More than one-fifth of Taiwanese adults used TikTok or Douyin (抖音) — the Chinese version of TikTok — at least once during a three-month period last year, a report released by the Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) showed.
Last year’s “Taiwan Internet Report” prepared by the ministry’s Taiwan Network Information Center found that 21.67 percent of Taiwanese used the Chinese social media platforms from March to June, with 44.45 percent of them engaging with the apps daily.
However, the annual report also showed that the ByteDance-owned platforms were far less popular among Taiwanese users than market leaders Facebook and Instagram, owned by Meta.
Photo: Reuters
According to the survey data collected from June 19 to June 29 last year, 44.44 percent of the respondents said Facebook was the social media platform they used most often, while 21.12 percent preferred Instagram.
TikTok and Douyin ranked third, with 2.53 percent of respondents saying they used the ByteDance-owned platforms more than others.
Tao Chen-chao (陶振超), a member of the survey’s research team and a professor in National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University’s Department of Communication, said the data collected last year showed social media users were continuing to migrate across platforms.
The “information circulation market” was becoming more fragmented, as Facebook’s popularity declined and users were drawn to other, more niche social media platforms such as Threads, Tao said.
Although the survey was comprehensive, the usage rate for TikTok and Douyin might have been underestimated in the findings, he said.
Respondents might have underreported their engagement with the Beijing-based platforms, as they might have had reservations about telling the researchers that they used platforms that were seen as “tools used by China for propaganda,” he said.
The survey targeted people aged 18 or older.
According to the 298-page report, younger people used TikTok and Douyin more than older people.
In the 18-29 age group, the ByteDance platforms saw the highest usage rate at 34.37 percent. Usage declined progressively in older age groups, at 27.77 percent in the 30-39 range, 23.37 percent in the 40-49 range, 20.19 percent in the 50-59 range and 14.85 percent in the 60-69 range.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by