In its infancy, TikTok was often described as an app for teenagers’ dance videos. In 2025, it’s a juggernaut with 170 million users in the United States and, according to the Justice Department, a national security threat that must be eliminated.
The platform’s path from a whimsical dance app to the target of a federal ban has been dotted with recipes, niche drama, micro trends, new entries into the popular lexicon and overnight megastars — as well as legal troubles, Senate hearings and, finally, a widely watched Supreme Court case.
Here’s a timeline of the app’s meteoric rise, and a reminder of the videos that dominated your algorithm, whether you wanted them to or not.
2012
Zhang Yiming, a Chinese entrepreneur, founds ByteDance. He reportedly sketched the rough concept for what would become TikTok on the back of a napkin.
2014
July
Alex Zhu and Luyu Yang launch Musical.ly. The co-founders pivoted the platform from an education app to a lip-sync app, allowing users to make 15-second videos singing along to popular songs.
2015
July
Musical.ly takes the top spot in the Apple app store in the United States.
2016
September
ByteDance launches Douyin, a short-form video app, in China. It goes on to become the most popular app of its kind in the country and a precursor to TikTok. Douyin can be used only in China, and the authorities there use the app to spread propaganda.
October
A handful of “musers” — shorthand for Musical.ly users — appear on the cover of Billboard, which declares that the app is “changing the music industry.” Most of the cover stars are children.
2017
September
ByteDance launches TikTok in Indonesia.
November
ByteDance buys Musical.ly, and its 60 million users in the United States and Europe, for around $1 billion.
2018
August
Musical.ly is sunset as the app is merged with TikTok. Users in the United States are automatically ported over to the new app.
November
TikTok surpasses Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube in monthly downloads for the first time.
2019
February
TikTok agrees to pay $5.7 million to settle child privacy violation claims.
July
Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” becomes an inescapable ear worm thanks to TikTok. Yeehaw!
October
Senators Chuck Schumer and Tom Cotton write a letter calling on the acting director of national intelligence to look into potential security risks posed by platforms based in China, including TikTok.
December
The United States Department of Defense warns members of the military to remove TikTok from both their work and personal devices. Soon after, the Marine Corps begins blocking the app on government-issued devices.
Hype House, a home where many of TikTok’s biggest stars live, is formed. It and other so-called collab houses are places where TikTokers film content and support one another’s professional careers as creators.
2020
February
The Renegade, perhaps TikTok’s most famous dance, becomes an allegory when users across the app film themselves performing the choreography without crediting Jalaiah Harmon, the Atlanta teenager who created the moves.
March
Curtis Roach’s “bored in the house and I’m in the house bored” becomes an anthem for people at home during pandemic lockdowns, when many more users joined the app. Tyga produces it into a single.
Suddenly everyone seems to be trying Dalgona, a whipped coffee popular in South Korea.
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont joins TikTok.
April
Two quarantine heroes — Carole Baskin of “Tiger King” and Megan Thee Stallion — produce a hit. The line between popular culture and TikTok continues to blur.
May
A woman starts documenting a journey to trade a bobby pin for a house over the course of nearly two years. She eventually succeeds.
Lip-syncing TikTok users, including Sarah Cooper, end up producing some of the best impersonations of President Trump.
Tabitha Brown shows us the joys of vegan cooking and soothes our weary pandemic souls.
June
India bans TikTok. The country is the app’s largest market with 200 million users.
Doctors become some of the platform’s biggest stars as the pandemic intensifies.
August
TikTok reaches 100 million active users in the United States. That same month, Instagram introduces its TikTok competitor, Reels.
A jingle for Russian cereal — it sounds like “mi pan su su sum” — becomes an app favorite.
September
The Trump administration announces it will ban several Chinese-owned mobile apps, including TikTok. Later in the month, a federal judge grants an injunction against the ban.
Nathan Apodaca entrances users with a video of himself skateboarding to a Fleetwood Mac song and sipping Ocean Spray Cran-Raspberry juice. The brand later gifted him a new truck and the song, “Dreams,” shot back up the charts.
November
Charli D’Amelio, a teenager best known for filming dance videos in her bedroom, becomes the app’s most-followed user with 100 million followers.
December
Musical theater kids and adults create a community-written TikTok musical based on Disney Pixar’s animated film “Ratatouille.”
An unassuming video of a user named Bella Poarch rhythmically bobbing her head to the song “M to the B” is crowned the most-viewed TikTok of the year at half a billion views.
2021
January
Tessica Brown mistakenly uses Gorilla Glue instead of hair spray, shellacking her hair to her scalp.
We all become wellermen and sang sea shanties.
Unbothered and nonchalant, the simplicity of friends rocking back together to “Alors on Danse” smoothed right over our brains.
February
Feta pasta is all the rage, with home cooks emptying shelves of the cheese in supermarkets. (The New York Times publishes a recipe for it.)
There is no escaping the “into the thick of it” audio clip.
March
BookTok makes best sellers out of books that came out years ago.
April
Addison Rae, a popular TikTok star, is criticized after performing several dances on “The Tonight Show” without crediting the choreographers.
August
People climb up unstable stacks of plastic milk crates. What could go wrong?
Sorority rush week at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa becomes must-see-TV.
September
Internet sleuths obsess over the disappearance and death of the influencer Gabby Petito, prompting conversations about missing white woman syndrome.
The D’Amelio family — whose daughters have spun their influence on TikTok into sponsorship deals, a music career, an appearance at the Super Bowl — heads to Hulu.
Anna Wintour draws backlash for inviting TikTok influencers, including Addison Rae and Dixie D’Amelio, to the Met Gala.
October
Noodle, a geriatric pug, dictates our mood based on how wobbly he appears on a given day: It’s a bones day or a no bones day.
“Couch Guy” becomes an internet villain.
Emily Mariko, a food and lifestyle influencer, finds mega-success with a recipe for what to do with leftover salmon.
December
Users dance expressively to Celine Dion in public. Cue the makeshift wind machines.
2022
January
Women share stories of being ghosted by “West Elm Caleb” and users hunt for his real identity. West Elm Caleb gets doxxed.
Elmo feuds with a pal over a pet rock.
February
Did you see Julia Fox in Uncuh Jaaaaahms?
TikTok issues new safety policies for content discussing eating disorders.
“OK, I like it. Picasso.”
March
Does the word womblands mean anything to you? Congrats, you spent a lot of time online this month.
April
“My money don’t jiggle jiggle; it folds” becomes a somewhat haunting soundtrack.
TikTok beats out Broadway when “Bridgerton the Musical,” a 15-song album based on Netflix’s saucy Regency drama and created by TikTok users, wins a Grammy for best musical theater album.
May
Stanley tumbler mania is in full swing, as people share their collections all over TikTok.
A group of mothers who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter-day Saints captures attention with claims of illicit exploits. Eventually, they’ll get a reality show.
Drew Afualo’s takedowns of misogynistic men earn her millions of views per post and eventually a spot on The New York Times’s best-seller list for her memoir.
June
Khaby Lame, a Senegalese-Italian creator, becomes the most followed creator on TikTok by reacting to nonsensical life hacks.
A wannabe “Saturday Night Live” cast member gets roasted.
July
Young people dress up as “gentleminions” in full suits to attend the premiere of “Minions: The Rise of Gru.”
A brightly colored condiment known as Pink Sauce baffles, amuses and disgusts.
September
An elementary schooler from Brooklyn professes adoration for his favorite food: “It’s corn!”
The Food and Drug Administration, not fluent in TikTok irony, issues an entirely serious warning against cooking chicken in NyQuil.
More young people are using TikTok as a search engine, heading to the platform before Google Search.
October
A negroni. Sbagliato. With Prosecco. Stunning.
TikTok’s favorite emu, Emmanuel Todd Lopez, was OK after a brush with avian influenza. His owner’s reputation, however, not so much.
November
According to TikTok, you may have A.D.H.D.
“Dabloons” become the imaginary currency of TikTok.
Fans of Taylor Swift who waited hours for Eras Tour tickets share their dismay over a Ticketmaster meltdown.
The F.B.I. director warns that the Chinese government could use TikTok’s for “influence operations.”
December
Users are suddenly acutely aware of their buccal fat.
Jenna Ortega’s “Wednesday” dance hooks users. Even Lady Gaga approves.
ByteDance admits that employees, including some based in China, inappropriately obtained the data of American TikTok users, including that of two journalists.
2023
January
The “girl with the list,” a crowdsourced file documenting horrifying pregnancy side effects and postpartum experiences, spreads widely.
March
The Department of Justice investigates ByteDance over possible surveillance of American citizens, including journalists.
College students want to range drink with gallons of liquor, electrolyte water and flavoring. Yum.
U.S. lawmakers grill TikTok’s chief executive, Shou Chew, for five hours about the app’s ties to China, its effects on children and data privacy.
The company flies in creators to lobby officials ahead of the hearing.
The Biden administration signals it wants Congress to take more action against TikTok.
June
The Grimace milkshake, a purple McDonald’s promotional beverage, inspires a grisly, yet comedic, genre of videos.
July
During the Hollywood strike, SAG-AFTRA, the actors union, tells influencers that crossing the picket line would make them ineligible for eventual union membership.
Girl dinner appeals to snack fans but also spurs conversations about disordered eating.
Yes, yes, yes. Ice cream, so good! PinkyDoll inspires copycats around the globe to act like a video game character for hours on end. She said she made between $2,000 and $3,000 per stream.
August
As travel heats back up again, the Americans and Europeans are fighting online.
We’re all living on the “Planet of the Bass.”
September
We learn how often men think about the Roman Empire.
TikTok introduces the TikTok Shop in the United States, allowing users to buy clothes, cosmetics and other odds and ends directly on the app.
Sisters will be sisters (cut each other’s bangs).
Vigilante justice on the platform continues to grow. This time, it’s a woman chasing down some shoes stolen by her date.
October
Susi made pesto. We started spilling our secrets.
Brands try to speak TikTok’s language. It works better for some than others. See: Nutter Butter.
November
Atlanta feels the Keith Lee effect.
A years-old Canadian puppet show makes people feel warm, fuzzy and nostalgic.
December
Cecilia from Svalbard, the Arctic Archipelago, is one of many creators who show far-flung places we might not otherwise see.
Bows on everything. Literally everything.
2024
January
Millennials confess to TikTok that they don’t know what to wear in the post-pandemic era. Gen Z has thoughts.
Do you have bookshelf wealth?
February
A (not terribly appetizing-looking) dish of chocolate and strawberries is suddenly everywhere.
Who TF did Reesa Teesa marry? In a 50-part series, a woman details her ex-husband’s web of purported lies.
“lol hey guys”: President Biden’s re-election campaign joins TikTok.
A father and son’s widely watched review of Costco purchases. Fame brings them to New York Knicks games and late-night television.
Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music company, pulls its catalog from TikTok.
March
Teens and preteens take over Sephora stores.
House lawmakers pass a bill to ban TikTok or force ByteDance to sell the app to non-Chinese owners.
April
After the Senate passes the TikTok bill, President Biden signs it into law.
May
Who wants to go to the Four Seasons Orlando? This baby.
Shou Chew co-chairs the star-studded Met Gala.
The search begins for a man in finance. Preferably with a trust fund, tall, blue eyes.
The mob wife aesthetic — that is, dressing like Carmela from “The Sopranos” — becomes popular.
June
I think the apple’s rotten right to the core.
Crowd work clips from stand-up comedians change the expectations for audiences.
A rap song written and recorded by Irish children becomes an early contender for the song of summer.
Former President Donald J. Trump joins the very app he tried to ban while president.
July
People are tired of buying stuff.
Vice President Kamala Harris joins TikTok after President Biden leaves the race. We all fall out of a coconut tree.
August
We all know the muffin man, but now we know the chocolate muffin that took over the Olympic Village in Paris.
A bucolic daydream of the 1950s becomes a coveted lifestyle referred to as tradwife, or traditional wife.
September
Did you even travel if you didn’t style and post your TSA bin?
October
The Hollywood Reporter features influencers including Alix Earle and Nara Smith on its cover, calling them the new Hollywood A-list.
New York City paves the Bed-Stuy Aquarium and puts up a sidewalks.
November
“Wicked” fans debate whether you can sing in theaters. They also hold space for “Defying Gravity.”
December
Users come to Luigi Mangione’s defense after he is charged with murdering a health insurance executive.
2025
January
Bad Bunny’s “most Puerto Rican album yet” hits a chord with abuelos and abuelas.
Lawyers for TikTok and creators argue before the Supreme Court that banning the platform would infringe on the First Amendment.
As TikTok’s future becomes uncertain, some download Red Note, a video-sharing app developed in China.
The post From the Renegade to the Supreme Court: A Timeline of TikTok’s Rise and Fall appeared first on New York Times.
