TikTok quietly launched a GIF-like ‘video stickers’ characteristic for direct messages

TikTok quietly launched “animated video stickers” for direct messages in February, the corporate confirmed to TechCrunch. Video stickers primarily work like GIFs and are an enlargement of TikTok Stickers, which rolled out final December and permit customers to create and add their very own customized pictures for use in direct messages.

Customers can flick through widespread video stickers uploaded by different customers or create their very own. The characteristic, which was uncovered by product intelligence agency Watchful.ai, is a approach to make direct messages extra enjoyable and interesting. If you wish to create your personal sticker, you’ll be able to choose the “create sticker” possibility in a direct message window. From there, it is possible for you to to pick out a video out of your appreciated, posted and favourite movies, which suggests you’ll be able to create video stickers from your personal content material or from content material posted by others.

Picture Credit: Watchful.ai

As soon as you choose a video, you need to use video-scrubbing thumbnails to pick out how a lot of the video you wish to be a part of your video sticker. There’s additionally the choice so as to add textual content to the video sticker or crop the content material. Once you’re completed, you’ll be able to select to save lots of the video sticker to your private sticker library the place yow will discover it once more in your DM favorites tab to ship to your mates at any time. Or, you’ll be able to select so as to add it to the sticker retailer on TikTok, which suggests different customers will have the ability to uncover and use the video sticker.

TikTok notes that it solely shows movies with sticker permissions, which suggests you don’t have to fret about misusing a creator’s video with out their consent. Creators can choose out of permitting others to create video stickers based mostly on their movies by altering their privateness settings.

For those who don’t wish to create your personal video sticker, you’ll be able to flick through high, trending and new video stickers that persons are have created and are utilizing on the app.

Picture Credit: TechCrunch/Screenshot

Though you’ve been in a position to ship GIFs in TikTok direct messages for fairly a while due to a partnership with GIPHY, the brand new characteristic offers customers a manner for to share content material from the app in new methods. For example, as a substitute of merely sharing a complete video with somebody by way of DM, you’ll be able to share a particular a part of it by turning it right into a video sticker. Or, if there’s part of a video that you just and a pal discover significantly humorous and discover yourselves referencing usually, you’ll be able to create a video sticker of it. And naturally, identical to how GIFs are sometimes used to share reactions, you’ll be able to select from a collection of video stickers to react to a message from a pal, or you’ll be able to create you personal.

TikTok has already confirmed itself as a profitable leisure platform and is now seemingly trying to develop its social options to get customers to spend much more time on its app. Provided that WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram all have stickers that customers can ship to at least one one other in direct messages, it’s not shocking that TikTok is trying to develop its sticker choices by specializing in what it’s recognized for: video.

The launch comes as TikTok just lately revamped its direct messages settings. Earlier this yr, the corporate quietly expanded its direct messaging settings to provide customers a alternative of who they wish to obtain messages from. The choices at the moment are: everybody, recommended associates, mutual followers, individuals you’ve despatched messages to or nobody. Previous to this alteration, solely individuals customers had recognized as associates or have been advisable may ship a DM to one another on the platform.