As Twitter (Now X) continues to undergo a slow decline in user satisfaction, TikTok has made some notable changes to its format. T
he now giatnt social media platform, seized the opportunity to announce a novel text-based format for posts. This new feature was unveiled on Monday, text as a fresh post option alongside the existing formats for sharing photos, videos, and live streams. By navigating to the camera page, users can now select the text option, craft their posts with up to 1,000 characters (as reported by The Verge), and customize them with sound, stickers, backgrounds, and other attributes typically available for video or photo posts.
It’s almost impossible to discuss TikTok’s latest announcement without drawing a connection to Twitter’s rebranding efforts. Over the weekend, the tech mogul Elon Musk replaced Twitter’s iconic bluebird logo with an enigmatic X-shaped emblem and redirected “x.com” to the Twitter site. As a result of a series of unpopular changes, such as removing legacy verification and imposing daily limits on users, Twitter’s appeal has dwindled significantly.
This has provided a golden opportunity for rival social media platforms to attract disillusioned users. Just a few weeks ago, Meta launched Threads, which rapidly accumulated 100 million users within a week. However, Threads’ engagement declined once users discovered it lacked basic features.
Now, TikTok is stepping into the ring as the latest competitor vying to become the ultimate Twitter alternative, offering its new Tweet-esque post format. As of now, its boasts over a billion users worldwide, making it the go-to app for Gen Z users. Could this be the secret formula that propels TikTok to dethrone Twitter? Given the Internet’s fleeting attention span, we are likely to find out very soon.
