TikTok users in the U.S. and observed the accounts and posting behavior of 869 respondents.

You’re not the only camera-shy user: 52 percent of adults surveyed have never posted on TikTok, and only 40 percent have posted a video publicly. In conclusion, a minority of users make up for the majority of content on the platform.

Fitting in with the model of power-users on other platforms, posters engage much more with other accounts on the platform. The median poster follows almost four times the number of accounts as non posters. The median poster has posted six TikToks and received 149 likes. Posters are also unsurprisingly nearly five times more likely to have customized their profile’s bio.

The age group with the most respondents that have posted a TikTok video is surprising not the youngest set, but the 35- to 49-year-old age group.

Pew Research Center also surveyed U.S. adults on what they think of their For You Page. and the addictive algorithm seems to be working. Roughly 85 percent of respondents found the content “at least somewhat interesting,” while 40 percent find it “extremely or very interesting.” Only 14 percent say their FYPs are “not too or not at all interesting.”

What videos are putting those respondents off? Is it day-in-my-life videos, horny chefs, or travel gurus. We may never know.