In the video arena, TikTok and Instagram have been involved for quite a long timefierce competition. If Instagram has for quite a long time offered its users the possibility of sharing videos in the form ofStories,the arrival in 2020 ofReelswas a proper offensive against TikTok. Today, it's the Chinese giant's turn to step into Meta's territory and wants to invest in an area that was until now completely dominated by Instagram:photo sharing.
These are clues discovered in the code of the TikTok application revealedthe existence of a new application called “TikTok Photos”. This would allow users of the app to share moments captured in the form of photos.
A new battlefield
The information was reported by the blog TheSpAndroid inThis itemand relayed by a certain Matt Navara inun post sur Threads. It seems that the code for the latest TikTok update would containnumerous references to “TikTok Photos”.
The similarities with the Instagram feed are quite striking. One of the character sequences analyzed by TheSpAndroid mentions the possibility for users to share photo content from the main application via this new Photos feature. Another even speaks “other people with similar interests who enjoy photo posts» (see screenshot below). With so little available, it just seems likea pale copy of Instagram, nothing more.
© TheSpAndroid
Questionable timing
The geopolitical context is not particularly favorable to TikTok. In France, it is already severely singled out for security reasons. Across the Atlantic, it's not really any better. ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is locatedin the crosshairs of the American governmentfor quite a while.
The vote in the House of Representativesfor law promulgatingoutright banof TikTok on American soil is imminent. The President, Joe Biden, spoke quite explicitly aboutFox Newsregarding this: “If Congress passes the bill, I will sign it.” This is a position that could not be clearer.
If TikTok has reached this point in the United States, it is because the Chinese Government is strongly suspected of the power ofrecover US user data. The company defended itself as best it could by invoking the sacrosanct freedom of expression, which is so dear to the United States: “The U.S. government is trying to strip 170 million Americans of their constitutional right to free expression". The vote should regarding the banthis weekand will decide the fate of the Chinese application in the USA. They may have to do without TikTok for good, and therefore never take advantage of “TikTok Photos”.
- TikTok is reportedly preparing a new feature to compete with Instagram, called “TikTok Photos”.
- Blog TheSpAndroid revealed potential evidence of the feature's existence in the code of TikTok's latest update.
- TikTok is not particularly navigating in a very favorable political context at the moment.
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By : Keleops AG
