TikTok, the entertainment platform that’s all about video, is going old school and introducing text only posts for those times when you don’t really need a full multimedia production.
We’re thrilled to announce the expansion of text posts on TikTok, a new format for creating text-based content that broadens options for creators to share their ideas and express their creativity. With text posts, we’re expanding the boundaries of content creation for everyone on TikTok, giving the written creativity we’ve seen in comments, captions, and videos a dedicated space to shine.
– TikTok
Creators have always been able to make content on TikTok across a variety of formats – from LIVE videos to photos, Duets to Stitch. Text is the latest addition to options for content creation, allowing creators to share their stories, poems, recipes, and other written content on TikTok – giving creators another way to express themselves and making it even easier to create.
Text posts offer a simple publishing experience that makes it easier than ever to share text content and yes you may be forgiven for considering whether this is a move to mitigate against Meta’s new Threads and to take advantage of the turmoil at twitter, where they blue bird logo has been replaced by an X and you no longer tweet but send X’s (anyone else think that sending X’s on twitter now sounds like you send kisses to the masses?).
When you go to post on TikTok and access the Camera page, you’ll be now able to choose from three options: photo, video, and text. By selecting text, you’ll be directed to the text creation page, where you can type out the content of your post.
But this is TikTok and no one wants a static text post, so when you reach the Post page, you’ll find familiar options to customise your content. These include adding Sound, tagging a location, enabling comments, and allowing Duets, among others. These features make it so your text posts are just as dynamic and interactive as any video or photo post.
Doesn’t this sound better than twitter or Threads where text only means text only? TikTok have gone one better and taken a text based world and modernised it for the 21st century. Of course twitter and threads hope that they’ll be the place you go to get news and it’s a bit more dull and straightforward, whereas TikTok want you to discover amazingly compelling content that you’ll love, will inspire you and brighten up your life. While the news can be delivered in 500 character soundbites, TikTok want you to have an experience, not just a factoid.
TikTok text only post features
Text posts offer a range of features that empower you to make your text-based content stand out. Here are some highlights:
- Stickers: Enhance your text by selecting stickers that relate to your content and add some pizazz to your post.
- Tags and Hashtags: Just like in video or photo posts, you can tag other accounts, as well as add hashtags that relate to relevant topics or trends.
- Background colors: Choose from a variety ofbackground colors to make your text pop.
- Adding Sound: Sounds are core to the TikTok experience, which is why we’ve incorporated them into text posts. You’ll be able to add tunes that readers can groove to as they peruse your writing.
- Draft and Discard: Similar to video or photo posts, you can save your drafts and store them with other unpublished posts for later editing or discard them entirely.
