[ad_1]
TikTok announced this morning that it is expanding its TikTok LIVE platform, which currently allows creators to live stream to fans while responding to viewers’ comments and questions and accepting virtual gifts. Now, the LIVE experience will include a number of new features that allow creators to make it more competitive with platforms like Instagram Live, including the ability to live stream with others, host Q&A, use improved moderators and keyword filters, etc.
For viewers, TikTok is also adding new discovery and visualization tools, among other changes.
The company recently teased some of the LIVE updates to creators on social media ahead of today’s announcement.
According to TikTok, some markets have already had access to LIVE Events, which is a new tool that allows creators to better plan their next LIVE sessions.
Creators can schedule and promote their event in advance to create anticipation within their community, while fans can discover, sign up, then receive notifications and reminders when the LIVE event is about to go. to start. Scheduling tools are a fairly common core feature for live streaming platforms, so it makes sense that TikTok would add it.
Image credits: TIC Tac
To use this feature, creators can select the LIVE Events icon in the upper right corner of their profile page, then name the event, provide the start time, and write a brief description. Once they hit create, the LIVE event will go through a brief review process before being visible to the rest of TikTok.
Once the event is scheduled, creators can share it via in-app messages, promote it with a TikTok video using a LIVE countdown sticker, or promote it outside of TikTok . They can also make changes or even delete the event. As they plan their event, TikTok will show how many people have already registered to attend to better inform creators’ promotional efforts.
This feature was already available in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, but is currently being tested in other global markets, the company said.
Creators can now also go live with others to benefit from the combined audience. Currently, the ability to go live with another co-host is available worldwide, but TikTok is testing going live with multiple hosts in some regions. For comparison, Instagram this year launched the ability for creators to live with up to four other people in live rooms.
Meanwhile, TikTok’s live Q&A allows audience members to ask questions during the creator’s live broadcasts. Creators can display these questions in their feed chat from a separate panel and have the option to show the questions to all viewers and formally answer them through existing question-and-answer tools.
Image credits: TIC Tac
Another new tool allows creators to assign trusted moderators to manage their broadcasts before a live broadcast begins. These moderators will have the ability to disable and block chat users if necessary. The Keyword Filter tool, which blocks words creators don’t want to appear in their threads, has also been extended to support up to 200 terms.
Over the next few weeks, TikTok will also introduce a way for hosts and moderators to temporarily disable viewers and remove comments.
Image credits: TIC Tac
For viewers, meanwhile, TikTok will make it easier for viewers to find LIVE videos to watch. Soon, users will be able to watch LIVE videos directly from the For You Feed and Follow pages, by tapping the new LIVE button, which some may already have, and then the “Explore” button, which launches a side panel where they can browse the various LIVE videos available now.
TikTok says the top LIVE categories to date have included Chat / Q&A, Games, Talent, Fashion, and Everyday Life.
Viewers will also be asked to reconsider their comments during the live broadcast if the system detects that they are about to post something potentially dangerous or abusive. TikTok has previously used prompts to report unsubstantiated allegations in videos that its fact-checkers were unable to verify, and it has used a similar prompt to respond to potentially intimidating comments.
Image credits: TIC Tac
Live viewers can now also use picture-in-picture mode on iOS and Android to watch LIVE videos while continuing to use their phone.
The TikTok LIVE experience has become particularly popular during the pandemic. And while the company declined to share exact viewer metrics for its live broadcasts, it said the number of live people and the number of people watching LIVE videos have doubled in the past year. These videos may also help fuel demand for the app, as a recent report from Sensor Tower noted that TikTok became the first non-Facebook app to achieve 3 billion downloads globally, despite being banned in India.
The report also notes that in the second quarter of 2021, the app saw its strongest quarter-over-quarter growth in consumer spending in a year, climbing 39% to $ 534.6 million, from $ 384. , $ 7 million in the previous quarter. This could signal an increased interest in live broadcasts, as this is where creators tend to generate income through virtual giveaways.
TikTok’s LIVE platform is only open to users over the age of 16 and regularly removes those the system detects as minors. (Asked about a recent purge, TikTok said it was only enforcing its existing guidelines.) It also bans accounts that impersonate or mislead the community as to their identity, he said.
All of the new features are currently available, in one form or another, to a global audience.
[ad_2]
Source link
