The evolution of in-app video stories is absolutely fascinating to watch. ByteDance currently knows a way to build some of the foremost viral apps within the world, as Douyin (called “TikTok” outside of China) is doing something that’s truly innovative.
What if the era of binary likes, upvotes and Facebook reactions is over and you just respond with a video instead? That’s looking like a possible outcome in the future of micro video apps.
You’d simply hit the share icon, a new social feature that allows users to post their reactions to the videos that they watch.
TikTok is rather big, even more so since Musical.ly was acquired and then merged into it. Currently it’s providing user experiences that essentially eclipse Instagram.
As Engadget reported, you basically have more choices now to engage with content.
In the “Share” menu, there’s currently a “React” option and after you choose it, the app will record a video of you as you watch a clip. You’ll then be able to move your reaction video around the screen to place it where you wish.
If WeChat brought us things like “mini-programs” and so much utility never seen in Western apps, like a currently cashless society in China, ByteDance with TikTok is bringing us a video app for a 5G world.
As TechCrunch notes, this trend is instead of text comments, video-native reactions will take the form of videos that are essentially superimposed on top of existing clips.
I personally don’t believe in IGTV however believe younger digital natives really like YouTube for its peer-to-peer functionality of high-quality content. TikTok, whereas young, seems to be taking off as the next major app for peer-to-peer fun content.
In a tech world where Asia is currently leading the trends, many users in the West don’t even know what TikTok is, yet.
The app only launched in its updated form within the U.S. in August, 2018.
This could end up being a future competitor to Snapchat and Instagram because of the content’s vitality and ability to go viral.
ByteDance is sharply showing companies such as Tencent and Facebook what the future of apps might really be like.
The video reaction feature is a immense product announcement that’s kind of a big deal for the evolution of native-video apps.
After Toutiao, TikTok is showing that ByteDance is probably the best company in the world for delivering app experiences. I’m very optimistic on this particular company for how they’re contributing to the future of content, since it’s something we aren’t seeing from the West. China’s app ecosystem has become far more interesting in recent years and this will only increase since they have more consumers, are more mobile-native and link social media with E-commerce in a much more tangible manner.
The challenge now for ByteDance is can they scale globally outside of Asia?
There’s little doubt 2019 will be the defining year of whether they can do it or not