Good news for local adventurers – finding local restaurant recommendations, as well as possible neighbors, could become simpler as the app furthers its testing on its new ‘Nearby’ Feed. Select Southeast Asian TikTok users are currently testing out a new feature that allows them to view videos posted by those nearby, as reported by TechCrunch.
Feed Me More
The new Feed was originally reported via Tweet by known Social Media expert and consultant Matt Navarra. Fellow marketing experts then chimed in shortly after, discussing the potential broader impacts of the rollout. Brendan Gahan, the Chief Social Officer of entrepreneurial agency Mekanism, suggested that this new feature could “eat away at market share” for companies like Yelp, Instagram, and Google.
Samantha Delouya from Insider reported that 40% of Gen Z prefer to use TikTok and Instagram as their default search engine over Google, according to internal data from Google itself. The ‘Nearby’ Feed is currently positioned next to the ‘Following’ and ‘For You’ Feeds at the top of the app’s home page. Clicking on ‘Nearby’ will give users access to the local Feed.
TikTok is the app of the moment and is the definitive short-form video app with a highly engaging and proven core dynamic – TikTok encourages its users to participate and doubles up on the effectiveness of its algorithms to curate videos and personalize recommendations in the best possible way for each user, essentially increasing engagement and return viewership, and this is all according to TikTok itself. However, one Insider report also highlights how TikTok has garnered public scrutiny on account of its parent company, ByteDance, and how it has been accused of a lack of security of users’ data.
As per TikTok (shared with BuzzFeed in a June report):
“We know we’re among the most scrutinized platforms from a security standpoint, and we aim to remove any doubt about the security of US user data.”
Simply put, a ‘Nearby’ Feed would bring TikTok more in line with other platforms that allow users to access content based on location, including Instagram and Snapchat. TikTok is now also offering geo-location tags to some of its users. In certain videos, a location tag can be seen above the username. To add, TikTok has also been testing a new ‘Shop’ Feed in Indonesia that allows users to browse and purchase various products.
The Wrap
On a broader scale, this new Feed eventually plays into opening more marketing opportunities for TikTok, possibly partnering with local restaurants and maybe even local destinations if they decide to expand it in the future. As it stands, TikTok’s popularity is only weighed down by the lack of monetization capacity for its best creators.
According to TechCrunch:
“Brands on TikTok have found a creative outlet to authentically connect with audiences, and we’re excited to experiment with new commerce opportunities that enable our community to discover and engage with what they love.”
The Feeds aren’t fully rolled out as of yet, but we should start seeing more of it in the coming months.
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