Kate Mills 
Dec 17, 2023
When TikTok took off in 2020 — with short dancing or comedy clips providing much-needed entertainment to many users at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic — it launched a short-form video arms race.
TikTok has been relishing immense popularity among all the age-group segments, especially one teenagers.
However, the short video platform seems to be departing from the niche and pushing users and consumers to indulge in longer videos, CNN reported.
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The developer is all set to release its original “Creator Fund,” On Saturday, obliging creators to join the new “Creativity Program Beta” if they wish to monetise their content.
Under the ethical instructions of the Beta program, users will have to make videos longer than one minute to get paid by the app.
Creators’ woes
Although the long-form strategy was justified and embraced by the company and some experts in this sphere, a lot of creators with substantial following seem frustrated with the move.
Expressing dissent and fear, some creators say they joined TikTok because they wanted to make short-form content, and that the changes could make it harder for them to make a living from the app with their chosen format.
“I don’t always have a minute of content in me,” said Nicki Apostolou, a TikTok creator with nearly 150,000 followers known as “recycldstardust,” who makes content about Native American history and culture on the app.
With her videos about astrology running below 10 seconds, Aly Tabizon is a renowned creator on TikTok with 1.2 million followers.
“From what I’ve learned … the attention span of today’s generation is around eight to 10 seconds,” Tabizon told CNN last month. “Even myself, when I see a minute-long video, if it’s not someone I have followed for a while, I’ll probably scroll past it” she added.
Is the pay bigger?
Nevertheless, Tabizon is trying minute-plus-long videos and said, “If the pay is bigger, I think it’s going to be worth it.”
The company says creators making longer-form content have more than doubled the money they made previously.
Laura Riegle, a TikTok creator known on the app as “laurawiththecurls” with 120,000 followers, said that making entertaining long-form videos can require more resources, which not every creator can afford.
Riegle has captured around since 2020 with short, snappy videos featuring everything from haircare tips to trendy dances.
“You have to cut things out, sometimes you’re re-recording the same thing a bunch of times and then you have to piece things together,” Riegle said. “The long-form content is definitely more time-consuming and that’s what makes it more difficult for somebody like me because I already work full-time, I have a family … so I don’t have a lot of free time.”
