“TikTok Notes,” a photo and text-sharing platform by the Beijing-born social media company, appears to be their latest swipe at Instagram.
The app seems extremely similar to Instagram’s platform and even has the same name as one of Instagram’s features.
Some TikTok users have reported a pop-up when sharing photo posts that say their photos will also be shared on a “coming soon” platform called TikTok Notes — with an option to opt out.
“Your photo posts will be shown on TikTok Notes,” the pop-up reportedly says, according to a screenshot shared on Reddit.
“TikTok Notes, a new app for photo posts, is coming soon! Your existing and future public TikTok photo posts will be shown on TikTok Notes,” the notification reads. “If you prefer not to show your public TikTok photo posts on TikTok Notes, turn this off now.”
The website, notes.tiktok.com, is currently live, but the “Open App” button doesn’t work. Rather the site offers a preview of Polaroid-esque photo posts with still photos and text in the open white space — much like Instagram.
“The copycat phenomenon runs rampant across social media platforms”, Mike Proulx, a research director at analysis firm Forrester, told the BBC.
Proulx added that when these copycat features are done well, they “pay off” — like when Instagram introduced the “Stories” feature to rival Snapchat.
But there’s no guarantee of success, he continued, giving the example of Twitter’s failing “Fleets” story feature.
While no release date for the new app has been announced, nor has it finalized the design, TikTok confirmed to the BBC that it’s been working on a “dedicated space” for photos and text.
“As part of our continued commitment to innovating the TikTok experience, we’re exploring ways to empower our community to create and share their creativity with photos and text in a dedicated space for those formats,” a company spokesperson told TechCrunch.
TechCrunch also reported that TikTok is experimenting with different formats as well, such as 30-minute videos like YouTube and text posts to rival X and Threads.
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