Social media has been evolving in a variety of ways, with many apps updating certain features to enhance their user experience. Such changes vary from the addition of reels to having new layouts, arguably making these social media apps become increasingly similar to one another while offering more purposes of the app. 

TikTok, one of the most popular social media apps today, has been known for its diversity in simple content. For the past year, users have had the ability to post three-minute videos. Prior to this change, the app allowed users to create videos with a duration up to 60 seconds. However, even the 60-second limit on videos is not original to the app; at first, TikTok only allowed users to post content up to 15 seconds long. 

About a month ago, TikTok released an update that allows users to post content up to 10 minutes long. TikTokers cannot record 10-minute videos directly on the app, but they can upload 10-minute long videos that are already downloaded on their device. 

The popularity of TikTok has grown as the purpose of the app has broadened. Many of those using TikTok find the app to be practical because of its wide range of quick and simple videos. However, TikTok’s most recent update is one that defeats its original purpose of creating and discovering short videos.

Although the addition of posting 10-minute videos contradicts the original purpose of the app, it does offer more opportunities for some people. For those who want to promote a business of theirs, spread information on a topic, or discuss something in detail, the 10-minute update is advantageous. Not only can the update be beneficial for content creators, but it can also be useful for viewers who are interested in these creators’ videos. 

Despite these advantages that come from posting lengthier content, many would not find the update to be useful to them. In fact, some argue that the update makes TikTok less unique and purposeful.

An anonymous junior at Hills stated, “Watching 10-minute videos can get boring, so seeing the short videos on TikTok makes [the app] enjoyable. If I want to watch a video for 10 minutes, I can go on YouTube. I won’t like TikTok if a lot of its videos are so long.”

Due to the 10-minute update, many people are connecting TikTok to YouTube since both platforms have the ability to share lengthy videos. Although YouTube has the ability to upload videos much longer than 10 minutes, the connection between the two platforms shows how drastic and different it is to have 10-minute videos on TikTok.

A poll was posted to the Trailblazer’s Instagram, asking people if they would watch a 10-minute TikTok video. 83 people participated in this poll, with 77% of the respondents voting that they would not watch a 10-minute video on TikTok. This may imply that the 10-minute feature is rather unnecessary for the majority of people on the app.

The new update on TikTok that allows users to upload 10-minute videos has stirred different opinions, whether that be that the update is useful or useless. Having the ability to upload longer videos gives content creators more options in terms of what to share, and it gives viewers more detailed videos to watch. However, not everyone finds that they will put this new TikTok feature to use. Regardless, people on TikTok always have the option to scroll away from these 10-minute videos.