TikTok has unleashed a new trick up its sleeve: the ability to conjure text-based posts, standing side by side with its signature short-form videos.
But don’t be fooled, this move isn’t a head-on collision with Elon Musk’s Twitter overhaul (now rebranded as X) or Instagram’s Threads. Rather, it’s about giving users an inventive outlet for content sharing.
With this update, TikTok users can now spin tales, share musings, and compose mini-essays within a character cap of 1,000. Adding a touch of flair, creators can pepper their text posts with audio snippets, pinpoint locales, ignite discussions, and even beckon others to join in duets – an array of creative features in their arsenal.
TikTokers can weave “stories, poems, lyrics, and other word-woven creations,” a tidbit shared via the ByteDance app’s blog. Notably, some TikTok trailblazers had been nudging text messages into existence via the photo feature, albeit requiring the extra flourish of textual imagery.
In the realm of TikTok’s text posts, stickers, tags, and hashtags can all be part of the textual tapestry, livening up the backdrop with a dash of visual allure. Much like videos and snapshots, unfinished compositions can be preserved, tucked away with other unpublished pieces, awaiting a future polish or an abrupt farewell.
This new element seems poised to halt idle thumbs as they scroll, offering wordsmith wannabes a stage to shine without facing the camera’s gaze. While text posts aren’t an oddity on the app – poetry portals have long graced the platform with static stanzas set to music – this update takes it a notch higher, conferring a more structured formality. It widens the spectrum of posting prospects and could emerge as a dynamic, captivating format for text-centered updates.
The “text” door can be unlocked right from the camera toolkit, leading users into a dedicated text-sculpting realm where thoughts can flow freely. Alongside the prose, tags and hashtags can be woven, linking the tale to other nooks of the app’s expanse.