TikTok, a social platform known for its video content, has announced that it will also offer text-only posts, thus becoming a competitor to the Twitter platform.
Text posts on TikTok will most closely resemble similar offers on the Instagram platform, which launched the Threads application earlier this month, and which should also be a competitor to the Twitter platform, reports the French news agency AFP.
Similar to Threads by Meta, TikTok leverages its substantial user base, boasting approximately 1.4 billion monthly active users, as reported by the specialist website Business of Apps. However, unlike Meta, TikTok has chosen to incorporate its new text-only feature directly into its app instead of introducing a separate product, as Meta did with the Threads app.
The TikTok version of the social network will remain more “visual” than posts on the Twitter platform or the Threads app, and users can add a colored background, music, and stickers to the post.
According to the company, owned by Chinese investors, they stated that the fresh format aims to expand “content creation boundaries for all TikTok users” by tapping into the “creativity” observed in comments and captions.
In addition to the Threads app, smaller platforms such as Mastodon, Bluesky, and Substack Notes have emerged as potential rivals to the Twitter platform, but none have so far dethroned it despite its problems.
Musk said last week that Twitter had lost about half of its ad revenue.
TikTok Agreed to Be Tested
Thierry Breton, the European Internal Market Commissioner, announced that the Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok has willingly agreed to undergo a “stress test” in preparation for the implementation of the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA).
To assist businesses in their preparations, EU officials have provided stress tests aimed at evaluating the readiness of social media platforms to comply with a forthcoming law that will require them to address hate speech, misinformation, and other harmful and illegal content present on their platforms.
Reuters reports that under the EU’s Digital Services Act, Alphabet, Meta, and other major online platforms will risk hefty fines if they fail to control illegal content.
