TikTok is now allowing users to post videos up to 10 minutes long, which is more than triple its previous maximum video length.
TikTok has reportedly been testing the change throughout the past several months. Owned by ByteDance in China, TikTok has been steadily increasing its allowed video length from the original 15 seconds, then 60 seconds, and finally up to 3 minutes following an update in July 2021. The 3-minute move was done in the hope that it will promote ‘richer storytelling and entertainment’ among its users.
The last increase before this new one came last August, with users given the option to upload 5-minute long clips.
A spokesperson from TikTok said in a statement, “We’re always thinking about new ways to bring value to our community and enrich the TikTok experience. Last year, we introduced longer videos, giving our community more time to create and be entertained on TikTok.”
“Today we are happy to start rolling out the ability to upload videos up to 10 minutes long. We hope this will further stimulate the creativity of our creators around the world.”
The newly expanded 10-minute video length is expected to give creators more flexibility and time when it comes to filming a variety of things including beauty tutorials, comedy sketches, cooking demos, educational content, among others.
Prior to this, creators had used the 3-minute video length to split their videos into parts, asking people to follow them for the next part in a series.
Longer videos can also enable TikTok creators to make more money and boost the platform’s advertising business, an analyst said.
This latest development puts TikTok in the same leagues of Google-owned video sharing giant YouTube, which earned a massive $28.8 billion in ad revenue in 2021, with about half of that going back to the creators.
In an ironic twist, YouTube just launched its own short-form video format to compete against TikTok named YouTube Shorts. Other companies like Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat even followed suit.
TikTok’s advantage, however, is it has a library teeming with a combination of special effects, music catalog and AR tools. The reusable audio feature is one of the popular app’s biggest selling points, useful in making content go viral.
TikTok says the option to film longer videos on the app shall roll out to users worldwide, over the coming weeks.
Users are notified within the app once they receive the update.