TikTok is booming during the lockdown, trainers open up about moving their clients to a virtual setting, and the demand for VPNs in Honk Kong surge after Beijing proposes tough new national security laws.
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TikTok is the place to be. According to Forbes TikTok was the most downloaded non-game mobile app in January and February, with more than 800 million users. Not only that, but in April, TikTok topped mobile apps when it came to revenue, while in-app purchases jumped tenfold to $78 million. A lot of the chatter on social media has been about whether or not that momentum will continue, or will it fizzle out and die like Vine did? Others suggest it might end up being YouTube’s primary competition as the platform continues to evolve.
Some fitness trainers have gone virtual during the pandemic, and their clients have followed. CBC reports that some instructors who were initially worried about losing their livelihoods when gyms closed actually have actually benefited from streaming their classes. Naturally, many of them are saying that the next step is to discover new ways to make money from the virtual platform. A big box gym executive concedes that gyms may be forced to adopt a hybrid of in-person and supplemental online training to stay competitive.
And lastly, the demand for virtual private networks in Hong Kong is surging. Reuters is reporting the demand for VPNs has increased more than six-fold since last Thursday as Beijing proposed tough new national security laws for the financial hub. Atlas VPN says VPN installations surged again on Friday, up more than three-fold from the previous day, while search interest in the keyword term “VPN” rocketed 1,680% on May 21 from a day earlier. Search interest in the word “VPN” hit a record high on Friday, it added, citing data from Google Trends.
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