The thought of long-form content coming to popular social media apps is not something new. But the latest test by TikTok featuring video uploads that go up to one hour in duration has some people raising eyebrows already.
TikTok seems to be unbothered by the fact that hour-long videos could really not hit the mark in terms of engagement and that’s why they’ve just launched a new test with a few users to see how things would go about if it really existed.
The news was first shared by social media enthusiast Matt Navarra who explained how TikTok is really experimenting a lot on this front and paying heed to longer-form videos. This seems to be the company’s latest mission as it hopes to carry out expansion in the entertainment domain.
The apps have been slowly but surely enhancing video length with time and we’ve seen uploads go from just 15 seconds in the past to one minute. After that, it hit the three-minute mark and then went up to 5 minutes and in the end, it even crossed 10 minutes as seen in 2022.
Then in 2023 of October, we saw TikTok trial videos that were 15 minutes long then doubled to the 30-minute mark for this year’s start. That in itself was a hard pill for some to swallow, and now, the thought of it doubling further to one minute is really raising concern.
The big question right now is whether or not any user is keen on watching a video that is one hour long through the popular app. Remember, it’s a long time since short-form videos and Reels continue to reign supreme on the app and other arch-rival platforms.
As per TikTok, the demand is there and creators have been pushing executives to give it a thought. Remember, such changes mean saying hello to greater chances to fill uploads with narratives that are longer in duration.
As mentioned by TechCrunch, the platform revealed how creators could and have been breaking up content into different parts to get their point across but how about giving a thought to content that’s informational like cooking demos makeup tutorials, or even humorous sketches?
These are things that demand time and while some fail to see eye to eye with the types of demand on offer for very long content, it’s there. We’re not too sure on this front and how hour-long clips would do.
Remember, it’s the complete opposite end of the spectrum of what Meta believes in. Just a few days back, the company revealed to creators how long Reels were harming engagement and therefore discouraged them from going beyond the 60-second limit.
Related Articles
- Also read: Google Ads Limits AI Image Generation for Branded Content
Super-long content seems to be a major turn-off if you consider behavioral trends on social media. People just don’t like long videos in-stream but if TikTok wishes to expand on this front and become the true leader in the world of entertainment, it seems to be willing to take the risk. Who knows, it just might pay back in more ways than one.
During the start of 2024, the app did give out more incentives to its creator community so that it would post content that was longer and feature it in the landscape variant. So as one can imagine, there are directions for a shift that alters the ways that people take in content through the app.
When you look at its counterpart platform in China called Douyin, it’s been taking part in longer videos, and depending on such experiences, it seems like TikTok wants to follow in its footsteps by trying its luck on this front. If that does work, it could pave the way for more hurdles for other apps like YouTube whose at the forefront of the creator race already.
Let's not forget how longer videos pave the way for more chances for monetization as there are different places where ad placement can be done effectively. And considering how TikTok is still struggling on that front, this might be another integral factor in the decision-making process.
Read next: Meta’s Oversight Board Receives First Case For A Threads Post Involving Political Content
