TikTok Expands Max Video Length to 10 Minutes, Ramping Up YouTube Rivalry
Molly Wright is an intern for dot.LA. She previously edited the London School of Economics' student newspaper in the United Kingdom, interned for The Hollywood Reporter and was the blogging editor for UCLA's Daily Bruin.
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TikTok is increasing its maximum video length to 10 minutes globally, up from 3 minutes currently, in a move that the video-sharing app hopes will keep it competitive with rival social media firms.On Monday, Culver City-based TikTok confirmed to TechCrunch that it has begun rolling out expanded video lengths after testing the update over recent months. Until now, TikTok videos could be up to 3 minutes in length following the app’s most recent format change last July; prior to that, videos could be up to 60 seconds long and, initially, 15 seconds long.
The new update comes with new revenue opportunities for TikTok: Longer videos can accommodate more advertisements, which in turn increase revenue and also allow the app to compete with YouTube in the market for longer-form content. TikTok may also be able to capture a broader, older audience more interested in YouTube-length videos, as WIRED reported last week. (However, longer videos may mean less data flows into TikTok’s algorithm than when it can pepper users with a wider variety of shorter videos, as content creator Hank Green told WIRED.)
TikTok has admitted its users have short attention spans. About 50% of TikTok users surveyed by the social media firm said they found videos longer than one minute to be “stressful,” while one in four of TikTok’s highest-performing videos fall in the app’s recommended optimal video length of 21-to-34 seconds, WIRED reported. But as TechCrunch noted, the expanded video length also provides TikTok creators with more time to present content like cooking lessons, educational videos and comedy sketches.
While the move sees TikTok adapting to compete with the likes of YouTube, it is TikTok’s success in becoming the world’s most popular website that has prompted other social media platforms—including Instagram, Facebook, Snap and Pinterest—to turn to short-form videos in a bid to replicate TikTok’s appeal. Likewise, YouTube has also veered into shorter-form content, via its YouTube Shorts feature.
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Molly Wright is an intern for dot.LA. She previously edited the London School of Economics' student newspaper in the United Kingdom, interned for The Hollywood Reporter and was the blogging editor for UCLA's Daily Bruin.
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