TikTok Boom: China's Dynamite App and the Superpower Race for Social Media

by Chris Stokel-Walker

TikTok is the fastest growing app in the world, and the first to challenge the Silicon Valley hegemony. It’s made an enemy in Donald Trump, and is the app a generation chooses to use to express itself.

But how has TikTok taken over the world in just a few short years, and what does its success mean for the future of technology?

Journalist and author of YouTubers: How YouTube shook up TV and created a new generation of stars, Chris Stokel-Walker, will tell the inside story of TikTok’s success for the first time in this new book: TikTok Boom: China, the US and the Superpower Battle for Social Media.

Over the course of several years, he has interviewed scores of people connected to the world’s hottest app, including current and former employees, as well as some of TikTok’s biggest names in front of and behind the lens, gleaning never-before-seen insights as to how the new influencer ecosystem works. And as talks of a ban become more widespread, Stokel-Walker plots its potential downfall as the weight of geopolitics looms over the platform and its founder, Yiming Zhang.

Genres: Nonfiction, Technology, Business, China, History

300 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2021

Reviews

[chefswifediary · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most captivating read for me in the month of October. Well researched, the author's tech industry knowledge and analytical mind made me hooked right from the start. All you need to know about tiktok vs the rest of social media is here.

[Ershen · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy-to-access discussion of how TikTok and its eponymous generation has changed how we experienced everything from music and beauty, and actualised Warhol’s 15 minutes (seconds) of fame.

[José Carlos Gomes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chris Stokel-Walker fez um excelente trabalho de investigação e análise que resultou nesta obra. É uma reflexão muito interessante sobre as características da rede social Tik Tok, que lhe permitiram um crescimento exponencial.

Trata-se de uma obra que nos permite conhecer melhor o algoritmo do Tik Tok e perceber de que forma uma companhia chinesa consegue marcar as tendências numa área de ponta como a tecnologia e o entretenimento eletrónico.

Através da narrativa de Chris Stokel-Walker, vamos percebendo como a ideia de que os chineses copiam, com menos qualidade, as criações ocidentais passou a mito. O Tik Tok explora, como nenhuma outra plataforma antes conseguira, os princípios de qualquer rede social: funcionamento viciante para cativar mais público e mantê-lo fiel. E é copiado, descaradamente, pela estadunidense Meta, cujo Reels não é mais do que uma cópia do Tik Tok.

Não é de estranhar que o Ocidente tenha arremetido contra o Tik Tok, acusando-o de todas as tropelias políticas, que o autor deste livro tentou provar, mas das quais admite não ter encontrado qualquer evidência. Do que se trata é de uma guerra comercial e política. Provavelmente, o mesmo tipo de guerra movida pelo Ocidente, supostamente livre e amigo do mercado, contra a Huawei.

Gostei muito do livro. Fiquei a admirar a visão empresarial da ByteDance, a empresa chinesa proprietária da plataforma. Apesar de não ser adepto do Tik Tok, porque acho que leva ao limite aquilo que é a pior característica das redes sociais: um entretenimento oco, sem profundidade, que reduz a realidade aos poucos segundos de eficácia dos vídeos que funcionam nas redes.

[Corinne · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read but sometimes struggled to know what he was talking about. For example, the start of Chapter 35:

"Ask the uninitiated and they may tell you TikTok is the spiritual or literal successor to Vine, the Twitter-owned short-form video app. (That's actually Byte, the short-form app developed by Vine's creator Dom Hofman after a three-year hiatus, which was released to the public with a whimper just before Christmas 2019.)"

Eh? Maybe other people's comprehension is stronger than mine for this kind of syntax but I found I had to re-read to figure out WTH, and not always to success. Add to that, saying Rihanna is from the Bahamas (she's not) may be minor but it made me wonder what else may be inaccurate. And found the narrative at times could have been more stream-lined and less haphazard but again, overall, an interesting read.

[NatM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. By the way, I have some useful information for TikTok users. When I first encountered the need to download videos from TikTok without watermarks, I tried several services, but stopped at TikMaker. This site https://www.tikmaker.app/en was a real find for me, because with its help you can quickly download tiktok videos download in high quality and without logos. All you need to do is copy the link to the video and paste it into the field on the site, then click on “Download”. It's important to me that TikMaker works on any device, whether it's a smartphone or a computer. And having a function to save videos in HD makes it especially convenient for offline viewing and editing.

[Abigail Bircumshaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very comprehensive overview, does exactly what it sets out to do without overwhelming the reader. Easy and interesting. Makes very fair and well rounded arguments, with a clear perspective whilst acknowledging all thoughts and fears beyond his own. Enjoyed and would recommend to anyone wanting a better understanding of how TikTok started, how it continues to thrive and what it means for the future of technology.

[Kirsten Thijssen · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Reads like a thriller” zegt Azeem Azhar in een blurb op de cover. Dat sprak me aan. Hij en ik blijken een heel andere definitie van thriller te hebben, maar interessant was dit boek wel. Denk: de ontstaansgeschiedenis van een tech bedrijf, onze veranderende cultuur, de toekomst van internet, de wereld + geopolitiek. Aanrader.

[Ivan Tan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating treatment of the political and societal impact of TikTok has on the world

[Bruno Paz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ótima leitura para conhecer e entender sobre o TikTok.

[kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was fine, however it was definitely more of a business study of the company ByteDance and Tiktok than a study of the negative effects of TikTok.

[Kate Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely an interesting read, but I didn’t really learn much more than I knew already about TikTok.

[Bernardo Sá · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book talks more about the trends created by TikTok and how it created celebrities.

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book to quickly understand how Tiktok startup and its strategy.

[Emilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Luin graduun, perushyvä tietopaketti. Eteni oikein soljuvasti ja kiinnostavasti.

[Fedya · Rating 4 out of 5]

much to consider…….

[Shi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting look into TikTok’s origins and the culture that makes TikTok what it is

[Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for a research paper for my masters, and found it to be interesting. I think the first half of the book was infinitely more interesting than the second, but perhaps that's because the second half of the book focused more on the corporate side of TikTok. I also wasn't keen on the fearmongering surrounding the Chinese government, and while Stokel-Walker himself refutes these xenophobic ideals, the manner in which they were discussed was a little unsavoury.

Overall though a good read, and small parts of this will aid in my final research paper this summer.

[NJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was such a well-written book. it didn't read like a business analysis at all and was consistently engaging (although the examples were sometimes difficult to follow). this would be a great book for many to read and educate themselves considering the dominance that TikTok has over society and how controversial it is becoming in politics. however, I do slightly wish that Stokel-Walker reached more of a firmer conclusion given the amount of information to be digested in this book but I do understand that it is difficult politically.

[Eman · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fascinating to read about the origins of TikTok, how it started as a single idea to create an app called Musically, and how it evolved into what is now known worldwide, except for Douyin in China. The history of the app's development was written in a very detailed and informative manner. This was followed by an introduction to the idea's origin, the person who came up with it, and his aspirations, which led to the creation of a huge Chinese tech company that became a global success while overcoming numerous obstacles in both domestic and international markets. I did enjoy the sections where he described how the application and its algorithms work to keep the user's attention on the screen for hours, but I honestly did not find what I had anticipated in the book because I wanted more technical details about the physiological aspects and techniques used to entice hundreds of millions of people worldwide—including myself as a devoted daily user—to spend a few hours on the screen every day.