Though you would never have thought it possible, TikTok is also getting into the Social Media cloning game. A shame, one would assume that a true industry leader would never stoop to such tactics, but I guess risks can push anyone to resort to desperate measures. Today, TikTok has announced a new feature that it calls ‘TikTok Now’, which will prompt users to share a selfie, using the front and back camera, at a random time each day.
As TikTok explains:
“Making possible deeper connection and entertainment in a fun format, TikTok Now invites you and your friends to capture what you’re doing in the moment using your device’s front and back camera. You’ll receive a daily prompt to capture a 10-second video or a static photo to easily share what you’re up to.”
Real TikTok
Sounds a bit familiar, yes? The new feature is basically a direct BeReal rip-off, whose rapid growth and rising popularity have already seen its key elements replicated by the likes of Instagram and Snapchat. Now, TikTok is jumping on the same, with ‘TikTok Now’ being given a new tab in the app, along with a new, separate app in certain regions outside of the US.
Both these approaches are very different, and it’ll be interesting to see whether TikTok Now catches on either form. This is particularly relevant in the case of TikTok because, unlike other social networks, TikTok has framed itself as ‘an entertainment app’, due to its focus on highlighting the best content from across the platform. Now, it seems that TikTok’s leaning the other way, encouraging more direct friend interaction, which has always been part of the app. It’s interesting to note in comparison to Meta, which is now trying to expand people’s Feed experience beyond their established social graph.
So, will it work? Will TikTokers enjoy the BeReal functionality on the app? In many ways, that’s really the key lure here – while social platforms are continuously copying and stealing elements from each other, the main aim here seems to be the dilution of differentiation, giving people less reason to go and download some other app. You probably know of people who refuse to get TikTok but endlessly scroll through Instagram Reels – such is the audience behavior that this approach is aimed at, keeping users in their apps for longer, versus directly killing off competition.
The Wrap
Regardless of the quality of their duplication, platforms simply don’t care about what people think of their copy-pasting abilities. Because it does work and it does keep some users from downloading other apps. In some cases, much like Instagram Stories, the replicators can actually become market leaders with such features in the app. It has seemed that TikTok has been winning by taking the opposite approach, giving it a much wider pool of content to pull from when showing users the attest clips in their ‘For You’ Feed. Maybe now, TikTok is looking to beef up its competitive offering, in more ways, as it looks to the next stage of social platform dominance.
Subscribe to our ‘Bottoms Up!’ Newsletter. Get the latest social media blogs about news, updates, trends, and effective social media strategies to take your business to the highest level from Tristan Ahumada and Jeff Pfitzer.
Sources