TikTok has seemingly decided to persist with longer formats, with reports suggesting that the platform could be poised to extend the maximum length of videos uploaded to the site. From now on, certain users will be able to post videos of up to 15 minutes in length. Could it be a tactic to compete with YouTube?
TikTok may soon no longer be a platform dedicated solely to short-form content. While the app built its success on its short, punchy and viral videos, it soon decided to branch out to longer formats. At first, content creators could post videos with a maximum duration of just 15 seconds. This was then upped to 60 seconds, then 3 minutes and finally 10 minutes.
When it comes to 15-minute uploads, nothing has yet been officially confirmed by TikTok. The news comes from the social network expert, Matt Navarra, who reports seeing a notification appear on his account. He shared the screenshot of the notification on his Threads account, which reads: “Upload videos up to 15 minutes long! Make sure your app is up-to-date, then try uploading from your app or desktop on tiktok.com.”
The changes made by TikTok bring the Chinese application ever closer to YouTube. Among other recent additions, users can now fast-forward a video by holding their finger down on the right-hand side of the screen, or by moving the cursor on the video’s progress bar.
While the video streaming platform remains one of young people’s favorite social networks, the content offer proposed by TikTok, which continues to gain popularity, may well end up winning over the internet’s last remaining holdouts.
While not all TikTok users are fans of long formats, the Chinese social network has more than one trick up its sleeve to promote the popularity of its new options. Most recently, TikTok sought to boost longer-form videos by offering creators higher returns thanks to a new content monetization system.
For its part, YouTube has chosen to adopt a shorter format with the launch of Shorts, which are a big hit on the platform, and by allowing creators to monetize a broader range of topics, including certain sensitive subjects. – AFP Relaxnews
