There is this TikTok clip suggesting that the currently ongoing TikTok Senate hearings are a result of media campaign paid for by Meta because they could not compete.
If this is true, why cannot they compete with TikTok? I know there are YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels. Why don’t they do as well?
Network effect, first mover effect, and cost of switching. The appeal of any social media platform isn’t inherent in the design or the platform, its in the userbase and the content they create. Everyone is on tiktok because everyone is on tiktok. They launched first, caught on and got a massive userbase. It’s hard for users to move away from tiktok because their favourite creators aren’t on Shorts. It’s hard for creators to move because they can’t take their followers with them.