Some thoughts on TikTok vs. YouTube
Image source: Insider Intelligence
It’s easy to look at charts like the one above and think that TikTok is overtaking YouTube because some condescending young people dont have the patience bullshit.
but YouTube remains strong & young people spend lots of time on both TikTok and YouTube.
Not to forget that YouTube videos are getting longer as a whole. Hour-long YouTube videos are a thing and many people watch them.
Young people are abandoning Facebook not because they have no patience, but because that’s where their parents and bosses and aunties and uncles are. Social media is not entertainment, it’s a social event & you don’t go to a party where your parents and bosses are there to watch you & tell lame uncle jokes.
YouTube is doing fine because young people still watch traditional videos like everyone else. They turn to TikTok for instant entertainment but for anything more in-depth or engaging, they go to YouTube. These are two different products that serve different needs among the same audiences.
After all, young people still watch 2-hour long Marvel movies. They clearly have the patience for long-form content and entertainment.
They just don’t want to watch it while Uncle Bob keeps telling lame dad jokes around them, or worse, making judgmental comments about young people nowadays. Something like that.