A recent study by the Pew Research Center has found that many TikTok users tend to be spectators rather than content creators.
The survey, which included 2,745 adult TikTok users, showed that nearly half (48%) have never posted a video on the platform and most users have not even updated their profile bio.
This phenomenon is not unique to TikTok, as it is common across social media platforms
Historically, the "1% rule" of social media has held that 1% of users create content, 10% interact with it, and the remaining 89% do not use it.
Samuel Bestvater, the lead author of the study, expressed to TechCrunch his surprise at the high level of non-posting on TikTok compared to other social networks.
For context, a 2021 Pew study found that about 50% of American adult Twitter users tweeted five times or less each month.
However, a similar percentage of TikTok users do not post at all.