TikTok is Experimenting Long Form, 60-Minute Video Upload

TikTok is testing the ability for users to upload videos with a 60-minute limit, which could open up new content opportunities for brands, marketers, and creators. Only a small number of users in certain markets can access the feature, and TikTok says it doesn’t currently have any plans to expand its availability.

TikTok tests 60 minute video uploads

In an attempt to take on the established online behemoth YouTube, TikTok, the short video platform best known for its 15-second lip-syncing videos, is now testing 60-minute video uploads with select creators. Limited to a select few users chosen at random, the feature is still in its trial phase. The company stated that, while it frequently tests features that are not made permanent, it does not currently have any plans to make the capability more widely available to its community. With a longer time limit, content producers can experiment more freely and produce new or expanded kinds of content.

Expanding platform potential with long-form content

TikTok is already an effective discovery engine, but the ability to upload 60-minute videos expands TikTok’s potential as a platform for hosting long-form branded video content, rather than breaking it up into multiple parts. Social media consultant Matt Navarra was the first to notice the feature, which is a departure from TikTok’s original format. At first, users could only upload 15-second videos to the app, but over the past few years, TikTok has increased that limit. Although the company became well-known for its short-form videos, it has gradually begun to embrace long-form content to challenge one of its main rivals: YouTube.

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What’s in it for creators

TikTok aims to provide content creators greater freedom and the opportunity to try out new long-form content genres (such as cooking demonstrations, beauty tutorials, instructional classes, and humorous sketches) that don’t work well in shorter videos. According to the company, the extended time limit was implemented to allow creators greater freedom to experiment with new or expanded types of content. The company is probably hoping that by allowing creators to upload 60-minute videos to TikTok, those creators who would typically post their content on YouTube will also post on its platform.

TikTok content progression since its launch

The maximum duration of videos on TikTok has been progressively extended. In 2018, Musical.ly had a 15-second video recording limit and a one-minute upload time limit when ByteDance bought it and integrated it into the TikTok app. In 2021, the upload limit was increased to three minutes, and a year later, it was reduced to ten minutes. The platform began testing the ability to upload 30-minute videos in January of this year.

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TikTok would undergo a significant change if it allowed much longer videos on its platform. The company’s rapid growth was predicated on users uploading short-form video content. In the United States, TikTok has 170 million active monthly users. With over a billion users globally, the short video app is struggling in the US, one of its main markets, due to pressure from competitors as well as political obstacles. US President Joe Biden signed a bill into law last month that gave ByteDance 270 days to pull out of TikTok’s US operations or face app store bans. The company has filed a lawsuit to overturn the ruling, along with a few creators.

This development may also pave the way for TikTok to provide more pre- and mid-roll advertising in the future. TikTok began testing 30-minute video uploads in January. Increases to 15 minutes in 2023 and 10 minutes in 2022 came after that. Videos on TikTok could only last 15 seconds when it first launched in 2016. However, the ByteDance-owned company has since expanded their durations and allows all users to upload videos up to ten minutes long.

Although some users may not find long content on TikTok interesting, the company has been working to improve the viewing experience for those who do. For example, the business has been testing thumbnails that scrub video and a horizontal full-screen mode. Additionally, it released a feature last year that allows you to hold down the right side of a video to fast-forward it.

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