Is TikTok Heading to the End?
Social media trends come and go rapidly. In recent years, short-form content has taken over the internet. Even a platform like YouTube, which always focused on long-form content, was forced to introduce YouTube Shorts. However, we should remember that Snapchat was a thing before TikTok. And now, Snapchat sounds like a term from history books. I don't remember seeing many friends using Snapchat. What happened to Snapchat shows us how unstable and unsustainable a new social media platform could be.
Things could change swiftly if the management makes a wrong decision. We are seeing this happening with Twitter, but that will be another day, another story. In this technology era, everything moves, transforms, and evolves in a blink; fast pace changes could be necessary for a company to survive, but it doesn't always work. Take Instagram as an example. We have seen enough differences that we probably can't remember what Instagram used to look like. Instagram almost evaporated itself with all the unwanted transitions. So far, they are staying because they are the only photo-based (not entirely) platform without competition. Many people I know have always wanted to switch to another photo-based platform if a new social media platform could pull in enough crowd.
I have been telling my friends TikTok will not be around for long, even though they have been doing quite well. Unless they find a way to be more sustainable, their future is grim, especially facing the competition from Instagram Reel and YouTube Shorts. Instagram has photo content to keep people around, and YouTube has long-form videos that are not going away anytime soon. TikTok is a one-trick pony that needs help finding its long-term solution. That's a Chinese proverb, "Water not only floats a boat; it also sinks it." TikTok's fame will be one of its biggest problems on top of the revenue issues. With more users becoming creators on TikTok, users are too busy coming up with the next viral ideas instead of consuming content. When more people are filming and fewer people are watching, the performance of those short-form videos will drop. Without the numbers, these attention-craving users will not stick around for long.
When short-form videos first got in the spotlight, I remember how entertaining they were. They were silly but genuine. Informative short videos were well put together and valuable. However, I am no longer seeing these types of videos. To get the eyeballs, people must create something more shocking, ridiculous, and crazier content. As a viewer, I am exhausted from seeing the repetitive themes and all the fake setups. After all, we forgot that not all content creators are master filmmakers from Hollywood. Not everyone is capable of being the next-level filmmaker. Thus, we see laughable imitators, not informative or entertaining. Sometimes, people are trying too hard to chase rapid fame without slowing down to look at their shortcomings.
Even as a kid, I was annoyed when commercials showed up every 15 minutes on TV. How many ads will you watch for a 60-second or less video? If the short-form video is excellent and entertaining, we will not pay attention to the advertisement because we only have seconds to focus on the video. Ad performance from short-from videos isn't outstanding, and when businesses are not getting the result they were hoping for, they stop investing. Without revenue, a social media platform will fizzle away, and we have seen that happen in the past.
After TikTok's success story, platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube followed suit. As a YouTube content creator, I started with long-form videos and have posted short-form videos in the last few months. Do I think YouTube Shorts can survive long-term along with its regular videos? It depends. YouTube will need to find better ways to integrate the Shorts with its long-form videos; otherwise, it is like someone who lives in two realities. Shorts alone will not last and will suffer the same revenue issues. After months of focusing on Shorts, my Shorts revenue is only 5%. Even though I have yet to publish many long-form videos in recent months, the revenue for longer videos still easily surpasses Shorts. Therefore, I wonder why people want to create Shorts once the benefit fades.
Currently, by creating Shorts, you will reach more audiences and increase your subscriber number. YouTube has been putting in the effort to push Shorts, and I did see my subscribers growing faster than the regular pace when I focused on longer videos. Even though Shorts barely bring in any revenue(the number is pitiful), my work can reach more people, including businesses interested in working with me to promote their products. That wouldn't happen without Shorts. If you want to increase your subscriber number, start publishing Shorts soon! YouTube will not continue to shine the light on Shorts once TikTok is on its decline. After all, long-form videos are still YouTube's money trees.
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