TikTok beats YouTube at their own game with its ability to dramatically reduce friction to both create and consume content.

When a creator posted a video, TikTok showed it to a sample audience and then expanded to bigger targeted audiences if it did well—a form of a recursive publishing feedback loop. Creators with no followers could still reap rewards for videos that were funny and understandable by anyone. This was uniquely powerful for the medium of short-form video,... See more

For example, since TikTok leans heavily on an algorithm to determine views for a video, your absolute follower count is less valuable than it might be on another platform where the follow graph is a stronger input to your success. On TikTok you’re only as good as your next video whereas on another platform your aggregate follower count might serve ... See more

Of course, people grab TikToks and share them on YouTube or Twitter or as Reels on Instagram, but those apps receive flattened video files and can’t break them into component parts to be remixed the way you can on TikTok. Those other services are fine endpoints for distribution, but the creativity happens on TikTok. Don't get me started on apps lik... See more