By Kathy Meßmer, Martin Degeling, Anna Semenova, Alexander Hohlfeld, Greta Hess.

This blog post starts a series of detailed examinations dedicated to elaborating on the findings from our scenario testing, which we have outlined in our blog post “TikTok’s Impact on Consumer Rights: A Closer Look!”. Each blog post focuses on each step of the theoretical framework of risk assessments, as developed in our risk-scenario-based audit process (RSBA; for our methodological reflections, read our blog posts on the methodology).

In the following, we will have a closer look at the affected party of our risk scenario.

TikTok’s target group is young people. That is why we decided to choose young adults between 18 and 25 (in Germany) as the “affected party” in our risk-scenario-based audit process (RSBA; for our methodological reflections, read our blog posts on the methodology). Besides the actual risks TikTok poses to this group, we wanted to understand more about their social media and especially their TikTok usage. Therefore, we first conducted focus groups followed by a survey.

Here is what we learned:

Nearly all young adults use Social Media - TikTok on place 3 when it comes to usage several times a day

99.5 % of young adults between 18 and 25 in Germany use social media, 91.5 % of them intensively, which means they use at least one platform multiple times a day. On average, they use 4 different social media, from which YouTube is the most widespread platform (92%), followed by Instagram (87%) and Snapchat (62%). TikTok is on place 4 with 59% usage overall, yet it rises to 3rd place regarding engagement several times a day.

TikTok usage is dependent on education (lower/middle level of education 69%, higher education 52%), and age (18-19-year-olds: 70%, 24-25-year-olds: 48%), with the highest usage among females 18 to 19 years old (76%).

TikTok is about entertainment, inspiration and trends - not so much about politics

In the focus groups, where young adults openly discussed their TikTok usage, it became evident that many of them saw the COVID-19 pandemic as a starting point. According to the survey, when asked about their purpose for using TikTok, the most frequent response was entertainment, with over 90% using the platform often or very often for this reason. This was followed by seeking inspiration (72%) and staying informed about current trends (63%).

Over half of TikTok users (54%) utilize the app to search for specific information they are interested in. The focus groups clarified that when searching, it’s primarily to rediscover specific posts—not as a general “search engine” for acquiring broad information.

At the bottom of the list is using TikTok as a source for political news, with 29% utilizing the platform for this purpose, while 22% indicate they never use TikTok for consuming political news (but they still might see political content, though).

That might be because young adults don’t trust TikTok too much. 70% of all young adults say that TikTok, in general, is not trustworthy. Even among TikTok users, 55% don’t trust the platform. In focus groups, participants elaborated on how TikTok makes it challenging to discern the sender, and they criticized the low-quality and biased nature of news and informational content.

In comparison, they trust YouTube, a platform they use, e.g., to search for additional information about certain topics. 72% of all survey respondents say they think YouTube is very or rather trustworthy, positioning it as even more reliable among young adults than the German public broadcast station.

Most important TikTok features are the For You feed and the like button

Matching the self-proclaimed usage, the most important feature of TikTok is still the widely discussed For You feed. 89% of all TikTok users say they use that feed very or rather often, followed by search (67%) and messaging (49%).

For all three features, we see an age divide, with the features being used more frequently by 18-19-year-olds than 24-25-year-olds. However, the latter age group is more eager to use the Following function, the Discover page or TikTok Live, compared to their younger peers.

As widely discussed, TikTok’s algorithm is based on interests more than on social cues. That goes in line with the fact that more than half of its users say they rarely follow accounts on TikTok. Interacting with TikTok means mostly liking content (81% rather or very often), forwarding it (70% rather or very often) or saving it (65%).

TikTok is perceived as highly addictive and a time sink

TikTok’s algorithm is optimized for time spent on the app. For young adults, the perception of TikTok’s algorithm is quite mixed. While they acknowledge that the platform’s standout feature is its personalization, variety and abundance of relevant content, focus groups also highlighted that the constant flow of content and strong personalization pose significant dangers and risks. With regard to the survey 94% of young adults between 18 and 25 say that TikTok has a high potential for addiction and two-third (67%) state that TikTok is a time sink.

That is why 15% of all survey participants say they have left TikTok, most of them because they spent too much time there (56%) and because they felt it had a bad influence on their mood (40%). And even among the active TikTok users, more than one-third (35%) have temporarily deleted TikTok at some point but have come back.

Users know how to navigate the app

Half of the active user base has already checked how much time they spent on TikTok. Around 1 in 5 users have activated a time limit or blocked the app for specific times at least once.

While 19% say, they already have turned off personalization on the For You feed, we learned in the focus groups that young TikTok users actually like personalization. It was highlighted as what makes TikTok stand out. However, young users are not always satisfied with the content they see. 75% say they have clicked on ‘not interested’ for content that made them uncomfortable and 53% already have reported videos and comments they found problematic. This means, on the one hand, that young adults might be more media-savvy than they are given credit for. On the other hand, we learn that there seems to be a lot of problematic content on TikTok, which leaves young users feeling uncomfortable.

Summary

Although TikTok is not the most used Social Media App, it is among the top three when it comes to usage several times a day. While being quite critical about TikTok, young adults between 18 and 25 still use the app. With the strong usage of the For You feed and the main purpose being entertainment, inspirations and trends, those users are vulnerable to consumer protection-related issues as well as ad targeting and product placement.