[another-dave]

I don't use TikTok so maybe I'm offbase, but I tihnk while technically it could've existed without mobile, socially I'm not so sure.

I wouldn't under estimate the amount of friction reduced in having an app on your phone which a) is always with you, b) can also record top quality video and c) has a data plan good enough to upload there and then.

[hiAndrewQuinn]

This is my read as well. The ability to record video clips as easily as a person with a keyboard can tweet was the true kindling for the viral fire.

[alwayseasy]

To take it a notch further, it's the video editing simplicity that really blew TikTok up.

[disgruntledphd2]

> To take it a notch further, it's the video editing simplicity that really blew TikTok up.

Yup, definitely. Effective mobile editing was a big driver of it's success.

That being said, while it's definitely more effective and popular on mobile how much of that is just down to more people using the internet on mobile relative to desktop.

This is unlike Maps or Uber which only make sense with mobile and always available location.

[mailarchis]

Not exactly tiktok, but something similar was tried on desktop - Dailybooth was a YC startup which enabled users to take a photo from the desktop website and post it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DailyBooth

[antifa]

> I wouldn't under estimate the amount of friction reduced in having an app on your phone which

I wish I could do software development from my phone the way people casually watch tiktok videos. The least unproductive thing I can currently do when trapped with only a phone is read HN.