Short-video platform TikTok needs a new description, as the company moved past its most distinguishing trait with new support for 10-minute videos on Monday.
As alerts began popping up on handsets, the developer confirmed to WWD that it has indeed begun rolling out the global update for its mobile app and website.
“We’re always thinking about new ways to bring value to our community and enrich the TikTok experience. Last year, we introduced longer videos, giving our community more time to create and be entertained on TikTok,” a spokesperson explained in a statement provided to WWD. The update in July 2021 bumped up the maximum length from one minute to three minutes.
“Today, we’re excited to start rolling out the ability to upload videos that are up to 10 minutes, which we hope would unleash even more creative possibilities for our creators around the world.”
Related Galleries
Ironically, TikTok’s pursuit of longer formats comes as social media platforms try to replicate the rival’s popularity with short videos, with Snapchat, YouTube and Facebook’s Meta developing their own offerings. The latter, Reels, just globally launched last week.
But Monday’s effort looks more like a direct strike at YouTube, which caps length at 15 minutes, at least by default. (Verified Google accounts, however, can post epic videos spanning 12 hours.)
Taking on YouTube looks like a David and Goliath scenario.
The post-Trump era saw a meteoric rise for TikTok, with a whopping 142 percent growth in 2021 revenue on a year-over-year basis, according to an analysis by Business of Apps. It pegged annual revenue for last year at $4.6 billion, which is impressive, but still just a fraction of Google’s video business. The haul for YouTube’s ad revenue amounted to $8.6 billion in the fourth quarter alone, a jump of 25 percent, and $28.8 billion for the full year.
Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of YouTube’s parent company Alphabet, sees shopping as a critical path forward, as do other social media competitors, including TikTok. But having Google’s massive infrastructure to back up the vision looks like a competitive advantage, as he pointed out in a February earnings call.
“[A]cross both Search, YouTube and other areas, there’s a lot of common infrastructure that’s getting done, right? So this is focused on merchants, onboarding merchants and all the back end so that we can have the broadest and the most comprehensive inventory available,” he said.
“And there, our partnership with other e-commerce platforms is a basic foundational layer we are putting in. And specifically on YouTube, while pretty early, there’s a lot of pilots underway.” He noted a partnership with Snapchat for a quick tap to Snap feature.
Meanwhile, another YouTube experiment is already showing results. Its TikTok clone, YouTube Shorts, has already broken 5 trillion all-time views and caters to more than 15 billion daily views globally, the company said.
TikTok may have felt that it had no other choice but to expand formats, as tech juggernauts move into its territory. It’s also logical to believe that longer videos can extend people’s time in the network or even attract new types of viewers. But switching up the formula, without alienating existing its userbase, looks like a major gamble.
Users are accustomed to seeing a constant barrage of clips whiz by, as algorithms endlessly funnel things of interest to them. Even if the algorithms work the same way with 10-minute videos — which is not at all clear — how and where the vids show up will be crucial. Disjointed attempts to cram in long content or interrupt the ebb and flow of fast-paced feeds could prove disastrous.
In other words, for a community built by lip sync battles and dance challenges, rhythm matters.
If it proves popular, the format offers more room to craft nuanced content, which may be good news for creative brands like Off-White c/o Virgil Abloh. On Monday, the design house debuted the first multi-camera live TikTok broadcast for Paris Fashion Week in its Spaceship Earth: an “Imaginary Experience” presentation.
The repercussions would go far beyond business implications as well. Consider social media users in conflict zones posting on-the-ground accounts.
It’s hard to miss the timing of this rollout, as it follows waves of TikTok posts depicting Russian military escalation in Ukraine over the last several days. The clips appear to have triggered urgency in the West’s response to the invasion, with some analysts calling it the “TikTok War.” Unencumbered by brief time limitations now, such reports could offer even more context.