The popular short-form video app, TikTok, has now introduced a new feature allowing users to create posts that only contain text. This marks a departure from the app’s original purpose of sharing short videos. The latest addition to TikTok’s features comes after Twitter rebranded itself as “X” and Meta launched a new text-based social media app called Threads. TikTok made the announcement on Monday via its blog post, although some users had access to the text-only format in June.
According to TikTok, the introduction of text posts will allow users to expand the boundaries of content creation, providing a dedicated space for written creativity. Before this, users could only type text over video and image posts, or in captions and comments. Some users would create their own text-only posts by sharing screenshots of text-focused content from other social media apps or text message conversations.
TikTok’s text posts can be customized in the same way as video and photo posts, including the use of music, background colors, stickers, tagging other users, and adding hashtags. The text posts can be up to 1,000 characters long, and the app will continue to limit video descriptions to 2,200 characters and comments to 150 characters.
TikTok has gained popularity with its visual and audio-focused content, including short videos of people dancing and performing skits. The app has over 1 billion monthly users, including 150 million in the United States. However, access to the app has been restricted by some governments due to security concerns. The addition of text posts marks a significant change for TikTok.
Other major social media companies have recently undergone significant changes. Elon Musk rebranded Twitter as “X,” replacing the company’s trademark bird logo with a new letter logo. Meta, the company that owns Instagram and Facebook, launched Threads, its Twitter competitor, this month. Posts on Threads are text-focused, but users can also share videos and photos. Threads has already gained over 100 million users, but it is unclear whether this early success will continue.
