From dance videos to global sensation: what you need to know about TikTok’s rise

The app has grown at breakneck speed to surpass the internet behemoths in downloads

• Read the new Guardian series exploring the increasing power and reach of TikTok

TikTok in 2022 became the most-downloaded app in the world, quietly surpassing long-standing forebears Instagram and Twitter. By the end of this year, it will overtake YouTube as the social media platform users spend the most time watching.

The video platform's meteoric rise has astounded investors and industry experts. As it grows at breakneck speed, a new Guardian US series investigates some of the mounting questions surrounding its operations: the opaqueness of its algorithm, its effect on our brains, its ties to China, and its role in spreading election misinformation.