Gen Zers aren’t the only TikTok addicts

It’s no surprise that 18- to 24-year-old TikTok users spend a lot of time on the app—79 minutes per day, according to our latest forecast. But what’s not so obvious is that millennials and Gen X users are gobbling up tons of TikTok videos, too.

According to Insider Intelligence’s first-ever forecast for time spent on social platforms by age, TikTok users ages 25 to 54—largely the millennial and Gen X generations—will spend over 45 minutes per day on the app, well above time spent by 25- to 54-year-old users of other social platforms. 

There are three reasons why this is important:

• Millennials and Gen X are a sweet spot for advertisers. They have far more spending power than Gen Z does, with average post-tax incomes of $84,563 and $102,512, respectively, per 2021 data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Meanwhile, average post-tax income was just $42,335 for Gen Z.
• TikTok’s stickiness gives it an edge against the larger audiences of Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Facebook has twice as many users ages 25 to 54 as TikTok does, but it can’t compete when it comes to user time. Neither can Instagram or Snapchat. Thus, TikTok offers greater chances to reach millennials and Gen X through ads and branded content.
• Time spent with TV is falling significantly among millennials and Gen X. TV time overall is down 6.4% this year, according to our forecast, but even larger drops are occurring in the 25-to-34 and 35-to-44 age groups (down 8.0% and 8.7%, respectively). TikTok isn’t the only factor, but it’s an important one.