TikTok is currently testing the distribution of horizontal videos, which would be triggered by rotating your smartphone. How to become a reference application for long content?
What made TikTok successful is its extremely addictive concept. At a time when social networks are piling up the many different contents that their users can choose from, TikTok had the idea of betting everything on a single overpowered algorithm. The social network only broadcasts one vertical short video at a time and never gives the user a choice. You have to scroll to go to the next one, then to the next one…
The popularity of TikTok has made people jealous. Aware of the threat posed by the app, Meta (Facebook/Instagram), Snap (Snapchat) and Google (YouTube) have all launched a similar service. Their goal is to bring new TikTok users back to their apps, by mixing different types of content. Problem, TikTok does not intend to let it go.
Horizontal videos on TikTok
Since March 2022, TikTok has been offering its users to upload 10-minute videos. Formerly known for its short videos, TikTok wants to get serious by offering more qualitative content, which it also monetizes, to remunerate content creators (and attract them). The idea of the social network is clear: TikTok should be used for everything, not just to promote a video that will then be broadcast elsewhere. Even though the very nature of TikTok is to quickly switch between videos, some long formats manage to captivate audiences.
According to Techcrunch, ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, will go even further. An update currently being tested will switch TikTok to full screen mode, for horizontal content. Today, even if it is possible to watch horizontal videos on TikTok, we have imposing black bands at the top and bottom. Tomorrow, it will be possible to watch a 10-minute video in full screen, like on YouTube. Something to terrify other video hosts, who risk losing even more users. Even more so if it convinces the creators to post everything on TikTok.
Can TikTok go astray? Definitely, yes. By dint of adding functions, the social network known for its simplicity could quickly become complicated. However, this change would be especially convenient for users who want to stay in a video for a long time. Others, if they wish, still have the option of continuing to view everything vertically. Even if TikTok does not say if its update will be deployed one day, we do not see why its developers would deprive themselves of it.
In addition to TikTok, major social networks are currently monitoring the success of BeReal, a French platform that is breaking all records in 2022. It just so happens that TikTok has launched TikTok Now, a perfect copy and paste of BeReal. Like what, after being copied by everyone, we always end up copying others.