Twitter Takes on TikTok with New Text-Based Feature
On Monday, TikTok, the popular social platform recognized for its captivating video content, revealed its plans to introduce text-only posts, joining the ranks of other tech giants in providing an alternative to the troubled Twitter.
TikTok’s text messages are most similar to similar offerings on Instagram, which earlier this month also launched a Twitter challenge called Threads — which owner Elon Musk named X.
Like Threads, which is owned by Meta, TikTok benefits from its size, with about 1.4 billion monthly active users, according to the special website Business of Apps.
But unlike its parent company, Facebook, it has decided to integrate the new text-only feature into its app instead of launching a separate product like Meta did with Threads.
TikTok’s version remains more visual than the Twitter or Threads post, and users can add a colored background, music, and stickers to the post.
The Chinese-owned company said the new format will expand the “boundaries of content creation for all TikTok users” and tap into the “creativity” shown in comments and captions, the company said.
In addition to Threads, smaller platforms such as Mastodon, Bluesky, and Substack Notes have emerged as potential rivals to Twitter, but none have so far dislodged it despite their struggles.
Musk said last week that Twitter has lost about half of its ad revenue, leaving room for challengers.
