Briefing: Douyin tests longer videos to diversify portfolio
抖音正在内测长视频，不再拘泥15秒 – 36Kr
What happened: Bytedance backed Douyin, known as TikTok internationally, is testing videos longer than one minute. Chinese users can browse a 2-minute video about acne, uploaded by user Xiaolishuodianying in Douyin’s app. The function is currently only available in the company’s latest Android app. At the moment, Douyin supports both 15-second and 1-minute videos, the latter only users with more than 1,000 followers can create.
Why it’s important: The online video market is changing. Short video platforms are looking to longer videos to bring diversity to their product offerings and to sustain growth. As part of the trend, Chinese celebrities are adopting vlogging to engage with fans and video platforms such as iQiyi are publishing mini-films for portable devices. The new moves are challenging Douyin and its user stickiness. In August, iXigua, another video recommendation platform under Bytedance, invested RMB 800 million ($116.0 million) to produce online reality shows.