It feels as if every social media app out there has some sort of TikTok-esque video scrolling feature now. Twitter did it, Instagram did it and YouTube did it. This time around, it’s time for TikTok to do the copying – with the launch of ‘Photo Mode’.

The feature, which adds the ability to post stills, complete with a set of tools that allow you to edit images, was announced on Thursday this week by the Chinese company.

Instagram on the clock

Photo posts will take up valuable real estate in the ‘For You’ tab, squashed between the regular video posts. Still, images can be posted to the app with music behind it, with the bonus of an extended character limit to go with it.

TikTok’s thoughts on the addition of Photo Mode and the larger character limit is that it hopes to give creators a better chance to “express themselves and more deeply connect with others.”

Yeah, that’s the reason.

Same thing…different names?

It’s not just TikTok that’s copying Instagram. It’s TikTok’s users too. The app has become filled with often unfunny, screenshots from Instagram, which are usually just screenshots of decade-old Twitter posts that only warranted a brief push of air from one’s nostrils.

It’s possible that TikTok could push Instagram out of the market entirely. If this were to happen, it would still take years before Instagram is officially classed as “dead”. But this could be the beginning of the end for Instagram. We already know TikTok is streets ahead when it comes to video. If TikTok’s 1 billion + users start to treat the platform as an Instagram replacement in terms of images, then Instagram’s time may be over.

Eventually, we’re going to reach a point where social media apps are only distinguished by their logo. Every ‘new’ feature is just a regurgitation of another feature that a different company came up with a week before.

Source: TechCrunch