Netflix Shows That Have Been Boosted By TikTok
With Squid Game returning for its third and final season and Straw continuing to dominate the charts, now feels like the perfect time to spotlight one of Netflix’s biggest traffic drivers: TikTok. Several of the streamer’s breakout hits owe their explosive success, in part or entirely, to TikTok, where short-form virality has helped push shows and movies to global prominence.
Extracting data from TikTok is no easy feat. Unlike YouTube, which can be tracked through sites like SocialBlade, TikTok remains far more opaque. While TikTok’s internal Creative Center offers some insights, most of the work comes down to tracking titles in the Netflix Top 10 and manually hunting for viral clips on the platform.
While English-language titles benefit the most from TikTok, Squid Game naturally got one of the most almighty boosts thanks to it. The first week of Squid Game in the Netflix Top 10 was a modest start, comparable to almost every other Netflix Original series from the region. It was in the weeks that followed — after the series caught fire on TikTok — that it took off, mainly thanks to clips of the shocking Red Light Green Light game and the head-turning visual aesthetic. Season 2 also saw a fantastic ride on TikTok, with more deadly games and T.O.P. carrying the season for the memes.
Second and third week boosts in the Netflix Top 10s are often the clearest indicators of TikTok-driven viewership, and that was the case with two UK hits: Adolescence and Baby Reindeer. Going viral for very different reasons, each saw massive surges in viewership in week two and beyond, becoming some of Netflix’s biggest shows.
Let’s put a few of these examples on a chart. Adolescence, Squid Game, and Baby Reindeer are perhaps the most prominent examples of TikTok boosts, where you can see a slow or modest start that dramatically ramps up over time.
But the reality is that most shows in the Netflix Top 10 have gone viral for one reason or another:
- For Wednesday, Jenna Ortega’s dance skyrocketed the show’s popularity.
- For Stranger Things, the Kate Bush song and various season 4 clips exploded on TikTok.
- Bridgerton edits, and let’s be honest, thirst traps, picked up millions of views across every season.
- Beef got a huge uplift in its second week thanks to several clips of the show going viral.
It’s a symbiotic relationship. More Netflix viewership leads to more people clipping and posting scenes. In turn, viral TikTok trends often compel people to watch just to be part of the conversation. While this dynamic exists across platforms, TikTok is the undisputed king of the cycle.
The most recent example is STRAW, written and directed by Tyler Perry. It’s trending on TikTok thanks to two viral waves: people sharing their parents’ or grandparents’ emotional reactions to the ending, and a clip of Teyana Taylor’s determined walk, both amassing millions of views.
So, how do we know there was a TikTok bump? While it’s not an exact science, we can compare Netflix viewership data with TikTok’s Creative Center. Interest in the hashtag #Straw peaked on June 11, right in the show’s second week. Typically, viewership dips after week one, but Straw defied expectations. After debuting with 25.3 million views, it surged by 93% in week two, in perfect sync with TikTok activity.
It’s not just new titles that get the TikTok bump. Older shows can re-enter the charts seemingly out of nowhere. One example is The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window, which experienced a resurgence in July 2023 due to resurfaced clips. Ginny & Georgia, we’ve documented, also had a massive bump thanks to some new clips on TikTok going viral.
Is TikTok a Monkey’s Paw for Netflix?
TikTok is an incredible promotional engine for Netflix, but also a direct competitor. According to Nielsen’s The Gauge, YouTube has been pulling ahead of Netflix on TV screen time, and TikTok dominates mobile.
Despite the rivalry, the business models differ. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos addressed this directly in March 2025: “YouTube doesn’t pay creators upfront to make content, so they’re doing it all at their own risk,” he said. “Netflix has a higher-quality viewership. People are coming there to watch, rather than waste time.” He added: “I think we’re a better monetization model.”
Netflix Hopes to Replicate TikTok with a New Feed
As part of its latest UI rollout across mobile and TV, Netflix is reintroducing a vertical video feed — a TikTok- or Reels-style scroll showcasing show clips. Longtime users may recall Quick Laughs, an earlier experiment focused on comedy. This new iteration will cover a broader range of genres.
Netflix’s press demo showed off the new feed, which visually resembles TikTok — but notably lacks social signals like likes, shares, or comments. These signals drive TikTok’s FOMO and cultural velocity, and it’s unclear if Netflix’s version can replicate that kind of engagement.
Whether Netflix’s in-app feed can truly drive traffic the way TikTok does remains to be seen.
Picture: Netflix
