Get All Access for $5/mo

TikTok Unveils Game-Changing New Feature as the Battle Between Elon Musk's 'X,' Mark Zuckerberg's Threads Heats Up The app isn't just for short-form videos anymore.

By Amanda Breen

Key Takeaways

  • TikTok will allow users to create text-based content to share stories, recipes and more.
  • The update comes amid an ongoing social media rivalry between Threads and X, formerly Twitter.

TikTok rose to fame with its short-form videos during the pandemic, but, like so many platforms hoping to keep their audience's attention, it's undergoing some changes.

Creators have had LIVE videos, photos, duets and stitches in their toolboxes for some time. Now, they can experiment with text-based content — suited for sharing stories, recipes and more, TikTok announced yesterday.

Related: Threads Is Already Making Changes Amid Meta's Twitter Fight

"With text posts, we're expanding the boundaries of content creation for everyone on TikTok, giving the written creativity we've seen in comments, captions, and videos a dedicated space to shine," the company wrote in a published post.

The news comes amid an ongoing social-media-platform battle for users and engagement.

Elon Musk's rebranding of Twitter to "X," which he intends to transform into an "everything app," is now official, and Mark Zuckerberg's Twitter rival Threads, owned by Instagram parent company Meta, launched just a few weeks ago.

And in yet another turn, Musk might have some trouble with Twitter's "X" rebrand, as Meta has already registered an "X" logo and may hold the rights to it, per Insider. (Google's Moonshot Factory is also called "X.")

Threads started strong, exceeding 100 million users in just five days, but its user engagement dropped 70% to just 13 million by July 21, according to Sensor Tower data reported by The Wall Street Journal. The same data estimated that Twitter's daily active users have held firm at 200 million.

Related: Twitter Is Now 'X,' Rebranding as an 'Everything App' | Entrepreneur

As of March, TikTok claimed approximately 50 million daily users in the U.S., CNBC reported.

Amanda Breen

Entrepreneur Staff

Senior Features Writer

Amanda Breen is a senior features writer at Entrepreneur.com. She is a graduate of Barnard College and received an MFA in writing at Columbia University, where she was a news fellow for the School of the Arts.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Leadership

Should I Stay or Should I Go? 8 Key Points to Navigate the Founder's Dilemma

Here are eight key signs that help founders determine whether to persevere or let go.

Marketing

Your Most Powerful Marketing Weapon Is Hiding in the Finance Department — Here's Why

Transform your marketing leadership by turning finance from a barrier into a strategic ally. Learn how aligning with your finance team can drive unprecedented growth and innovation.

Starting a Business

They Bought an Ice Cream Truck Off eBay for $5,000. Now Their Company Has 70 Shops and Sells Treats in Over 12,000 Stores.

For the episode of "The Founder CEO," the co-founder and CEO of Van Leeuwen Ice Cream explains how one ice cream truck grew into a successful nationwide brand.

Business News

Meta Makes $1 Million Dollar Donation to Donald Trump's Inaugural Fund

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also reportedly gave Trump a pair of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.

Growing a Business

How Connecting With the Right Audience Drives Long-Term Business Success

Here's how targeted lead generation can help you unlock higher conversions, stronger brand loyalty and scalable growth.

Side Hustle

'Hustling Every Day': These Friends Started a Side Hustle With $2,500 Each — It 'Snowballed' to Over $500,000 and Became a Multimillion-Dollar Brand

Paris Emily Nicholson and Saskia Teje Jenkins had a 2020 brainstorm session that led to a lucrative business.