TikTok has just launched a feature that promises a “new creative experience” – but people are quick to question how new it really is.
The add-on, called TikTok Now, asks users to take photos or videos from the phone’s front and back cameras at random times throughout the day.
The company said in a blog post that it would allow users to “share their most authentic moments.
But many have pointed out that it looks very similar to BeReal.
The app is seen as an alternative to the filtered and curated feeds typically associated with social media, and it has grown rapidly since its launch by a small French company.
It currently ranks third in the overall download charts on Apple’s UK App Store, while TikTok is at No. 13.
But it still has some work to do, and some reports put its total downloads at about 27 million, compared to TikTok’s estimated 3 billion.
Same but different
There are some subtle differences between TikTok’s product and BeReal’s. Both will send users notifications at random times of the day, after which they will have a limited amount of time to take pictures.
Both will send users notifications at random times of the day, after which they will have a limited amount of time to take pictures.
BeReal will alert you that it’s “time to be real,” while TikTok has chosen “now is the time” for its daily countdown posts.
As for sharing your posts, BeReal is limited by design – photos are only seen by a small group of close friends, in keeping with the app’s low-key attitude.
TikTok Now will give users the ability to share their posts with the wider world, though by default it’s limited to friends.
Posts from younger users will automatically be restricted.
‘Ferociously fast’
After TikTok’s announcement, people were quick to point out that the concept behind TikTok Now looked very familiar.
Others were more direct, accusing it of “blatantly copying” its smaller competitors.
Technologists were shocked by the fact that Instagram was beaten to the punch after the company confirmed last month that it was testing its own BeReal-style feature, Candid Challenges.
Industry analyst Matt Navarra said the announcement by TikTok’s parent company, ByteTok, was “shameless and extremely fast.
TikTok Now and forever?
Social media companies have a track record of “borrowing” ideas from each other – with varying degrees of success.
Some of the features we take for granted – Twitter’s “Like” button, Instagram’s Stories and the trend toward short videos – have either inspired imitators or been copied elsewhere. have either inspired copycats or been copied elsewhere.
Instagram, for example, recently rolled back an unpopular TikTok-style makeover that flooded people’s feeds with videos.
Even celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner got in on the act, accusing the app of trying to copy its competitors and urging it to “make Instagram Instagram again.
You may remember Fleets – Twitter’s attempt to introduce disappearing tweets similar to Instagram’s Stories feature.
Or maybe you don’t. After strong opposition, the company quietly pulled out of the feature after a few months, saying it “didn’t see as much of an increase in new users joining conversations with Fleets as we would have liked.
As for TikTok Now, U.S. users will get it first, with the feature’s button replacing the current “Friends” tab. There are plans to release it as a separate app in certain countries.
Whether it will survive or disappear faster than Vine videos in the long run remains to be seen.