Step Aside TikTok: Triller’s On Deck!
The Trump government has banned two major Chinese applications – Tiktok and WeChat – from the US market. This is only getting more intriguing. TikTok’s owner ByteDance has sued the Trump administration. Its CEO just stepped down. After a mere 100 days on the job! All this will open the market for US-based TikTok’s alternatives like Triller.
The orders imminently banned the Chinese applications citing national security concerns. The bottom line? Chinese applications are being sidelined for various political and security reasons. And their US-based competitors? Surely WILL NOT miss this opportunity.
One such application is Triller. With exceptional market exposure and hefty capital and war chest, Triller IS on deck. All set to snatch the spotlight from its Chinese nemesis. Things are getting hotter in the US tech market.
What is TikTok?
At its core TikTok is a short-form video social media application. It lets users create short-form user generated content. Tiktok users can create and share entertaining 15-second videos on topics of their choice. TikTok is ByteDance’s international product. Wait, what? The company has maintained a separate application for the Chinese market. The application is called Douyin which in China, has over 300 million monthly active users. Mind you, this is almost the entire population of the United States!
TikTok was born as a result of two major applications coming together. Think Douyin meets Musical.ly. How can you tell? This is the reason why it has many of the same features the two applications have. It has quickly risen through the charts to become a primary social media application for users looking to create and watch short musical videos.
Two years since its launch, Tiktok has already amassed over 800 million active users worldwide. And this is newsworthy HOW? For starters, Tiktok has achieved something phenomenal – considering there are already many video-first social media platforms. Tiktok has consistent been at the top of Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store list of best mobile applications. In particular, Tiktok has done a wonderful job of engaging influential content creators. Not to mention dominating organic app store optimization. So, what’s stopping the US government from letting their people use TikTok? Let’s dive deeper.
Apart from censoring politically-charged content, mainly critical of the Chinese government, TikTok has been accused of many security flaws over and over again.
Security and Privacy Issues With TikTok
President Trump has anxieties about China. He doesn’t hide his fears that China will overtake the US when it comes to setting the ground rules on the Internet.
Trump has gone to the length of banning TikTok and WeChat from the US market if the parent companies don’t sell the applications to a US-based company.
But WHY? The current administration alleges companies like ByteDance are in agreement with the Chinese government. You may be asking, HOW is this a concern? First and foremost, this can leak American user data or any uncensored content. THAT in turn gives the Communist Party an upper hand. So, will ByteDance give the rights to a US-based company?
Well, Microsoft and Twitter have been showing interest in purchasing TikTok. And Walmart. And Triller. More on that later.
They have been in talks with ByteDance and are looking to purchase the application for use in countries like the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. While it would be the first time when a company split happens on the regional lines, but it is very much on the cards at the moment.
Apart from the national security concerns, a lot of the debate has been about the kind of content people post on TikTok. While many videos are just memes and incredibly funny, some videos are just downright cringy and disgusting. We don’t even want to talk about them here because it’s just gross.
Then there had been a lot of news related to how TikTok became the epicenter of the Black Lives Matter campaign and the riots in the US cities. So yeah, the US government has plenty of reasons to get rid of the application once and for all. Or at the least, regulate or censor it. In the name of natural security, of course.
What is Triller?
Let’s get back to the topic. President Trump has already maligned the reputation of TikTok. This will only open the door for TikTok’s competition to fill in the gaps. What’s the name of the application that’s leading the pack? At the head of the pack there is…
And then there is Triller.
Triller was released in 2015 and was branded as an AI-powered video editing application. People responsible for Triller – David Leiberman and Sammy Robins. These are the same creators behind Disney’s Frozen: Karaoke and many other mobile applications.
The application allows users to shoot multiple takes of the same thing and then compile all the clips to give you the best music video. It’s similar to TikTok but has features that will definitely beat TikTok any given day.
There are many similarities and notable differences between TikTok and Triller
- Monthly active users on TikTok – 800m with over 2b downloads. Monthly active users on Triller – 65m with 250m total downloads.
- Music Industry – Triller was designed to work with the music industry while TikTok planned to disrupt it.
- Artificial Intelligence – Both have integrated Artificial Intelligence in some form or the other.
- Social Media Intereoperability – videos on both Tiktok and Triller are shareable on other social media channels.
- Video Editing –Triller edits the videos for you while TikTok allowed users to edit the videos the way they liked using the excellent editing features for the creators.
- Content Discovery – Discovery on both platforms are different too. On TikTok, you will get the list of trending hashtags, top videos, and other campaigns. On Triller, you will find leaderboards, genre categorization, and more.
- Genre Focus – Triller focuses on hip-hop and EDM. The discovery page on Triller is full of hip-hop and EDM songs and challenges. On the other hand, TikTok gives users the choice of genre.
Latest Funding and Capital For Triller
So, Triller is growing and it’s growing fast. The application is backed by big Hollywood celebrities in the music industry like Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne. How is this important? Put simply, Triller is bound to balloon both in size and valuation. The time we wrote this piece, Triller was pitching for a new funding round of $250 million, which will easily make it a billion-dollar application.
This will be huge as the company was valued at $130 million in October 2019.
The founder and CEO of Triller, Mike Lu believes that Triller could very well take over TikTok in the coming months given the backlash it has received recently.
He also believes that Triller has been very successful in establishing its own identity and ecosystem – a feat very difficult to achieve in such a competitive genre of mobile applications.
Not just that, Triller even sued Tiktok for patent infringement! The lawsuit was filed in the U.S District Court for the Western Division of Texas. The patent number in consideration is 9,691,429. The patent is about ‘systems and methods for creating music videos synchronized with an audio track.’
Latest Triller Publicity Campaigns
Unless you have been living off the grid, you must have heard. The ‘Mike Tyson v. Roy Jones Jr.’ fight is happening on 28th November 2020 and Triller is a major sponsor!
After years in retirement, Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. are returning to boxing. And who else but Triller is headlining their return to the spotlight. This IS like a battle between Superman and Batman. Or between Thor and the Incredible Hulk. As part of the ‘Triller Battles’ campaign, the social media app is sponsoring the Pay-Per-View event and is bound to earn a major reputation for the same.
Verdict on Triller: Just Another Social Media Channel or a Legit Heavyweight Champ?
Well, the growth of Triller is looking bullish. It definitely has a solid foundation as it is a well-established application in its genre and is not leaving any opportunity to land itself the top spot. It has a long way to go to earn the popularity and audience TikTok amassed in just a few years. It’s growth, however, looks very promising. Oh Yes, and its leadership team? Top-notch technical and publishing talent. Its Mobile Marketing and go-to market strategy? Rock solid. Even though Triller has publicly said it has spent $0 on marketing.
Triller also has the back of big names in the music industry.
A recent news update was that many US-based TikTokers are planning their exit on the platform to join Triller. It can be a publicity stunt to manipulate the general sentiment about TikTok and persuade its audience to join Triller instead. Given the strong gaming background of its leadership team – and the convergent paths between the video game industry, music, and entertainment – one cannot help but think of the mighty Triller becoming a ten thousand pound gorilla.
The battle between the two is definitely getting heated. There are so many factors in play here and therefore, only time will tell which application comes on top, at least in the US market.
Triller Plus Tiktok? Hmmm…
Need even more intrigue and plot twists? Triller is now said to be in the race to acquire Tiktok. Count them a contender next to Microsoft, Twitter, Walmart, and others…
Regardless of WHO ends up with the crown jewel of Tiktok’s 800 million monthly active users? With Go Big campaigns like Mike Tyson-Roy Jones and partnerships with Little Wayne and Snoop Dogg, one thing is for sure.
WHATEVER happens, Triller will win HUGE, among the coveted Gen Z demographics… and much much more.
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TikTok US ban and Triller on a ride of its life! Find out why TikTok is quickly getting sidelined and Triller is getting the spotlight. Read now to learn more!
