#tiktokupdates

The fierce competition between social platforms is getting stronger by the day; it only takes few days for an app to share the same feature shared earlier by another. TikTok now announced its newest feature called “Jumps” that allows creators to link their clips to third-part apps.

Jumps enables you to link your content to other mini services and programs including quizzes, recipes and many more. As you can see in the picture below, “Jumps” are now displayed as links at the bottom of your video on which you can tap to be redirected to a selection of third-party apps during the process of uploading. The selection includes up to 9 programs that users can benefit from.

The platform stated that they’re excited about the “Jumps” feature that includes movie reviews, beauty lessons and many more topics – which will boost users’ creativity in content creation. We believe that this is an important feature to boost cross-promotional campaigns, which means that this new addition could be a revenue booster. If a business is new to TikTok, it can link its content to other apps to help the clips reach a higher number of people withing their target audience.

When it comes to our clients, any brand can benefit from this new addition. For example, if a new fitness study is done and the article is shared on Buzzfeed, Body Masters can share a piece of content on TikTok and link it to BuzzFeed. This could give boost the brand image and positioning in the market.

The “Jumps” update reminds us of Snapchat’s addition – “Spotlight”. The process is very similar because users can also link their videos to third-party apps which has proven to boost users experience within Snapchat.

Both platforms are approximately using the same algorithm in terms of engagement and target audience, so we’re interested to know which one will win this battle of add-ons – are you excited too?

As part of the ongoing updates on TikTok, the brand has decided to give creators more control over the comments received on videos. As a creator of a certain clip, you now have the ability to filter all your comments to decide whether to show or hide them depending on your perspective.

As shown in the image above, you can see the new “Comment Filters” section that allows you to filter all comments or some of them based on abusive or offensive meaning or based on specific keywords. This way creators can limit the hors-sujet comments that might be received regarding a certain topic. Once you enable this feature, comments don’t appear unless you approve them.

Although TikTok has already a system that allows you to filter spam comments or specific keywords you choose. Whenever someone is considering sharing a negative though on a certain video, they will get a pop-up message asking them if they’re sure about this action. However, the new feature gives the creator more control on all comments that can or cannot be displayed on the content shared.

We believe that this will improve the user experience on the platform, but also it will help brands decide what Brand Image they want to focus on.

What differs this from other platforms who already worked on similar features is that on TikTok you would have to read all the comments and approve/decline them one by one. While on YouTube, for example, there’s an algorithm that detects potential offensive or abusive comments and puts them in a separate section called “Held for Review” – and though if the creator doesn’t approved them within 2 months, the comments are automatically removed.

However, although for TikTok you need to review all comments, but we believe that is a positive rather than a negative thing since you will have control over everything showing on your clip, and you can decline a comment that you personally didn’t like – though it doesn’t have to be aggressive or attacking. This might be a way to stop people from writing negative statements on your clips.

On a personal level, the new feature will help in reducing cyberbullying. As we know, the userbase of TikTok are mostly teenagers, and receiving criticisms at this age is not something anybody wants. So, when the creator can simply remove any comment that she/he doesn’t like – is a way for the brand to tell them “We can protect you”.

From a more professional and business-related perspective, having the ability to control comments will help brands to build the Brand Awareness they desire. Businesses who want to invest in this new booming platform, can do so now – without being concerned about the negative or aggressive comments they might receive from users, because these can sometimes lead to brand crisis.

Although it’s difficult to completely solve all these concerns in this rapid digital world; these new tools can help pave the way.

Over the past year, TikTok witnessed a tremendous growth on a global scale as it became the go-to platform for creators to produce and share videos. The App includes everything from comedy, entertainment, challenges, tutorials, dances and even more! The impact that the App has left on the whole industry is insane and Instagram is one of the social media platforms that has been affected by it.

Following the rising popularity of TikTok, we have seen many platforms adding some features inspired by Tiktok’s feel into their own App offerings. Today, Instagram is working on a new functionality that would offer to the users Vertical Instagram Stories. We are all aware that to be able to go from one story to another, we need to tap or swipe horizontally – a features inspired by Snapchat as well. But now, things have changed for the whole social media landscape where even Snapchat is adopting ideas from TikTok!

So let’s dig deeper and explore what’s the real insight behind this update. In many ways, it actually feels more natural to swipe vertically through stories rather than to tap or swipe horizontally considering that all the navigation done on our mobile phone such as visiting the web, or even Facebook is done vertically. With more and more users used to TikTok’s feed, it also makes sense to adopt that same UI. In fact, research has shown that TikTokers are spending more time on the platform than other social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Mesenger. But The real key element that Instagram is looking forward to achieving is the growth such as the one that TikTok accomplished. Many platforms are jumping into what’s trending hoping that they will be able to retain their users.

That being said, this new update that is currently being tested will be significant change to the platform. It could also be the trigger for a shift from static content to videos just like TikTok. This also reminds us of Reels which were also created as a result from TikTok and that’s pushing Instagram to alter its algorithms and design to prioritize Reels.

All of these new updates inspired by TikTok make us ask ourselves some questions. We all know that stories are already extremely popular and used by 500 million people every day. Is adding a new feel to it the right move given how popular it already is? Platforms should keep in mind that cluttering the App will just make it harder for users to use it and enjoy spending time on it.

This new update is currently an internal prototype and has not been publicly tested yet. In my opinion, we need to wait and see how users are going to react to this change. Instagram shouldn’t lose its authenticity and identity by adding all these new updates inspired by TikTok. I am looking forward to the next stage!

Due to the wide spread of news lately on the social media platforms, we can see how these platforms are always trying to update their algorithms and systems to limit the circulation of misleading information. After Twitter and the Facebook family of apps, TikTok started to display warning pop up messages on videos embodying doubtful information that are hard to be verified through fact checkers like PolitiFact, Lead Stories or SciVerify.

As shown in the picture above, we can see that if you’re sharing a video that contains information that hasn’t been automatically confirmed, you will receive a notification saying that this video is flagged for unverified content. This means that the fact checker system couldn’t automatically depict the source of this information to certify if it is reliable or not. Although TikTok was already working on limiting the sharing of videos containing misinformation, however they now are publicly labeled.

In addition to that, a labeled video will be considered as ineligible to appear in the For You page – this way the platform can limit the Reach of this clip. Also, if you want to share a labeled video outside of the app, you will receive a prompt alert that asks you if you’re sure about this step. It wouldn’t restrain you form sharing the content; however, it will warn you that the information it contains are not dependable, so you can have the choice to discard or share anyway.

We don’t have information on how many videos are being reviewed or checked per day, or what makes a video qualified for a review; however, a spokesperson at TikTok stated that fact checkers work mainly on big topics that influence communities like elections, COVID-19 or the climate change. Furthermore, any video that violates one of TikTok’s privacy policies will be automatically and immediately removed.

TikTok is spreading very fast among people with different interests, age groups, locations… And this makes the platform a great target of unsubstantiated information campaigns to grow. Having said that, we believe this new feature is beneficial in terms of protecting the Brand Image and Brand Positioning in the market. Brands like Body Masters can start investing in TikTok, they can share videos inside the gym or workout and health tips that can benefit people globally and locally. The Reach of this platform is vastly growing, and this can help the gym gain more customers as well as building more Brand Awareness.

Feature is now available only in the US and Canada and will globally roll out in the upcoming days.

Given the huge success Tiktok has experienced lately; especially amid the Covid-19 coronavirus phase, several platforms tried to add more Tiktok-like features. Now, Snapchat has invested in these features and started testing the Vertical Swipe UX.

The company is adding a new trend to their platform in the Discover section where users have to swipe up to skip and move to the next story; tap through to advance because each story has a different frame; or they can swipe over to exit the whole Discover section.

In fact, Snapchat added on-screen instructions to help the users have a clearer idea of how to use the new update. This step will help Snapchat discover new and different visual formats that might work as part of their content, to make the platform the go-to platform for any need (connecting, having fun, taking pictures, get informative regarding various topics…). Which means that the new update will be an added value in terms of the users’ experience as they will consider Snapchat a platform embodying everything they need, not only in their free time but also while doing research regarding a topic they’re interested about.

In fact, the swipe up feature will make Snapchaters spend more time on the app because when you watch a certain video, it’s always tempting to scroll down to check the next one. Right? 😏

Additionally, we believe that this step is very efficient for brands who advertise on Snapchat, because people who spend more time on the app would be more likely to be exposed to the ad, which will automatically increase the reach.

However, the company refuses to announce any details related to the Vertical Swipe UX, as it’s still available for a very small group of people around the world.

On another note, we can’t not mention that Snapchat is testing the new feature at the perfect timing, given that TikTok is banned in India, and might as well be banned in the United States. This means that Snapchat can swoop in to benefit from the market share lost or might be lost by TikTok.

Will the Vertical Swipe UX, take the lead over TikTok?

People are going crazy about the new video-sharing application, TikTok! We will have a quick overview of this emerging social networking service, before evaluating its safety for people and businesses.

TikTok, owned by the Chinese corporation, ByteDance, was launched in 2017. The app allows users to create lip-sync videos in a dynamic creative way, and it is now available in 150 markets with 75 different languages; which justifies why it rapidly went viral. According to the data firm Sensor Tower, TikTok has been downloaded more than 1.5 billion times in the past 2 years.

Generation Z, including singers and influencers got excited about this new trend and started using it immediately, sharing funny creative videos with their friends and followers. Few businesses started investing in the app too, by filming short music-based videos to create brand awareness rather than generating traffic or leads.

However, new studies have shown that TikTok is not a safe network to invest in. In fact, Check Point, a multinational provider of software products of IT securities spotted various bugs that allowed hackers to manipulate users’ data and expose their personal information. “The vulnerabilities we found were all core to TikTok’s systems,” said Oded Vanunu, Check Point’s head of product vulnerability research.

One of the issues found in the app and on its website, allowed hackers to execute JavaScript code and send users messages that appeared to be from TikTok saying “Please download this urgent update” with a malicious link in order to control someone else's account, delete their videos, upload unauthorized content, make private posts public and reveal a user's personal information.

In fact, the company’s main issue was not only exposing personal data but transferring them to the Chinese Government. TikTok faced a big number of users saying that the app allegedly transferred their personal data, including their locations, ages, private messages, phone numbers, contacts, genders, browsing histories, cellphone serial numbers, and IP addresses; to servers in China. Which led the company to deal with a good number of lawsuits, mainly filed by the US Government and the US Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

TikTok assured its users that all bugs were fixed ahead of time and prior to any inconvenience; “There was no indication in customer records that a breach or an attack had occurred”, said Luke Deshotels, a member of TikTok’s security team.

Thus far, TikTok is not considered a safe place for personal or business use. Hackers could easily attack the app, while it was still in the introduction stage of its lifecycle. Introducing a new app in a highly competitive and risky market requires a complete set of security guidelines to protect users and their provided personal data. Although TikTok updated its original list of security and privacy rules, they were not all technically applied on the app. And for us to recommend using an app, we must be 100% sure that it won’t put our clients at risk, rather it will add value to their business, in terms of brand awareness, brand recognition, or increased ROI. Therefore, we are not adding this new trend to our marketing strategies at this stage, until we make sure that the platform is 100% safe for our client. However, we will keep a close eye on all the updates and statements related to TikTok, to know when the perfect timing would be to start investing in it.

The question remains whether TikTok’s management will effectively start applying the security guidelines of the app to turn it into a threating competitor for other social networking services; or will it soon lose its popularity and just be considered as a Fad in the market.

Yara Fakhereddine  Social Media Executive  Mindshare MENA 

Source:

Image source: https://on.ft.com/2NHrqu8

Stan Schroeder; TikTok fixes a number of ugly security flaws; January 8, 2020; https://bit.ly/2NFsjTU

Ronen Bergman, Sheera Frenkel and Raymond Zhong; Major TikTok Security Flaws Found; January 10, 2020; https://nyti.ms/364bPLv