A short-form video arms race began when TikTok gained popularity in 2020, with its brief comedic or dancing videos offering much-needed amusement to a large number of people during the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

All of a sudden, social media giants like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and others were racing to release comparable products. Users were encouraged to create one-minute films that would be vertically arranged in a scrolling feed with an unending supply of suggested content. Over the ensuing years, those other platforms tried to match TikTok’s level of popularity, particularly with the important teen audience.

However, the pioneer of short-form video is now shifting gears, encouraging people to create and watch lengthier movies. TikTok’s original “Creator Fund” will formally end on Saturday. As a result, producers who wish to monetarily support their work will need to sign up for the new “Creativity Programme Beta,” which requires them to produce videos longer than one minute in order to receive payment from the app.

In certain respects, TikTok’s move to longer-form material represents a turnabout; it is now adopting a content structure that is frequently more lucrative than that of its historical competitors. Additionally, the tactic might persuade users to use the app more frequently—some teenagers currently report using it “almost constantly.”

However, some TikTok creators are upset about the change, fearing it would diminish the features that first drew users in—the ease with which one could quickly browse a wide variety of content and the fact that almost anybody could create a video with little to no preparation or assistance.

“I don’t always have a minute of content in me,” admitted Nicki Apostolou, a Native American history and culture-focused TikTok maker with almost 150,000 followers under the username “recycldstardust.”

“It feels like it leaves out creators who came there for the short-form content,” the woman remarked. “I feel like there are so many creators out there who came to TikTok because it was the short-form video app.”

The business created the new Creativity Programme “based on the learnings and feedback we’ve gained from the previous Creator Fund,” according to a statement from Zachary Kizer, a spokesman for TikTok. We appreciate the opinions and firsthand knowledge from our community, which we use to guide our decisions as we continue to explore new avenues for compensating creators and enhancing the TikTok experience.

The long-form approach of TikTok

The feature to upload longer videos on TikTok has been gradually added over the past three years, with the time limit rising from one minute to three, five, and finally ten minutes. 15-minute uploads are now being tested by the platform, albeit they aren’t generally accessible.

In order to continue receiving payment from TikTok for their material, producers have to enrol in the new Creativity Programme since the platform announced last month that it will be closing the Creator Fund in the US, UK, France, and Germany.

Acquiring the ability to create longer content

However, other producers claim that the reason they joined TikTok rather than YouTube or other platforms was so they could produce short-form video, and they fear that the modifications would make it more difficult for them to earn a living on the app in the format they have chosen.

However, a few creators have doubts about those substitute payment methods. “Are you familiar with how it feels? Street busking,” Apostolou said. “Those don’t seem sustainable to me, and it feels awkward to ask my audience for money.”