TikTok has grown in popularity in recent years, attracting users with short-form videos ranging from viral dances to product reviews to mental health stories.
It’s also grown as a place for news – particularly among young people. And politicians and activists alike have used the platform to engage with issues they care about.
To learn more about the political environment on TikTok, we asked U.S. users about their experiences and views. Here are the key findings:
- Entertainment is the main draw. Almost all TikTok users (95%) say they go on the platform because it’s entertaining. In contrast, only 36% say keeping up with politics is a reason they use it.
- Some see political content, but few post it. Among users, 45% see at least some political content on TikTok, but only 7% post at least some themselves.
- Users have mixed views on TikTok and democracy. More users say it’s mostly good (33%) than mostly bad (17%) for American democracy. Still, 49% say there’s no impact. Republican users are slightly more likely than Democratic users to say it’s bad (22% vs. 15%). (Throughout this report, both groups include independents who lean toward each party.)
- Most TikTok users think people feel free to express political views there. The vast majority (86%) say so. This is the case in both parties, though Democrats are somewhat more likely to hold this view than Republicans (88% vs. 81%).
Why and how people use TikTok
Our survey explored the “why” and “what” behind how people use the platform.
Reasons for using TikTok
Almost all adults who use TikTok (95%) say they go on the platform for entertainment. This includes 81% of users who say this is a major reason they use it.
Smaller, but still sizable, shares say a reason they use TikTok is to connect with others who share their interests (65%), to look at product reviews or recommendations (62%), or to keep up with sports or pop culture (53%).
Fewer than half of users say keeping up with family and friends, news or politics are reasons they use TikTok.
Related: News as a reason people use TikTok
By party
For the most part, Republicans and Democrats have similar reasons for using TikTok, but some differences emerge. For example, Democratic users are more likely than Republican users to say keeping up with politics and political issues is a reason they use TikTok (40% vs. 33%).
Seeing politics on TikTok
Just under half of TikTok users say that at least some of what they see on the site is about politics or political issues. But a larger share – 54% – say only a little or none of the content they see on TikTok is political.
By party
Identical shares of Republican and Democratic TikTok users (47% each) say they see at least some political content.
Posting about politics on TikTok
TikTok users are far more likely to see political content than to actively post it themselves. Just 7% of users say they post or share at least some content that is political in nature. Another 29% say they post, but that little or none of it is about politics.
Still, the majority of TikTok users (63%) say they don’t post or share anything on the site.
By party
Similar shares of Democratic (7%) and Republican (8%) users report sharing at least some political content.
Why do people post about politics on TikTok?
We asked the 12% of TikTok users who share at least a little political content there about four potential reasons for doing so.
Among TikTok users who post about politics:
- 81% say that a motivation for posting political content is that their views are welcome on TikTok. This includes 42% who say this is a major reason.
- 73% each say TikTok being a place they can make a difference or feeling like it’s something they should do are reasons they post about politics.
- 65% say politics belonging on TikTok is a reason.
Why don’t people post about politics on TikTok?
We also wanted to find out why those who don’t share about politics on the site forego doing so.
Among the 24% of TikTok users who post, but never about politics:
- 56% say a reason is that they don’t care about politics.
- 47% feel politics doesn’t belong on TikTok.
- 42% say a reason is that posting on TikTok won’t make a difference.
- 35% say a reason they don’t post political content on TikTok is because they don’t want to be criticized or harassed.
How TikTok users see its climate and impact
TikTok has made efforts to curb harassment on its platform. However, what some may see as steps to create a more positive environment, others might label as censorship.
To understand the broader climate on TikTok, we asked users about the platform’s political environment, including its effect on democracy.
TikTok and American democracy
One-third of TikTok users say the platform is mostly good for American democracy. This is roughly double the share of users who say it’s mostly bad (17%).
However, the largest share of users (49%) say that TikTok has no impact on American democracy.
By party
Democratic users are more likely than Republican users to say the platform is mostly good for democracy (36% vs. 29%). In turn, more Republicans than Democrats say the platform negatively impacts democracy in the country.
There are no differences by party in users who believe TikTok has no impact on this.
Free expression on TikTok
In recent years, TikTok has been accused of banning certain types of political content. Our survey finds that 86% of TikTok users think people feel free to openly state their political views on the platform.
Just 12% say people do not feel free to express these kinds of views.
By party
Large majorities of Republican and Democratic users agree that people can freely express political views on TikTok. But Democrats are slightly more likely than Republicans to say this (88% vs. 81%).
Political content users see on TikTok
When it comes to the ideological slant of the political content posted on TikTok, more users say what they see leans liberal (22%) than say it leans conservative (6%).
However, 24% say the content doesn’t lean toward either side of the spectrum and an identical share say they’re not sure.
By party
Democrats are slightly more likely than Republicans to say the political content they see on TikTok leans liberal (26% vs. 20%). The reverse is also true: 10% of Republicans say what they see about politics leans conservative, while only 5% of Democrats say the same.
But roughly half of each party’s users say the content they see doesn’t lean either way or that they’re not sure.
Harassment on TikTok
People who use TikTok largely believe that harassment is a problem on the platform: 71% of TikTok users say so. This includes 23% who say it’s a major problem.
By party
Democratic users are more likely than Republican users to believe that harassment is an issue on TikTok (77% vs. 65%).
By contrast, larger shares of Republican (34%) than Democratic (22%) users believe this is not an issue on the platform.
