The idea of TikTok is that it collects videos that resonate with its users, then transmits them to thousands, if not millions, of viewers across the world. This platform is reminiscent of the News Feed spread on Facebook during the middle of the 2010s. In this case, even moderately worthy content could find a massive audience on the platform. With TikTok's algorithm, you need not have a large following to have a high chance of landing tons of traffic.

Despite the popularity of TikTok, the demand for quality videos is far exceeding the supply of videos. As a result, even decent videos quickly become viral on TikTok because so many people watch them. According to Nick Cicero, vice president of strategy at digital analytics company Conviva, "It is the place where people spend the most time, but it is also the platform that's the least known". People jumping in at this moment have a great opportunity, and there could be a lot of money to make.

According to TikTok's algorithm, every video is seeded to a random group of users first. Once they have tested the video, it decides whether or not to blast the video further. Analyst Nathan Baschez refers to this phenomenon as "universal basic distribution," which is an appropriate term. There are at least a few hundred views for every video that is uploaded on TikTok. After that, you will either see it fade away or it will gain thousands more views almost as fast as it appeared. 

As Zac Goodsir said, the TikTok app will distribute posts according to the flow of traffic in brackets, said Zac Goodsir, co-founder of Supermix, the agency on which these videos are performed. A few hundred video views on TikTok will get followed by a few thousand, tens of thousands, and hundreds of thousands in almost a step-by-step pattern, as the number of views rises. 

Whenever a distribution is made, the algorithm waits, assesses, and then reacts to it to reach its goal. Consequently, the content published on the platform can be shared widely across all the affiliated platforms in no time, regardless of their affiliation. Taking a wide range of content into consideration for each recommendation, it works to ensure a user's feed is filled with relevant stuff. This ensures that it can be personalized to their taste.

It seems that Instagram is not using this "universal basic distribution" approach to distribute your content, relying more on your followers. When a brand new Instagram account is created and the same videos from TikTok are posted, they did not receive any views. Possibly, this is because the account was just created, newly created, or it only had a few followers at the time. As a result of Instagram not seeding Reels from all of its accounts, it might miss videos that its users might find interesting. 

This could limit Instagram's ability to provide users with what they want. The consequent consequence could also result in fewer people publishing on those sites, another risk that might lead to low-quality content being published on them. As for Instagram's marketing strategy, Goodsir said they are not pushing it as heavily anymore. The results of the experiment are yet to be seen, he said. 

There is no doubt that contentiousness sells 

It has been proven over the years that provoking outrage and division on traditional social media is the surest way to go viral. 

It was expected that Tiktok would be different from other social media apps. It is unfortunate, but in the majority of cases, the videos that get the most distribution are the ones with flame wars in the comments. 

As Goodsir explained, he thinks that it is helpful to hear different opinions, as well as different opinions. Because both of those factors drive engagement, which drives views to TikTok, as well as the downside. 

As far as competing with TikTok is concerned, YouTube Shorts may have the highest chance of succeeding. In an interview on Big Technology Podcast, Ranjan Roy, author of Margins, said that one of their strengths has been contextual, AI-based recommendations. 

Therefore, YouTube is already able to recommend videos based on your watching habits. Applying that technology to Shorts will give it a serious advantage over other video-sharing platforms. In addition to its short videos, YouTube also produces long-form videos, which can appeal to users who are interested in getting more content from their favorite YouTube accounts. 

The creators also benefit from this, so it is a win-win for both of them. Several people have even been found to search for the full episode in the comments section, proving that shorts can attract a wide audience even to small YouTube channels. 

This is a risky endeavor since TikTok may not be what it used to be. This makes all the efforts put into it somewhat risky since it may not last forever. 

It turns out that a lot of marketers are really scared to dive into TikTok and invest their budgets because they are concerned the app will be shut down shortly, said Cicero. 

By sitting out TikTok in favor of safer bets, established brands and content creators will be putting maximum resources into building their brands. This will enable TikTok to grow into a solid platform for others looking for an audience. But the board can turn upside down anytime.