Will TikTok Make You Buy It?

In three short years, TikTok has grown in the public imagination from an app for dancing teens into an all-purpose cultural powerhouse, driving trends in music, food, news and politics, and changing the way people communicate online. In the process, it’s also become something else: a place where people buy things. Lots of them.

Social media companies have been chasing the dream of “social commerce” for years, ramping up advertising and nudging their users toward buying and selling in hopes of getting a piece of the internet’s other most profitable business.

It’s almost quaint to think about the early days, when Facebook was seen as a place where friends could connect; Twitter was a news source; YouTube was the funny-video site; and Instagram was for sharing nice photos. Now, in their efforts to keep people scrolling and buying, they’re overgrown with engagement-juicing features, laden with ads and infested with brands.

TikTok, so far, hasn’t had to try so hard. Many have noted the uncanny ability of its users to produce consumer manias, moving products across disparate categories. Clothing, cosmetics, cleaning solutions, tech accessories, toys and life-hacky appliances have seen sales skyrocket after becoming TikTok sensations.

TikTokers, both riding and fueling a pandemic surge in at-home shopping, have built massive followings showing off a broad and strange array of products. This spring, Amazon added a page of products called “the latest to go viral” — in other words, #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt. (All told, videos with that hashtag have earned more than 4.6 billion views.)