Social media pages come and go over the years. Remember Friendster? MySpace? Snapchat? Even now, Facebook has become known as the page “only aunties and uncles use,” while Instagram is the app that recycles TikToks.
As reported by Forbes, major social media platforms have often integrated features of other platforms in the past. Let’s just say it: they’re copycats. Meta launched Threads after Twitter users fled the app after Elon Musk rebranded it to X. It now seems like TikTok is keen to put Instagram fully out of the picture with its new app, TikTok Notes.
The US House of Representatives recently approved a bill that could force TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to divest from the company — or face a ban. This means TikTok has to step up its game quickly.
If you are a TikTok user, you’ll know that the app is optimised for videos, while photos must be viewed through a carousel. However, it seems that TikTok has been sending users pop-up notifications about a new TikTok Notes app to share photos.
Looks like TikTok is launching a new app for photo posts called 'TikTok Notes'. pic.twitter.com/xTbgcGxJno
— Alex Friedman ? (@heyalexfriedman) April 8, 2024
What is it, actually?
Some TikTok users have reportedly received a pop-up that says, “TikTok Notes, a new app for photo posts, is coming soon! Your existing and future public TikTok photo posts will be shown on TikTok Notes. If you prefer not to show your public TikTok photo posts on TikTok Notes, turn this off now.”
From this, it seems that TikTok is taking a page out of Meta’s book by not launching it as a standalone app, as it would be challenging for TikTok to amass a user from scratch.
According to Marketing Mag, Mike Proulx, the VP research director of Forrester, a research and advisory company, said that “If TikTok uses Meta’s playbook for Threads, it can mobilise its existing users to onboard them to the new app,” Proulx said.
“But like Threads, the key will be creating a compelling enough experience to get them to stick around TikTok Notes beyond the initial curiosity factor.”
When is it being released?
TikTok has not officially announced a date, but Proulx said it could be launched soon.
“The notification TikTok users received makes it sound all but certain that TikTok Notes will have an imminent launch. It comes at a precarious time for the app, where we’re seeing TikTok usage begin to plateau while Reels usage increases. This is exacerbated by TikTok’s uncertain future in the US as creators scurry to diversify their presence on alternative platforms,” explained Proulx.
While we don’t have much information about it right now, will you be trying out TikTok Notes? We personally think they could’ve devised a better name for it. Let us know in the comments.
Featured Image Credit: @heyalexfriedman | X, Solen Feyissa | Unsplash