TikTok Is Clearly the Pandemic Winner

“TikTok is clearly the winner of this chapter,” says social media marketing expert Gary Vaynerchuk. “You have a lot of families at home together and because TikTok won 13-22 (age group) those characters are spending more time with their parents and everyone’s looking for something to do. You’re also definitely seeing an explosion at the 30-40 (age group) also. The biggest winners to me in social are TikTok and Pinterest. The biggest loser potentially is Snapchat but I think they’re stable.”

Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of VaynerMedia discusses how the pandemic has impacted social media usage and marketing in an interview on Bloomberg:

I think in stressful times big things usually just expose things instead of changes them. TikTok is clearly the winner of this chapter. You have a lot of families at home together and because TikTok won 13-22 (age group). Those characters are spending more time with their parents and everyone’s looking for something to do. You’re also definitely seeing an explosion at the 30-40 (age group) also. I think Instagram in a lot of ways is such the juggernaut but is definitely starting to get chipped away at.

One thing we’ve learned about social networks is they’re more like actual TV networks and actual TV shows. They have a lifespan. TikTok is starting to lose a little bit of its cool factor but it’s still at scale and growing. Pinterest is having huge growth. I think Pinterest is a winner. People are cooking at home. Visual search — I think Pinterest is a winner.

I still look for Snapchat to do something to change their fortunes. I always felt when Instagram came out with stories and gave them a real kind of punch in the gut that they needed to innovate to get back there. I’m a little disappointed I guess just cuz I’m rooting for as much diversity as possible in social. The biggest winners to me in social are Pinterest and TikTok. The biggest loser potentially is Snapchat but I think they’re stable.

The amount of time on YouTube gaming, on Twitch, on Mixer, the consumption numbers are through the roof. If you have a 15-year-old or under in your world, you’re very aware that Bugha or Ninja or many others are more famous athletes to those individuals than any baseball player on earth. So I think that eSports if we stayed in our home forever, is the sport that wins.