- TikTok now prompting some creators to make landscape videos, promising promotion boosts.
- Push for horizontal content unclear – could be YouTube imitation effort or play for television.
- Creator embrace will decide format’s success, spotlighting platforms’ incentives for behavior change.
Boosting exposure for landscape-style content
TikTok has built an enormously engaged user base largely through vertical videos designed to be consumed by holding one’s phone upright. Now, the platform is encouraging creators to try submitting horizontal videos intended to be viewed landscape-style.
Some TikTok users have recently been prompted to make videos that utilize the full horizontal screen. The company informed creators that submitting such landscape content may result in a promotion “boost” to increase views.
While horizontal videos are not new on TikTok, they have, up until now, mostly consisted of short movie and TV clips, which TikTok aims to cut down on due to copyright concerns.
It remains unclear what is exactly driving TikTok’s push for sideways videos. Some speculate it could represent an attempt to emulate YouTube, which has found great success with horizontal short videos.
Exploring horizontal videos for a television audience
There is also a theory that TikTok wants more content optimized for viewing on actual televisions, an area it has struggled to gain traction so far.
In the end, whether or not horizontal videos take off on TikTok will depend on whether creators embrace the format long-term.
But the initiative spotlights how platforms often provide incentives or algorithmic nudges to encourage shifts in user behavior and content.
Just as Facebook once paid media outlets to produce Facebook Live videos, TikTok is now enticing creators towards a sideways viewing experience.
