TikTok has been experimenting with letting creators around the world post videos up to three minutes long and is now extending the option for all users in the upcoming weeks.
With the longer format becoming available for all users in the upcoming weeks, they no longer have to worry about condensing longer stories or chopping them up into multiple videos. Users will be notified when the three-minute option has been added to their toolbox.
As Drew Kirchhoff, Product Manager at TikTok put it:
“…we often hear from creators that they’d love just a little more time to bring their cooking demos, elaborate beauty tutorials, educational lesson plans, and comedic sketches to life with TikTok’s creative tools. With longer videos, creators will have the canvas to create new or expanded types of content on TikTok, with the flexibility of a bit more space.”
While longer format is certainly helpful for content such as tutorials, it will be interesting to see how users will welcome the change. While it will be great to see more of your favorite creator’s content, longer videos on the app’s discovery ‘For You’ page might not perform as well as users have come to expect short-form entertainment.
Almost every platform with short videos has extended the maximum length at one point or another, like when Instagram extended its 30 seconds limit to one-minute. The challenge for platforms is maintaining the uniqueness of content and competitive edge over others. With other platforms creating their own versions of TikTok-like videos, TikTok will have to prove that the longer format can keep the users still engaged.
