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After revolutionizing the video-based social media space, TikTok may now be looking to enter the messaging industry. The app already has a messaging function, but the company appears to be preparing to make it more robust. Its Chinese parent ByteDance is hiring engineers and product managers to work on advanced messaging features.
ByteDance has published a slew of new job openings for a new internal team called “TikTok Social.” First spotted by Axios, most of these roles are focused on improving the app’s messaging experience. “We are the messaging team on TikTok,” the introduction for an engineering lead role says. “Our team’s mission is to facilitate meaningful user connections through TikTok’s messaging experience, which is still in its infancy.”
A listing for a product manager says the team would work on expanding “the boundaries of TikTok by encouraging building meaningful social connections between users.” Other job descriptions also hint at new messaging features and more ways for users to connect on the platform. “Some core features and components we build and maintain include User Profile, Story, Inbox, Messaging, Follow, Like, Comment, Tag, etc.,” ByteDance says.
Unfortunately, the company doesn’t directly tell what it’s up to. The Chinese firm told Axios that it might experiment with new features, but entertainment is still the core of TikTok. “Being an entertainment channel has always been and remains the core of TikTok’s business model even as we experiment with new features to enhance the user experience,” the official statement reads.
New messaging features might help TikTok become a complete social media package
TikTok ushered the social media industry into short-for vertical videos, which are now found on almost every platform. Several established players copied the feature, including YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat. Since these platforms already boast many other features, copying TikTok helped them improve their feature set and stop users from fleeing to TikTok or other similar apps.
It appears the ByteDance-owned now wants to copy them and grow into a complete social media package. There are already hints of its working on a music app, as well as shopping, podcasts, and text post features for TikTok. A robust messaging system could be the next step forward. Unfortunately, details are scarce at the moment. It’s unclear whether the Chinese platform will add everything from encrypted one-to-one chats and group chats to communities, stories, and more. Things might get clearer in the coming months.
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