TikTok considers letting users upload videos 60 minutes long

TikTok, a digital platform beloved for its short and snappy videos, is experimenting with letting users upload clips as long as 60 minutes.

Back when it first launched in the US in 2017, TikTok featured clips lasting only 15 seconds. But the company, which is owned by ByteDance, has eased its time restrictions in the years since, with all users now permitted to share video lasting up to 10 minutes.

Back in January, it granted some content creators the ability to share videos as long as 30 minutes, while those who sell subscriptions are able to upload 20-minute clips.

Now it appears TikTok is mulling over whether to again increase how long videos featured on the platform are allowed to be.

On Friday, TikTok confirmed to CBS News that certain users can now post 60-minute clips, though the feature will likely not see a wider release at any point in the near future. The company added that it’s in a trial period, and emphasized that it often experiments with features that do not become permanent.

Social media consultant Matt Navarra was among the first to learn of TikTok’s latest experiment. He posted an alert he received on Meta’s text app Threads, reading: “Upload videos up to 60 minutes long! Make sure your app is up-to-date, then try uploading from your app or desktop on tiktok.com.”

TikTok’s explosive popularity prompted more well-established platforms like Meta and YouTube to add similar short-form video feeds. TikTok, meanwhile, has been pushing more and more into longer content, even as its future in the United States gets murkier.

In April, President Joe Biden enacted a law that could result in a nationwide TikTok ban should ByteDance fail to sell its stake in the company within a year.

In response, TikTok and ByteDance earlier this month filed a lawsuit against the US, blasting the bill as unconstitutional. – New York Daily News/Tribune News Service