TikTok Introduces Text-Based Posts To Compete With Twitter And Instagram Threads
TikTok, renowned for its short video capabilities, is expanding its focus to include text-based posts in a bid to rival Twitter and Instagram’s Threads feature.
The most intriguing thing about TikTok’s focus on text messaging is that it wants to capitalize on the popularity of its main app and allow its millions of users to try the feature from within the same app themselves without having to download a new app, unlike Instagram’s Threads, which requires a new app to use.
TikTok’s text messages focus on visuals compared to the text-only format offered by Twitter and Threads. TikTok text messages can be created with background color, music and even adding stickers to the message.
TikTok has definitely learned from the popularity of platforms like Instagram, which offer stories and reels in the same app, and now it wants some of the text-based feature for its users. However, compared to Insta, TikTok faces problems due to its limited reach as the app has been banned in major countries like India for the past few years and is unlikely to return anytime soon.
TikTok has built its market on short videos and filters, but competing with text messages is a different challenge for the platform, which looks set to continue offering its service in the US, where it faces similar sanctions over its Chinese connections over security concerns.
With text messaging now coming to TikTok, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the platform introduce other features to its users, such as stories, as demand for videos grows and YouTube Shorts quickly gain a foothold in its competition.
