Between Juan García and Martha Romero there are 20 years of age difference. The first is 18 years old and the second turned 38 last July. Juan is considered centennial and Martha of generation X. Although they have very different tastes, the two agree on one preference: the social network TikTok.

The social network TikTok is the one that has generated the most new users in the last six months.

Juan says that he spends no less than two hours a day on the social network. Martha at least 30 minutes at various intervals. The two affirm that the platform relaxes them and disconnects them from their daily problems. Both increased the consumption of content on this platform as a result of the pandemic. In fact, Martha has already been encouraged to upload funny videos.

From January to June 2021, the growth of Ecuadorian users on TikTok has been substantial. The increase was 42.61% and reached 3.2 million. At the end of 2020, the total number of users was 2.3 million, according to the Ecuador Digital 2021 report by the consulting firm Mentinno. The bulk of users of this digital platform are between 18 and 34 years old (63%).

Meanwhile, according to the study, Instagram users grew by 11.54% and reached a total of 5.8 million until last June.

Instagram and TikTok are in a growth stage, attracting more and more users thanks to their characteristics and their own style that in each case attracts new users to the platforms, being TikTok the one that marks a real change in concept thanks to the type of content that drives. This content is closer, informal, fun and that manages to impact beyond the social network itself. Users seek to be surprised, TikTok is responding to this search better than other platforms, with the support of content creators who set trends”, indicates Juan Pablo Del Alcázar, general manager of Mentinno.

Due to this growth, even companies and brands have begun to have a presence on these platforms to be able to connect with communities, says Francisco Robles, director of the School of Digital Marketing (Esmadi).

TikTok has been growing a lot for a year and Instagram for two and a half years because they are very innovative, interactive, funny. TikTok came with a disruptive format that has made other platforms copy its short video format that can easily go viral , ”he says. In addition, the application of this social network, characterized by audiovisuals, leads the list of most downloaded apps in mobile stores.

Video consumption has increased in recent years in Ecuador thanks to YouTube. At the end of 2020, the average Ecuadorian spent 17 minutes and 10 seconds on a daily basis to search and consume content on this platform.

However, in the first 6 months of 2021 it increased to 19 minutes and 20 seconds per day, which exceeds the time that the average Ecuadorian spends on Facebook (18:44) and Google (17:33).

“YouTube is the second most important search engine at the moment, being a source of answers to questions from users in the dominant format of the moment, video. The strength of this network is precisely in the quality and variety of content, from news, live broadcasts, music, tutorials, advertising campaigns, special series and exclusive content. It is a social network and platform that is also present on home televisions, mobile devices and is increasingly becoming the first screen for many advertisers and brands”, says Del Alcázar.

After TikTok, the platform that grew the most in the number of users in Ecuador was Twitter. Until last June it registered 1.2 million accounts. This social network has always been considered as niche specific and specialized for the debate of complex issues.

“Twitter has always been a relevant network, not only for controversial, political or celebrity-related issues, but also linked to current affairs, direct contact with brands and actors in various sectors, being considered by many as the official voice and the main means of dissemination. of communiqués,” says Del Alcázar.

Unlike other networks, adds the executive, Twitter has maintained its essence of current affairs and direct and frontal interaction, complementing with new formats for users and brands, which manages to attract more and more audiences looking for different content and trends, being able to reach more easily to their sources: “Even more changes are expected in Twitter, from subscription models, increased payment to creators and new formats that will further boost its growth.”

Facebook continues to dominate

The growth of new Facebook users is not so great in the country. From January to June it was 5.26%. However, it is still the dominant social network in Ecuador, registering 14 million users.

For this reason, it cannot be said that the “era” of this digital platform ended in the country, says Robles. He affirms that Facebook obtained great growth in Ecuador and that the country even came to be in the top ten in the world for the number of users and the total population.

“The lower user growth does not mean that we should put Facebook aside. What happens is that it has already captured the majority of the market, which other platforms have a long way to go”, he says.

Del Alcázar agrees with this and adds that if we compare the number of internet users in the country (14.25 million) with the number of Facebook accounts (14 million), “we can conclude that the vast majority of people with internet access they are part of the social network, which highlights their relevance and explains the slower growth in percentage terms”.

Community of tiktokers

A new category included in the Ecuador Digital report is the ten TikTok accounts with the most users in the country. The list is led by the Quito brothers Kelly and David Bustamante, better known as the Busta Brothers on this digital platform. They share humorous videos to the tune of the fashion trend. With their peculiar way of generating content, they have managed to reach 17.5 million users.

In second place is comedian and youtuber Anthony Swag with 7.3 million. In third place is Melissa Endara (6.7 million), followed by the En PlugTv account (4.7 million) and Axel Ortiz (4.2 million).

Social media day

From October 19 to 21, the sixth edition of Social Media Day will be held at the Hilton Colon hotel, north of Guayaquil, in which the impact of social networks on different audiences will be analyzed. It will have different speakers who will also address digital marketing issues. One of the organizers of the event is Esmadi. (I)