TikTok is reportedly testing longer, three-minute videos

File picture: AP Photo

File picture: AP Photo

Published Dec 3, 2020

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Short-form video app TikTok is reportedly rolling out the ability to record longer videos. The company wants to see if extending the video duration would be something its creators would want to explore.

The news comes after Matt Navarra, a social media commentator shared a tweet detailing how some users now have “early access to uploading videos up to 3 minutes long.”

“You have early access to uploading videos up to 3 minutes long on the TikTok app and desktop! To try it out, make sure your app is up to date and try and upload a video from your device to the app or tiktok.com,” reads the tweeted screenshot of the update.

The news that TikTok is extending the video duration to 3 long minutes did not sit well with some users, but others were too happy that the company will finally make the videos longer.

One user commented on Navarra’s tweet saying: “My attention span is now a minute long thanks to TikTok. And now they think we're gonna watch three-minute videos?”

Some tweeps were happy about the news, another user tweeted: “I hope it is not exclusive to big followers because that will be considered as Corrupt and discriminatory act. They have no right to exclude this. Most of all 1 minute is enough but sometimes I would need more than that for some Music Theory Tips.”

TikTok’s current video limit is 60 seconds, which has proven to be a success. The restriction of finding ways to make something funny within a good minute is part of what makes the app to be well received.

If a video is longer than a minute, people tend to get bored very easily and skip the video without watching it until the end. Users also worry about data consumption and users’ attention spans come into question.

This would not be the first time a social media platform expanded its content limits. Previously Instagram extended the limit for clips on Reels, its short-form video platform, from 15 seconds to 30 seconds. In 2017, Twitter doubled its 140-character limit. And both of these apps are still performing great. Let's see how TikTok will perform with longer videos.

IOL TECH

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