A new Pew Research Center analysis reveals that U.S. adults primarily follow entertainment and internet-native content creators on TikTok, with political and news content playing a minimal role in their engagement on the platform.
The study examined the accounts followed by a nationally representative group of U.S. adults and found that entertainment and pop culture dominate.
Approximately 59% of the followed accounts post about these topics, only 10% discuss politics, and 5% cover news or current events.
Internet-native content creators and influencers make up nearly half (46%) of the accounts followed by U.S. adults on TikTok. Traditional celebrities account for many remaining followed accounts, particularly among the top 100 most-followed profiles.
The research shows a stark contrast between TikTok and other social media platforms like X regarding followed accounts.
While news outlets, journalists, and political figures feature prominently among X’s most-followed accounts, they are nearly absent from TikTok’s top-followed lists.
User motivation aligns closely with these findings.
The report cites an earlier survey indicating that 95% of U.S. adult TikTok users primarily use the platform for entertainment. Only 41% reported using it for news, and 36% reported keeping up with politics.
The study reveals that TikTok’s content ecosystem is highly personalized.
Among the quarter-million accounts followed by the 664 users in the study, only 5% are followed by five or more users—this high degree of customization results in minimal overlap between users’ followed accounts.
Age plays a significant role in TikTok usage patterns.
Users aged 18-34 follow over three times as many accounts as those aged 50 and older. Younger users also tend to follow a larger number and proportion of highly popular accounts, with over 1 million followers.
Types of Content
The research identifies a notable trend in how political content is presented on TikTok.
Accounts that discuss politics or current events frequently blend these topics with lighter content. Of the accounts posting about politics or current events, 43% also discuss entertainment and pop culture, while over a third post humorous content.
Commercial activity is prevalent among popular TikTok accounts. The study finds that 46% of accounts with over 1 million followers post promotional content, compared to about 20% with 5,000 to 10,000 followers.
Follower Structure
The analysis also sheds light on the composition of users’ following lists.
The typical adult’s following list includes a mix of account sizes, with about one-fifth being influencers with over 1 million followers and about 25% being small, personal accounts with fewer than 5,000 followers.
Pew’s research methodology involved categorizing followed accounts based on who they are and what they post about. The study excluded accounts with fewer than 5,000 followers from the content analysis due to limited posting activity and privacy settings.
David Adler is an entrepreneur and freelance blog post writer who enjoys writing about business, entrepreneurship, travel and the influencer marketing space.
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A new Pew Research Center analysis reveals that U.S. adults primarily follow entertainment and internet-native content creators on TikTok, with political and news content playing a minimal role in their engagement on the platform.
The study examined the accounts followed by a nationally representative group of U.S. adults and found that entertainment and pop culture dominate.
Approximately 59% of the followed accounts post about these topics, only 10% discuss politics, and 5% cover news or current events.
Internet-native content creators and influencers make up nearly half (46%) of the accounts followed by U.S. adults on TikTok. Traditional celebrities account for many remaining followed accounts, particularly among the top 100 most-followed profiles.
The research shows a stark contrast between TikTok and other social media platforms like X regarding followed accounts.
While news outlets, journalists, and political figures feature prominently among X’s most-followed accounts, they are nearly absent from TikTok’s top-followed lists.
User motivation aligns closely with these findings.
The report cites an earlier survey indicating that 95% of U.S. adult TikTok users primarily use the platform for entertainment. Only 41% reported using it for news, and 36% reported keeping up with politics.
The study reveals that TikTok’s content ecosystem is highly personalized.
Among the quarter-million accounts followed by the 664 users in the study, only 5% are followed by five or more users—this high degree of customization results in minimal overlap between users’ followed accounts.
Age plays a significant role in TikTok usage patterns.
Users aged 18-34 follow over three times as many accounts as those aged 50 and older. Younger users also tend to follow a larger number and proportion of highly popular accounts, with over 1 million followers.
Types of Content
The research identifies a notable trend in how political content is presented on TikTok.
Accounts that discuss politics or current events frequently blend these topics with lighter content. Of the accounts posting about politics or current events, 43% also discuss entertainment and pop culture, while over a third post humorous content.
Commercial activity is prevalent among popular TikTok accounts. The study finds that 46% of accounts with over 1 million followers post promotional content, compared to about 20% with 5,000 to 10,000 followers.
Follower Structure
The analysis also sheds light on the composition of users’ following lists.
The typical adult’s following list includes a mix of account sizes, with about one-fifth being influencers with over 1 million followers and about 25% being small, personal accounts with fewer than 5,000 followers.
Pew’s research methodology involved categorizing followed accounts based on who they are and what they post about. The study excluded accounts with fewer than 5,000 followers from the content analysis due to limited posting activity and privacy settings.
The full report is available here.