As I said before, it’s amazing to consider the impact TikTok has had on the social media landscape in general.
We’ve already seen several apps trying to copy the main features of TikTok, and several others that look like a similar UI and other elements. And now, there’s Snapchat trying another TikTok-inspired alternative, with a new ‘remix’ option on user Snaps.
As you can see in this picture, posted by app explorer Alessandro Paluzzi, the new process adds a ‘Snap Remix’ option to your answering machines on each Snap. That then empowers users record their own Snap along with the original as it plays, and then respond to the user with their ‘remix’. Which is almost exactly like TikTok ‘Duets’ option.
Within this new process, which Snapchat has confirmed is now in live testing, users can control who can redesign their Snaps, with the option to tag on people in your first Snap who can use your content.
https://techcrunch.com/2021/03/25/snapchat-is-developing-its-own-take-on-tiktok-duets-with-a-new-remix-feature/Within the remix mode, there are users are also able to choose how their remix is presented, with a mix of replay options for the original and your own version.
As you can see here, you can choose side-by-side, top-bottom and picture-in-picture play mode among others.
The feature makes a lot of sense, and it looks like it could be a great addition for Snap, which will definitely generate a connection. But it’s mostly a TikTok action that went into Snapchat.
Which is not necessarily a bad thing. Replica has almost become a staple in social media app development, with the major apps now getting inspiration from each other, and looking to bring users popular tools, no matter where they come from, to strengthen their in-app experience.
There’s a strong logic to that – Instagram, for example, has seen great success with the Snapchat-cloned Stories format. If people are involved in a particular activity, why not put the same within your own app, to keep them around, while also serving the interests of users by giving those devices in the apps where they already have established networks, and who are looking for more ways to connect?
It makes logical sense. But again, it’s interesting to note TikTok’s influence on the space.
While in many ways it feels like Facebook has social ownership, in particular, and it becomes increasingly difficult to find an operational opponent for its leadership, tools like TikTok show that UI is smart , and smart algorithms, coupled with a strong sense of user engagement, can still win out, and opponents can still rise and take in a large proportion of audience. It’s hard to imagine a platform getting enough movement to challenge Facebook’s large scale – but then again, TikTok is on track to reach a billion users in 2021, and continues to expand worldwide.
In some ways, that’s good news for Facebook. The company is undergoing various investigations into anti-trust concerns, which suggest that Facebook will use its market leadership to crush any competition. TikTok believes in success, and while Facebook would prefer all of these users to stay on Facebook and IG instead, there are some benefits to the company in seeing TikTok gain traction.
In the case of Snapchat, it will compete more directly with TikTok for a younger audience segment, so it will help to add copcat tools like this, which have become very popular on TikTok. Snapchat has its own short video feed, TikTok-esque ‘Spotlight’, for which it pays high performance, while also testing a feeding UI just like TikTok to further tap into the same movements.
It may be of great concern to TikTok that Snap is trying out these devices, as it is constantly evolving, but it is interesting to see the impact of the app, and considering how successfully TikTok has achieved in such a short time.
If you’ve dismissed TikTok in the past, now may be the time to rethink – as all other social apps do.