TikTok ruled the internet in 2021. The short video sharing platform was the most visited site of 2021 as per Cloudfare, a web security firm. Also, find the most visited sites in the world in 2021.
In another year affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the internet traffic surged worldwide, and the Chinese social media too the largest internet share despite scrutiny in major markets.
What does it mean? Most immediately, it means TikTok has beaten Google. For many years, the American search engine has stayed atop as the internet’s most visited site but now the accolade goes to the video-sharing platform.
More surprisingly, it took just one year for the video-sharing app to seize the top spot from Google. In 2020, TikTok ranked 7th and Google perched on the top. The data comes from Cloudfare’s radar service and follow for more below.
While TikTok switched between the 7th and 8th spot last year, 2021 went in for TikTok for the most part. Its first rise to the top was on February 17, 2021. Again in March, it stayed on top for a few days but in October and November TikTok trended again for the majority of the days. Cloudflare (November 25) reports that on Thanksgiving and Black Friday (November 26), TikTok stole the internet again.
The Top 10 Most Visited Sites 2021
1 TikTok.com
2 Google.com
3 Facebook.com
4 Microsoft.com
5 Apple.com
6 Amazon.com
7 Netflix.com
8 YouTube.com
9 Twitter.com
10 WhatsApp.com
Furthermore, TikTok has also overtaken Facebook as the most popular social media platform, with Meta ranking third in 2021. Microsoft has dipped below Facebook, with the company ahead of the likes of Apple, Amazon, Netflix, YouTube, Twitter, and WhatsApp.
As it stands, TikTok took the crown from Facebook as the most popular social media. Facebook, now a part of Meta, ranked 3rd as per Cloudflare. These data are not surprising though. As the lockdowns hit, people were stuck at homes and took to the entertainment platform to have fun.
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Google Dethroned, Facebook Slipped
With the rise of TikTok on the charts, it has forced changes. Facebook, the social media’s ruler stood 2nd for much of 2020 while Google ruled on top. But with TikTok rising in trends, Facebook has slipped to the 3rd. Google reclines to the 3rd.
Amazon.com is the juggernaut that follows, but it is interesting to see that since January 2021 the e-commerce website (we will talk more about that category in a few paragraphs) jumped in front of Apple.com. But Apple got back in front, after September, with some exceptions like November 28, 2021, the day before Cyber Monday — and also December 1 and 6.
In the meantime, Apple.com and Amazaon.com contested their positions. Since January 2021, the online marketplace was in front of Apple.com. But the latter took over after September with some exceptions in between.
YouTube though surprisingly ranked 8th behind Apple, Microsoft, and others. The video-sharing platform is a part of Google’s ecosystem of services but fell behind Netflix which is now the globe trotter with its over-the-top contents. Meanwhile, another social media platform WhatsApp ranked 10th just behind Twitter.
TikTok’s number 1 profile is hardly a surprise to us. The entertainment platform rose to fame during the pandemic, when people were stuck in their homes, looking for sources of entertainment.
Was TikTok your go-to for the internet this year or did you opt for others? Do share with us below in the comments.