Instagram isn’t alone in hoping to capitalize on the daily photo-sharing trend. tik tok has sleepless an experimental Now feature that, like BeReal, asks you to post a photo (using the front and rear cameras) or a 10-second video to tell your friends what you’re up to each day. You will have a limited window to share content after receiving a random time message. Effectively, it’s a visual status update.
The test will be extended during the “next few weeks”, according to the social network. TikTok Now is available through the regular app in the US, but you can also find it as a dedicated app in other countries. Not surprisingly, the company is limiting some features for teens. Anyone under the age of 16 who creates an account in the Now app will default to private viewing. Teens between the ages of 13 and 15 can only receive comments from friends, and those under 18 cannot share their content on Explore.
TikTok is more used to rivals duplicating its features than the other way around. However, it is easy to see the reasons for borrowing the core concept of BeReal. Daily posts could keep you coming back to TikTok. They also raise the importance of friends: You may want to add more people to your social circle if you know you’ll see frequent updates. In that sense, Now could change TikTok’s role as much as it could improve the company’s bottom line.
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