Slowly but steadily, TikTok has been solidifying its position as a video platform powerhouse with a clear goal in sight: Taking YouTube's crown.
As noted in a report on TechCrunch, the Chinese social media platform is experimenting with a new feature: Horizontal full-screen videos.
According to the report, users selected as part of the pilot will have the option of pressing a button indicating full screen, which will cause the otherwise vertical video to pop out into a full-screen horizontal video – just like with YouTube.
TikTok moves on YouTube's territory
This move is another push by TikTok to encroach on YouTube's territory. Earlier in 2022, the Chinese platform allowed users to upload videos up to 10 minutes in length. This has been seen as part of a push by TikTok to attract content creators that primarily use YouTube.
This, in turn, has allowed content creators on TikTok to have more flexibility for their various videos without needing to be concerned about the length.
TikTokers (the platform's equivalent of "YouTubers") often have a message at the start of each video, telling viewers to turn their phones over to be able to fully experience their content. But this new feature will make this unnecessary.
Although for most of us, YouTube is where we go when we need to find a video, teenagers and young adults live in a different world and spend more time on TikTok.
But having said that, YouTube is still managing to compete against TikTok through the use of YouTube Shorts, its short video platform.
As is the case with any features under testing, we don't know if or when TikTok plans to roll out the full-screen feature to all users. We also don't know if it would come with a similar feature for the web browser version – something that could also threaten YouTube's dominance.