If you’re a marketer, creator, or app founder in the Social Networking niche, this guide is for you.

It will update on trending formats, viral hooks, and new apps, giving you the tools you need to plan your strategy for the month ahead:

• An overview of what happened in the last 30 days
• Top hooks and formats to test in May
• The hottest breakout accounts and apps
• Access to a full list of hundreds of videos you can explore with our advanced analytics

Use it to spot trends early, borrow what’s already working, and avoid wasting time on outdated formats.

Let’s get started.

Niche Overview

Views

Over the last 30 days, the Social Networking niche generated 100M views from 70+ high-performing videos, published across 37 apps.

Content spans multiple short-form platforms, with performance driven primarily by breakout videos rather than consistent volume across all apps.

A significant portion of total views is concentrated within a subset of active performers, while several apps (Bump, Howbout, Reclip, Retro) show no recent breakout activity, representing untapped growth potential within the niche.

Overall, the niche reflects a hit-driven distribution, where a limited number of apps and videos are responsible for the majority of visibility.

Engagement

Engagement across the niche is strong, with 9.17M total interactions across 94M views, resulting in an average engagement rate of 9.7% at the higher end of typical short-form benchmarks.

This indicates a highly interactive audience, with users going beyond likes into shares and saves.

Performance varies significantly across apps:

• High-engagement leaders (Airbuds, Swerve, WhoLiked, yope, Housewarming) drive strong share and save behavior, signaling deeper audience intent
• Other apps like TikAlyzer (1.9%) and Toxic AI (2.2%) generate high views but lower engagement, reflecting more passive consumption
• Girlcode stands out as the top performer, combining scale and engagement (15.4% ER at 20.5M views)

Platform limitations also impact reported metrics, with Instagram Reels (e.g., Cosmos) not displaying shares and bookmarks, meaning actual engagement is likely higher than reflected.

Overall, the niche demonstrates strong engagement quality, with clear separation between high-intent social products and passive utility-driven experiences.

Top Hooks & Formats to Test

1. “now i get why my art professor BEGGED us to use THIS instead of pinterest”

From: Cosmos

Hook type: Authority endorsement

• 3.58M views
• 9.32% engagement

Format: Slomo app demo

Type: Face

What it looks like: A quick screen demo of the app with spoken voiceover. You see the app in action while the creator explains why it’s better than Pinterest.

2. “POV: ur a kpop trainee under hybe in this game and u accidentally started beef with niki 😩😩😩”

From: Status

Hook type: POV roleplay fantasy

• 2.19M views
• 0.5% engagement

Format: First person phone usage + app demo

Type: Faceless

What it looks like: First-person POV using a cell phone and showing how the app works, while Hook explains the use case.

3. “Am I the only one that’s lost their girlfriend to tomodachi life? I survived the animal crossing phase. I survived the airbuds phase. I survived the Pinterest phase. I survived the sims phase. Tomodachi phase got hands 😭”

From: Airbuds

Hook type: Relatable/confessional storytelling

• 1.06M views
• 33.4% engagement

Format: Relatable POV + commentary rant format

Type: Face

What it looks like: A boyfriend jokingly “vents” in a selfie-style POV while lying next to his girlfriend absorbed in a game, listing the phases he survived before reacting that this one finally beat him.

4. “POV we’re single”

From: Zestr

Hook type: Shared identity POV

• 1.17M views
• 21.89% engagement

Format: Fast-moving sequence + app demo

Type: Faceless

What it looks like: A fun, relatable single-life moment, showing the Zestr app for meeting people.

5. “Idk what friend gave you ptsd but yes, I will come pick you up from the airport. Yes, I will send you updates on housewarming. Yes, we can beat a dead horse together and NO, you do not need to Venmo me back for the $5 coffee I bought you.”

From: Housewarming

Hook type: Friendship affirmation

• 766K views
• 21.20% engagement

Format: Front camera recording + hook

Type: Face

What it looks like: A woman quietly sitting in her car at night time and lets hooks do the heavy lifting.

Apart from these top-performing hooks, here are 200+ more that are performing well in this niche.

Breakout Accounts & Apps

WhoLiked

WhoLiked is scaling through a structured creator program that pays people to open fresh TikTok accounts and post a highly repeatable social game format.

The core content shows friend groups reacting to who liked or reposted what, and the same concept is being reused across different creators, languages, and accounts, with millions of views generated in a single month.

Juicy Chat AI : AI Fantasy

Juicy Chat AI found traction quickly by leaning on a simple call-style content format, where AI-generated characters appear in short dialogue scenes.

Most of the reach comes from one creator, and the product is integrated lightly into the content, which makes the videos feel more like entertaining skits than direct app promotion.

Zumi: Chat & Dress Up

Zumi is gaining attention by turning friendship insecurity into short-form content, especially around one-sided best-friend dynamics and emotional fallout between friends.

Its creator network uses similar face-to-camera hooks, but the strongest videos connect because they frame the app around relatable social feelings rather than features.

Newcomers to Watch

PinPoint Connect

PinPoint Connect is an early-stage social app built around the idea of reconnecting with people you met briefly but never exchanged details with.

Its initial traction is being driven by founder-led content, with videos alternating between attention-grabbing storytelling and very direct explanation of the core problem the app solves.

Maple AI

Maple is a new AI chat app gaining visibility on TikTok by reusing a proven creator format already tested by competitors.

A big part of the story is not just the app’s age, but the way former competitor creators brought the same hooks and content style with them, helping the account build traction quickly.

Resources & Next Steps

Every month, we also put out fresh resources designed to save you time, help you stay ahead of the game, and ensure that every piece of content you create has a genuine chance of going viral (and converting).

Dive into our full hooks dataset for ideas that are already winning, explore 50+ faceless formats that are easy to adapt and scale, or check out our How-to TikTok Guide if you’re new to the platform.

In case you’re struggling with turning views into real results, our TikTok Marketing Funnel walks you step-by-step through increasing conversions and growing your app or brand faster.

Access the full resource collection here.

About Social Growth Engineers

Social Growth Engineers is a growth-focused research and content platform built for consumer apps.

We analyze what’s working in organic distribution across short-form platforms, from viral formats and content strategies to deep-dive playbooks.

Our goal is to expose what’s out there and help founders and marketers grow smarter and faster.

For more daily insights, trends, and bite-sized hacks, follow us on X, LinkedIn and YouTube (here and here).