How TikTok ban in THIS country saw Instagram's rise
With the ban of TikTok in India, many content creators are now working to create or ramp up their presence on Instagram. Instagram is undoubtedly considered one of the biggest beneficiaries of the ban. At the time of the ban in 2020, TikTok had nearly 200 million users in India and considered the country its biggest market outside of the US.
A growing number of countries in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific have banned the popular video-sharing app TikTok. India completely outlawed the TikTok app in 2020 following a geopolitical disagreement with China, under a rule that permits the government to block websites and applications in the interest of the nation's "sovereignty and integrity."
According to Forbes, Analysts at Bernstein informed that the ban on TikTok didn't slow down the adoption of short-form video content on social media and gave more market share to competitors like Snapchat, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. It also gave way to the rise of several homegrown Indian apps.
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The Rise of Instagram
India share of Instagram and Snapchat downloads following the TikTok ban in June 2020 pic.twitter.com/YoYNkho1Go
— Manish Singh (@refsrc) March 22, 2023
Instagram experienced a jump in downloads soon after TikTok was banned in India, helping it to surpass TikTok in terms of global downloads by the fourth quarter of 2021 and move up from No. 6 in 2019 to become the most popular social media app in the nation by 2021. Key to Instagram’s success in India was Reels, its algorithm-based, endlessly scrolling vertical video feed that closely resembles TikTok’s For You Page and other TikTok lookalike YouTube Shorts and Snapchat Spotlight.
Other Apps came to the forefront
Many TikTok clones have appeared in India with varying degrees of success, including Moj, Roposo, and Josh. However, because of Instagram's extensive user base, many creators have chosen to use it instead.
Which look is your favorite 😍 #bhavinbhanushali #bhavin #bhavin_333 #joshvideos #joshcreator #joshapp pic.twitter.com/nHSTVdS9YR
— Josh App (@OfficialJoshApp) March 14, 2023
While Instagram has close to 400 million users and YouTube has 325 million, Moj and Josh have a combined 300 million monthly active users in India. According to Viraj Sheth, cofounder of the Indian influencer marketing company Monk-E, Moj, and Josh have offered creators money to produce content for their platforms, which has resulted in losses for these companies as revenue is slow and will ultimately be an unsustainable business model.