Much like when Twitter increased the character limit of posts in 2018, TikTok is shaking things up by giving users the ability to share longer videos.
Videos are now capped at three minutes, after previously being restricted to just one minute.
The social media platform says it’s all about giving users the chance to deliver richer storytelling and better entertain followers.
“Creative expression brings people together. It’s how we connect with our communities. It’s how we entertain, educate, inform, and inspire each other. This is also why we’ve focused on providing our community with a range of tools to help unleash their creativity – longer videos are now one more tool people can use to captivate the community with their creative expression,” said TikTok product manager Drew Kirchhoff.
TikTok has already been experimenting with longer-form videos, with some users being given the ability to try it earlier.
This update is one of several new features TikTok has recently added, including the ability to manually fast-forward or rewind videos. Previously, users had to watch TikToks all the way through, with no option to fast-forward in individual videos.
The two new features will presumably work together, giving both users and creators more choice in what they watch and create.
Three-minute videos will be rolling out globally over the coming weeks.
