Why TikTok is stealing a page from Instagram's playbook

The Chinese-owned social media app is fighting slowing growth with a new move.

Apr 9, 2024 - 22:30

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Why TikTok is stealing a page from Instagram's playbook

Fast Facts

TikTok is working on a new app devoted to photos
Originally called TikTok Photos, the app's new name is TikTok Notes
This comes as parent company ByteDance facea a potential U.S. ban

Despite Facebook still being the platform with the most users, TikTok has risen up over the last few years as the social app of choice for many, especially Gen Z.

The power of TikTok's quick-video formula made the app's popularity surge in 2021, catapulting it past many competitors to the No. 2 spot, right behind Facebook.

It wasn't long before companies from YouTube to Meta adapted their own forms of TikTok's short videos, called "Shorts" for YouTube and "Reels" on Instagram. The message was clear: people were responding strongly to this new content, and in order to compete, the others had to follow TikTok's lead.

But now, an interesting new turn has come in the social media war: TikTok is about to copy another brand's formula.

Some TikTok users have been sharing a new in-app notification they're seeing that reads "TikTok Notes, a new app for photo posts, is coming soon!"

The copy goes on to say that any "existing and future public TikTok photo posts" shared on TikTok will be shown on TikTok Notes.