Why time spent with TikTok is on the decline

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Time spent with TikTok peaked at 40.0 minutes per day for the average US adult user in 2021, below that of YouTube, at 45.0 minutes daily. TikTok will lose some of its pandemic gains this year and the next, with its time spent falling to 37.1 minutes in 2023.

Beyond the chart: This downtick does not necessarily mean trouble at TikTok. It has seen extraordinary growth in time spent since 2019, when US adult users averaged just 27.4 minutes per day on the app. Its monthly US user base will continue to expand much faster than YouTube’s, from 86.2 million in 2021 to 94.4 million in 2023. The new TikTok users will bring down average time spent in the coming years, as their casual usage offsets the heavier engagement of established users.

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