TikTok 15 minute videos: Rivalling YouTube long form videos, trial will include select regions & limited users

TikTok is considering allowing users to upload videos up to 15 minutes long, in the latest update from the social media platform. The social media giant, which began life as a short form video upload website, said the new upload limit is being tested in select regions with a limited group of users, but has not shared any more specific details.

Over time, TikTok has grown to be the most popular social media platform and has more than a billion users worldwide. The new option increases the video upload limit on the app from 10 minutes to 15 minutes, the Chinese-owned company confirmed to TechCrunch.

The change was first noticed by social media consultant Matt Navarra, who posted a screenshot of a message shown to users who have access to the new option. The screenshot showed a message which stated that users can upload longer videos to the platform from both the TikTok app and on the website.

TikTok initially gained fame for being the most popular short-form video platform, but has slowly been embracing more long-form content. The company expanded its maximum video length to 10 minutes, up from three minutes, back in February 2022. Before that, the limit was 60 seconds after initially expanding from 15 seconds. TikTok has not yet commented on why it is carrying out this trial, how long it will last or what the likelihood is of it being rolled out more widely.

The expanded video length will give creators even more time and flexibility when sharing things like cooking recipes, beauty tutorials, education content and comedy sketches. Currently, if a video is longer than 10 minutes, creators will have to upload their video in two or more parts and direct viewers to a part 2 or even part 3 or 4 video. or beyond. Most recently, Paramount Pictures uploaded the entire Mean Girls film to the platform - in 23 video clips.

More time to create and more time to watch

With this expanded time limit, however, TikTokers will have more freedom to create videos of a longer length - and that will also mean uninterrupted watching for viewers. The change also puts TikTok in even more direct competition with YouTube, which has recently launched Samples, a new feature styled like TikTok to showcase new music users will want to listen to.

The change indicates, however, that TikTok is looking to attract longer-form video creators who normally post content on the Google-owned video platform, and therefore perhaps directly rival them. Previously, TikTok was seen as the platform for short-form content, while YouTube was seen as the home for long-form content and the two platforms had very defined unique selling points, but now these lines are becoming somewhat blurred as they look to out do each other.

Not everyone wants to watch long videos, however, which TikTok seems to be aware of given that it has recently introduced a feature that lets you fast-forward videos by holding down the right-side of a video. If the feature is rolled out to users more widely, we will let you know.

In the meantime, you can check out our dedicated TikTok and YouTube pages for all the latest information about each of these platforms, as well as our dedicated social media page for all things connected to social networking.