Brevity has been the hallmark of TikTok videos, which typically span up to one minute for all users. Late last year, however, the video platform started allowing a limited number of creators to explore the option of uploading content up to three minutes in length as part of a test.
The service is expanding the availability of that option soon. Today, TikTok officially announced that it is rolling out the ability to create long-form videos over the next few weeks to its global community. For creators, this gives them the ability to share a three-minute recap of their favorite Marvel film or cooking demo, for example.
Users will know that they already have access to that feature when they receive a notification that it is live for them. The feature has been available to a few creators for several months now, and its upcoming expansion will form part of TikTok"s experiment to gauge whether longer videos will help its community reimagine how they express themselves.
It"s the latest improvement to arrive for TikTok over the past few months. In April, the company introduced auto captions meant to automatically generate subtitles for videos. Most recently, it unveiled Jump to let users share content through third-party partners.
It remains to be seen how the ability to create longer videos will keep people engaged on the platform. That said, TikTok hopes it will help creators "captivate the community with their creative expression".