TikTok in the loop: Differentiate-Agitate-Imitate
There are many reports on TikTok's expected launch of an "Instagram rival" - as if they're not already rivals.
The new app, "TikTok Notes", where TikTok users' photo posts will be shared, is seen as a threat for Instagram.
That's a disguised and a misguided expectation.
TikTok is not interested in having a "photo app" while there are absolutely no popular photo apps and no signs of demand for them in the market.
Instagram is a video app: their highest executives openly see and manage it that way.
The only growing field in photo apps is the Visual Generative AIs. And TikTok Notes is clearly not that.
So, why are they investing in a photo app?
The reason is pretty clear:
TikTok is not planning to rival Instagram, it's trying to preserve its essence while rivaling YouTube.
Sounds complicated?
Let's explain in 2 minutes:
TikTok has meant trouble for Instagram and YouTube over the past several years. They differentiated themselves with short-form video format.
It allowed users share a new type of content that did not happen on other platforms. It forced others to adapt.
TikTok's user base has grown so fast that the amount of user data has become a diplomatic problem between the US and China.
But users don't bring money; ads do. And it's almost impossible to build a lucrative ad model over short-form video.
TikTok tried to run ads on the For You feed. But when you do that, it's easy to skip them. That's what users did - as they always do whenever they can.
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They tried to adapt their shopping model in non-Asian markets, but it had limited success.
Next came the obvious way to make money from videos: the YouTube model. YouTube can interrupt videos with pre-rolls and mid-rolls because the interruption is worth the wait. Trying that with the short-form would kill the experience.
So, while YouTube was trying to be more like TikTok for the sake of getting users, TikTok started to be more like YouTube for the sake of getting advertisers.
TikTok has been agitating the status quo for a long time: but, in the end, they came to terms with the necessity to imitate other social networks' ad models.
But, here's the thing: when you have longer videos, you risk shifting towards imitating YouTube too much. It's contrasts with TikTok's current positioning. TikTok is TikTok because of personal content, not vlogs, video essays and DIYs.
Such a shift might alienate amateur users, discouraging them from sharing short-form and photo posts, eventually costing the network its main raison d'être: giving users a chance to become famous for 15 minutes.
That's the Achilles' heel for TikTok: they have to be like YouTube, but they have to keep their userbase active. Otherwise, they will become "just another YouTube".
No social network ever survived the stigma of being "just another something" or "losing its vibe".
Every social platform grows in the market by differentiating itself in the first phase. Too much similarity brings failure. That's what happened to Google Plus.
If you survive that, there comes the second phase: the more you agitate other businesses, the more you force them to adapt. If you cannot own your unique field, you lose. That's what happened to Meerkat and Clubhouse.
In the third phase, eventually, you start imitating existing business models for the sake of sustaining the business. If you lose your essence in that phase, you lose. That's what happened to MySpace and Tumblr.
TikTok has survived the first two phases. They are in the third. Long-form video is their "bitter pill", and TikTok Notes is the "antacid".
The Verge - TikTok is getting closer to launching an Instagram rival
CNN Business - TikTok is pushing longer videos. Some creators worry about the vibe shift