Tech behemoth TikTok is the latest social media platform to encroach on the void one occupied by the platform formerly known as Twitter. The still-exclusive Bluesky, Instagram’s Threads (which is already giving rise to celeb drama), and a smattering of others have already made strides into the text-based space, which shouldn’t really be a problem for Elon since he has the backing of a beloved brand and years of nostalgia for its imagery and lingo behind him. Oh… wait.
TikTok announced their news today in a blog post on their site. “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 said. So, we’re presumably just in for endless threads of “mmmm, ice cream so good, yes yes yes, mmmm, ice cream so good” and the word “claim” written over and over and over again. Hooray.
Text posts are live on the app now, with the camera page now including a “text” option in addition to “photo” and various video lengths. Navigating to the text page reveals that the new feature is almost an exact replica of the “Create” option in Instagram stories—which allows users to post whatever copy they want in front of a solid or gradient background—even down to the specific font families and aesthetic of the whole thing.
We guess the creative peak of the internet really is over and every app is just going to cannibalize each other into one big, capitalist, data-mining, Facebook-esque hellscape forever. Hooray!
