Instagram Took A Leap By Surpassing TikTok In New Downloads Last Year
Data indicates that Instagram of Meta saw a higher number of new app downloads last year and surpassed TikTok. Meanwhile, Tiktok's global user growth momentum began to stabilize for the first time.
This demonstrates that Meta's recent replication of the TikTok short video format on Instagram is starting to take effect, with Zuckerberg rarely taking the upper hand in this user battle.
According to data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, Instagram's total new app downloads increased by 20% year-on-year in 2023, reaching 768 million times, making it the most downloaded app worldwide. During the same period, TikTok downloads increased by only 4%, to 733 million times.
The statistic reveals Instagram's success in targeting new users.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has long viewed TikTok's growth as one of the biggest threats to his social media empire. In 2020, Instagram introduced the reels feature, allowing users to share short videos. This feature basically copied TikTok's short video function and was once criticized as a copycat of TikTok. It's undeniable that it has attracted a large number of Generation Z consumers.
Abraham Yousef, Senior Insight Manager at Sensor Tower, said: Instagram has outperformed TikTok in adoption over the past few years, driven by the popularity of its reels feature along with legacy social media features and functions.
There are also implications that TikTok's user growth has started to stabilize for the first time since its launch in 2016.
Sensor Tower data shows that Instagram's active monthly users reached 1.47 billion, adding 13 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Meanwhile, TikTok's active users reached 1.12 billion, decreasing by 12 million in the last quarter of last year.
Bernstein analyst Mark Shmulik commented that Instagram successfully held on to its existing users by launching short videos, which means there's a lack of motivation for the next batch of potential TikTok users to switch platforms.
He added that an increasing number of influencers are being attracted to Instagram. For many influencer content creators, TikTok is easier for overnight fame, while Instagram is a better platform to gain financial rewards from fans.
Interestingly, TikTok's rapid development was largely due to its algorithm, as it could provide users with more targeted video clips based on their preferences. However, as Meta invested heavily in artificial intelligence last year, Instagram's recommendation system has also been boosted.
Meta CFO Susan Li stated last month that Instagram made strong progress increasing the freshness of recommended content.
Moreover, ByteDance's policy of allowing users to download videos with a TikTok watermark and share them on different social media platforms initially intended to increase TikTok's popularity, has also benefitted Instagram.
Meanwhile, despite the slowdown in user growth, TikTok is making strides in the realm of e-commerce.
Sensor Tower estimates that ByteDance earned over $4 billion in revenue from in-app purchases last year, while Instagram's revenue in this area was only $143 million.
TikTok still performs better in terms of user activity as users spent an average of 95 minutes per day on TikTok in the fourth quarter of last year, compared to 62 minutes on Instagram.