new york
CNN
—
When TikTok took off in 2020, it started an arms race for short-form videos, with short dance and comedy clips providing much-needed entertainment for many users during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
Suddenly, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and other social platforms are rushing to roll out similar products, one minute long, displayed vertically in a scrolling feed that shows users endless recommendations for what to watch next. Encouraged people to create videos up to. Other platforms spent years trying to catch up to TikTok's popularity, especially among the key teen demographic.
But now the short-form video pioneer is changing tack and encouraging users to create and watch longer videos. On Saturday, TikTok officially phased out its original “Creator Fund,” under which creators who want to monetize their content will have to participate in a new “Creativity Program Beta,” under which videos longer than a minute will be need to be created. They want to receive money on the app.
TikTok's move to long-form content is something of a reversal of fortune. Now, TikTok is following its traditional peers in moving toward more profitable content formats. The strategy could also encourage users to spend more time on apps that some teens already say they use “nearly all the time.”
However, some TikTok creators are unhappy with the move, arguing that the features that initially made TikTok popular – the ability to quickly scroll through different types of content, and the ability to quickly scroll through different types of content do not require extensive planning or resources. I'm concerned that we'll lose the ability for almost anyone to easily create videos without having to do anything.
“I don't always have a minute of content,” says Nikki Apostolo, a TikTok creator with about 150,000 followers who is known as “Recycled Stardust.” He creates content about Native American history and culture on the app.
“I feel like a lot of creators came to TikTok because it was a short video app,” she said. People who came there looking for short-form content. ”
TikTok spokesperson Zachary Kaiser said in a statement that the company “developed a new creativity program based on the learnings and feedback we received from our previous Creator Fund.” As we continue to develop new ways to reward creators and enrich the TikTok experience, we value feedback and first-hand insights from our community to inform our decisions. ”
“This model of short videos was very useful when TikTok first launched. It could quickly bring people to the platform, and it's continuous scrolling fast,” says a critical media researcher. said Kristen Stein, a doctoral candidate at the university. of Chicago, Illinois.
“Right now I think it’s TikTok.” [thinking]“I need to show you.” [advertisers] It allows people to continue watching a video for longer,” Stein said. “But I'm interested to see how viewers react. People are staying on the app because the videos are short.”
Over the past three years, TikTok has steadily rolled out the ability to post longer videos on the app, extending time limits from one minute to three minutes, five minutes, and eventually 10 minutes. The platform is currently testing 15-minute uploads, but it is not widely available.
Last month, the platform informed creators that it was closing its Creator Fund in the US, UK, France, and Germany, leaving creators with little choice but to join a new creativity program if they want to continue receiving compensation from TikTok. Ta. content.
Under the new program, adult creators with 10,000 followers or more can get paid by the app for videos longer than one minute that meet a number of other criteria.
TikTok is promoting the program to creators by emphasizing the following: According to the company's recent blog post, videos longer than one minute encourage viewers to spend more time with the content and “build trust through more connections, information, and educational content.”
TikTok also said creators should expect to get paid more per video under the new creativity program. And some creators have already posted about how they made thousands of dollars in the first few months of joining the program.
One of the creators, known as “Justin's Camera Roll,” said in a video about the program in October that the compensation was “a lot of money considering we were doing it for free.”
Pushing longer-form content could be a good business decision for the company.
Scott Kessler, head of technology at research firm Third Bridge, said: “If your content is long-form, it's much easier to monetize it… Advertising and monetization possibilities, such as ads that run before or during the video, are It will spread further.”
Consumers are also more likely to watch pre-roll ads with videos longer than 1 minute than videos that are about the same length as the ad itself.
TikTok has also long been a place where creators can use short clips, combined with the platform's powerful detection algorithms, to drive viewers to longer-form content on other sites like YouTube.
“I think what they want to do is say, 'Hey, creators, you can put the whole video here, not just the first 30 seconds,'” Kessler said.
Still, some creators say they joined TikTok over YouTube or other platforms specifically because they wanted to create short-form content, and the change will make it harder to make a living from their chosen format of the app. states that it is possible.
Allie Tavizon said monetizing her TikTok videos has “changed her life” since she started using the app four years ago, allowing her to cut back on work hours and spend more time with her son. said. Her videos about astrology are often less than 10 seconds.
When it comes to new creativity programs, she and some other creators are hesitant to make changes.
“It's really scary because I've watched hundreds of videos on YouTube of people working on TikTok and posting about the new algorithm. I try to stay informed, but I've learned a lot. So…when it comes to attention spans today, the generation is around 8 to 10 years old. It was a matter of seconds,” Tabizon told CNN last month. “If I watch a one-minute video, even for myself, unless it’s someone I’ve been following for a while, I’m probably going to scroll past it.”
That may mean she has to work harder to come up with long-form content that her 1.2 million followers and others want to watch. Still, Tabizon has begun testing more of her videos, longer than a minute, and said of the new program, “If the rewards are higher, I think it's worth it.”
According to TikTok, creators who create long-form content have earned more than twice as much on average over the past year. The company also says it recommends longer videos as well as shorter ones, based on user preferences rather than video length.
TikTok creator Laura Reagle, known within the app as laurawiththecurls, said making interesting long-form videos requires more resources, something not all creators have.
Since 2020, Riegle has amassed around 120,000 followers on the app with short, light-hearted videos showcasing everything from hair care tips to trendy dance moves and filter trials.she I mentioned that even if you're creating a relatively simple “storytime” video where you just sit and talk to the camera, it takes a lot of time and effort to create a video that's longer than a minute.
“You have to cut things out, sometimes you have to re-record the same thing over and over again, and then you have to piece it together,” Reagle said. “Long-form content is definitely time consuming and that makes it more difficult for someone like me because I already work full time and have a family… so I don’t have a lot of free time. ..”
TikTok also offers ways for creators to earn money from their videos beyond the app's own monetization funds, such as through subscriptions and “tips” from followers. The company says user revenue from all of the platform's monetization features has nearly doubled over the past year.
However, some creators are skeptical of these alternative payment options. “You know what that feels like? Busking on the street,” Apostolou said. “I don’t think they’re sustainable and it feels weird to ask the audience.” [for payment]”
