TikTok demographics for authors
Everybody's talking about TikTok. Should you be using the hottest social platform for your book? Here's a look at TikTok demographics for authors.
While Facebook remains the most popular social network, TikTok, “the leading destination for short-form mobile video,” still reigns as the fastest growing social network. (This despite the fact that its fate in the U.S. still seems to be up in the air.)
And, with more than half of TikTok’s users reporting they get their news on the app — more than twice as many as in 2020 — it’s hard to overlook its reach and influence.
While the platform for short form video content is dominated by the Young People, its audience in other age groups is growing. In 2024, 14% of TikTok’s U.S. users were 55-plus, up from 9% two years earlier.
Before the old folks scare the youngsters off the platform (Facebook, anyone?), let’s dig into the numbers behind TikTok to see if you should be using it for your book.
Here are the TikTok demographics for authors you need.
Who is using TikTok?
- Worldwide, it has around 2 billion users. It’s expected to each 2.35 billion users by 2029.
- In the U.S., 55% of users are younger than 30, with the largest proportion of them between 25 and 34.
- A little more than three-quarters of U.S. 18- to 24-year-olds are on TikTok.
- Male users dominate at 55.7% versus females at 44.3%. Globally, women dominate at 54.8% of users.
- The highest number of both male and female users are ages 25 to 34.
- 58% of consumers have TikTok profiles.
- 82% of Gen Z (ages 13 to 28 in 2025) have profiles. It has more Gen Z users than Instagram.
Where are TikTok’s users located?
- While the app is used globally and average monthly time on the app is higher in several other countries, the U.S. has the most users, 135.79 million.
- Indonesia has 107.7 million users.
- Brazil has 91.75 users.
How much time do users spend on the app?
- U.S. users watch, interact with, or post content on TikTok an average of 25.5 hours each month.
- Finland’s users dominate usage with an average usage of 54 hours and 37 minute per month.
- Almost one-quarter – 22% – of U.S. teenagers are on TikTok two to three hours a day.
- Average time per visit is almost 16 minutes.
Should you be using TikTok for book marketing?
Yes, BookTok is big. There’s no question about that. But for you, specifically, the question to answer now is: Is it likely that your ideal reader is using this video platform? Use the above recap of TikTok demographics for authors to guide your decision.
For example, if your target audience is in the second half of life, there are much better ways to reach more of them. But, if you’re targeting a young audience and have mastered the art of the short video, this might be a good fit for your book.
If TikTok is where you should be, don’t wait long to figure out how to use it effectively. What’s popular today can lose favor tomorrow.
Learn more about which social networks to use to promote your book (not anyone else’s!) in the newly updated and affordable Book Marketing 101: How to Build Book Buzz courses! There’s one for fiction and another for nonfiction!
Are you using TikTok? What do you like most about it?
Sources:
https://explodingtopics.com/blog/tiktok-demographics
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/tiktok-stats
https://explodingtopics.com/blog/time-spent-on-tiktok
(Editor’s note: This article was first published in February 2020. It has been updated and expanded.)
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Is there any indication that TikTok users even read (books)?
Research shows that in general, people in the younger demographics do read books. I haven’t seen any research into the reading habits of TikTok users specifically.
Sandy
From the research: Those ages 18 to 29 as of 2018 read the most — 84 percent of them read a book in any format in the previous 12 months. People ages 30 to 49 in 2018 were the next largest group of readers, at 74 percent.
Sandy
Thanks for the insights, Sandra. I checked out the site recently and was amazed by how much silly stuff is on there. After reading your post, I’m grateful I need not join in as its demographics is not my target.
This is interesting feedback, Cat. What do you think is the age range of the parents of the children you write for? Or, do you think it’s grandparents buying your books? (And of course you could never be silly with a video there, but I’ll bet you could be clever!)
Sandy