YouTube, Instagram and other apps have spent years trying to compete against the TikTok juggernaut by offering short videos resembling the 15-second clips that made TikTok famous. Now TikTok is stepping up a push to get its creators to make longer videos like the ones found on other apps.
In late October, TikTok invited dozens of creators to its New York office for a private event aimed at mobilizing them to create more videos at least a minute long. TikTok executives told the creators that by embracing longer videos, they can make more money and have more time to get their messages out, according to a person who attended the event. To drive that message home, TikTok told creators that users are now spending half their time on the app watching content that’s longer than a minute. And over the past six months, creators who post videos longer than a minute have five times the growth rate in followers of those who post only short videos.
“YouTube went out of its way to become more like TikTok, and now TikTok is trying to become more like YouTube,” said Matt Koval, founder of consulting agency Creator Dynamics, who worked at YouTube for nearly a decade.