Video app Douyin brings Chinese out of their shells, beats YouTube, Facebook in download charts

Chinese are often known for being shy and reserved, but when using a 19-month-old China-developed app for people to produce and share 15-second videos with background audio and special effects, everybody turns into a genius performer with a good sense of humour.

The short-form video app Douyin, named Tik Tok outside China, has helped to reveal some of Chinese people’s lesser-known characteristics as it has become the latest mobile internet fad domestically and abroad, hitting the top of the Apple App Store’s global non-game download chart for the first quarter of 2018.

Internationally it was downloaded 45.8 million times between January and March, leaving better-known apps such as Instagram and Facebook well behind, according to app intelligence firm Sensor Tower. YouTube ranked second in the period, with 35.3 million downloads, and WhatsApp third with 33.8 million.

Developed and launched by Beijing-based tech company ByteDance, which also owns news platform Toutiao, Douyin has grown to about 154 million monthly active users. China’s Asian neighbours, including Thailand, Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam, accounted for the bulk of international downloads.

At home, the app has shone a spotlight not only on the country’s people but also places, such as Xian and Chongqing, with videos filmed in the cities attaining great popularity.

On the negative side, people have been copying some of the antics seen on the platform and getting into trouble or hurting others.