Chinese technology giant TikTok has introduced a new feature that allows users to post text-only messages in a direct challenge to other social media outlets such as Meta Platforms’ (META) Threads and the company formerly known as Twitter.
In announcing the new text format, TikTok, which is primarily known as a video streaming platform, said that the new feature broadens options for users to express themselves.
“With text posts, we’re expanding the boundaries of content creation for everyone on TikTok,” the company said in a written statement.
TikTok users can now share stories, poems, recipes, and other written content, which can be customized by adding sound, stickers, and background colours.
Text posts on TikTok can also be tagged to other accounts and hashtags added that relate to trending topics.
The new text posts offered by TikTok pose a direct challenge to Twitter at a time when that social media platform is undergoing a comprehensive rebrand.
Elon Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion U.S. last October, announced on July 24 that Twitter is being renamed “X,” and that the iconic blue birds and other branding that the social media platform is known for are being removed.
TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, appears to be trying to disrupt Twitter at a sensitive time.
In addition to the rebrand, there have been mass layoffs and a big drop in advertising revenue at Twitter since Musk took control last fall.
Earlier in July, Meta Platforms launched rival social media site Threads, which surpassed 100 million users in its first week of operation, though the number of new users has since slowed.
The rebrand from Twitter to X happened suddenly and without warning, with Musk announcing via a tweet that the platform has a new website domain and logo.
Both TikTok and X are privately held companies. Their stocks do not trade on public markets.
