TikTok tests 60-minute video uploads

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As you can see in this example posted by social media expert Matt Navarre, TikTok is trying out even longer videos as it seeks to expand its entertainment offerings.

The platform has steadily increased video length limits over time, from 15 seconds per clip at launch, to 60 seconds, then to 3 minutes, then 5 minutes, and finally to 10 minutes by 2022. Last October, TikTok began experimenting with 15-minute uploads, which was increased again to 30 minutes in January this year.

 

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60-minute extension

So the expansion to 60 minutes is no real surprise. But the main question, as already noted, is whether users will actually watch hour-long videos in the app?

According to TikTok, there is demand from creators for such opportunities because it gives them more chances to tell longer stories.

However, the responses under Matt Navarre’s Thread are different.

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Idea behind 60 minutes

As written by TechCrunch:

“According to TikTok, creators can now weave together multilayered stories by telling viewers to go to part two or more, but it often hears from creators that they want more time for things like cooking demos, beauty classes, educational plans, comedy sketches and more.”

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Who wants this?

Frankly, we at Glue don’t think there will be much demand for longer clips. Meta is currently actively discouraging creators from uploading Reels longer than 90 seconds. It seems there is not much interest in super long videos in the stream.

But at the same time TikTok wants to expand its platform and become a bigger facilitator of entertainment, will they compete with YouTube?

Earlier this year, TikTok also launched a program that allowed creators to put longer videos in landscape format, so there is clearly some drive from the company to make this shift and the idea seems to be there to change the content people view in the app.

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Competition

Perhaps with this, TikTok will compete with YouTube. The Chinese version of the app, called Douyin, already uses this option to upload 60-minute-long videos. Perhaps the numbers there are so good that TikTok wants to follow the same path.

Longer videos offer more opportunities for advertisers, as you can insert both pre- and intermediate ads, and right now TikTok is still limited in its earning potential.

Perhaps that is the main motivation then, to become equivalent to other platforms so that creators can build their home base in the app, rather than using TikTok as a supplementary channel.

Source: Social Media Today

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