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. Suddenly, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and other social platforms were rushing to roll out similar products, encouraging users to make videos up to one minute in length that would be displayed vertically, in a scrolling feed with endless recommendations for what to watch next. Those other platforms spent the following years trying to play catch-up to TikTok’s popularity, especially among the crucial teen demographic. But now, the short-form video pioneer is changing course and pushing users to make and consume longer videos. With TikTok’s US$1 billion Creator Fund coming to an end last month in the U.S., U.K., Germany, and France, creators in these countries who want to monetize their content will have to join the new “Creativity Program Beta,” under which they’ll have to make videos longer than one minute if they want to get paid by the app. TikTok is now following its legacy peers into a content format that’s often more profitable. The strategy could also encourage users to spend even more time on an app that some teens already say they’re using “almost constantly.” But some TikTok creators are frustrated with the move, worrying it will take away from what initially made TikTok so popular: the ability to quickly scroll through lots of different kinds of content, and for nearly anyone to easily make videos without extensive planning or resources. “I don’t always have a minute of content in me,” said Nikki Apostolou, a TikTok creator with nearly 150,000 followers known as “recycldstardust,” who makes content about Native American history and culture on the app. “I feel like there are so many creators out there who came to TikTok because it was the short-form video app,” she said, “and now they want to be like ‘mini YouTube,’ and I feel like it leaves out creators who came there for the short-form content.” TikTok spokesperson Zachary Kizer said in a statement that the company developed the new creativity program “based on the learnings and feedback we’ve gained from the previous Creator Fund. As we continue developing new ways to reward creators and enrich the TikTok experience, we value the feedback and direct insights from our community to help inform our decisions.” (SD-Agencies) Words to Learn 相关词汇 【军备竞赛】jūnbèi jìngsài arms race an ever escalating race or competition 【特定年龄用户群】tèdìng niánlíng yònghùqún demographic a market or segment of the population identified by demographics 2020年新冠疫情流行之初，一飞冲天的TikTok利用热舞或搞笑短视频为广大用户提供了急需的娱乐，掀起了一场短视频军备竞赛。 突然之间，Facebook、Instagram、 YouTube和其他社交平台纷纷推出类似产品，鼓励用户制作长度不超过一分钟的视频，这些视频以竖屏呈现、滚动推送，无休止地“投喂”给观众。随后几年，TikTok大受欢迎，尤其在青少年用户群体无人匹敌，其他平台都在努力追赶。 但现在，这个短视频先锋正在转变策略，推动用户制作和观看更长的视频。随着TikTok上个月在美国、英国、德国和法国终止10亿美元的“创作者基金”，这些国家的视频创作者如果想通过内容赚钱，就必须加入新的“创作计划测试版”。 TikTok正追随行业中历史更久的公司，采用一种更容易产生利润的内容形式。这一策略还能鼓励用户在TikTok上逗留更长时间，虽然一些青少年表示他们已经“几乎不停地刷TikTok”。 但一些 TikTok内容创作者对此举感到沮丧，担心这将动摇让TikTok迅速爆红的根基：用户能快速滚动浏览大量不同类型的内容；无需详细策划或占用大量资源，几乎任何人都能轻松制作视频。 尼基•阿波斯托卢是一位TikTok博主，拥有近15万粉丝，账户叫“recycldstardust”，视频内容讲述美国原住民的历史和文化。她说：“我不常能拍出时长1分钟的视频。我觉得很多创作者选择TikTok是因为它的短视频形式，现在他们想转型为迷你YouTube，这会让那些冲着短视频来的创作者感到失望。” TikTok发言人扎卡里•基泽尔在一份声明中说，该公司“根据从之前的‘创作者基金’项目中获得的经验和反馈制定了新的创意计划。在继续开发奖励创作者和丰富TikTok体验的新策略时，公司非常重视直接来自社群的反馈意见，以帮助制定明智的决策。”(Translated by Debra) | 