The five most popular social media platforms, according to most reputable researchers, are Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, and YouTube (listed alphabetically). All have at least two billion users worldwide.
Many others have substantial user bases ranging from 750 million to 1,750 million, still making them apps to be reckoned with. And statistics show that a large majority of people use multiple platforms; in fact, the average user is on an average of 6.6 social apps.
That explains the reason for an acronym whose meaning is difficult to guess, but commonly heard or seen online: AMOS.
What Does AMOS Mean on TikTok?
TikTok users aren’t the only ones who use this term; you’ll see it everywhere from Facebook to Pinterest.
It stands for “Add Me on Snapchat.”
Snapchat has been around since 2011 and currently has almost 900 million active users. It was originally designed to be a photo-sharing app, and its most important distinguishing feature was that posts disappeared a short time after being created (explaining the “Snap” in “Snapchat”).
Videos could be accommodated on the platform by 2013, and later that same year, Snapchat was the first app to introduce a dedicated “Stories” section. The platform never reached the popularity levels of Facebook or Instagram, but it’s still extremely popular today because of the spontaneous conversations that occur there and then vanish almost immediately.
The differences between Snapchat and TikTok content and communication explain why so many people use both platforms. It also explains why so many TikTok videos include “AMOS” in their captions (and why commenters interested in discussing the topic of TikTok videos ask the content creator to “AMOS”).
Asking for a Snapchat add is also another effective way for users on other social apps to expand their networks and connect with more followers and friends. The idea isn’t to ask people to use Snapchat instead of TikTok (unless they have a message or chat topic that shouldn’t be available forever) — it’s meant to suggest an additional social outlet for online communication.
Most TikTok acronyms need a lot of explanation and context. AMOS isn’t one of them.
About the Author
Peter Hasselworth is a contributor at iDigic, sharing valuable insights about Instagram growth and social media marketing strategies.