TikTok really wants to make its “Stories” feature a thing, but no one wants it

TikTok is rolling out its weird “Snapchat-like” Stories feature after they started testing it out last year. This means that more TikTok users will be greeted with a new banner encouraging you to create a story—but it doesn’t seem like it would be a feature that would stick.

The ability to do ‘TikTok Stories’—which was introduced in August of 2021—appeared in a select few users at first. Some of the popular TikTok creators have been seen experimenting with posting content through TikTok’s Stories section, which would appear on the side of the screen. However, I personally have never desired to press on the Stories function. It just felt so… unnecessary.

TikTok’s Stories work similarly to other Stories functions on other social media apps like Instagram and Snapchat. Users would be able to see Stories posted by accounts that they follow on TikTok for 24 hours before they’re automatically deleted.

“Currently, we’re expanding a pilot test, which provides creators with additional formats to bring their creative ideas to life for the TikTok community,” said TikTok.

I’ve noticed that my own personal TikTok account is also able to post Stories recently—although I never felt like I wanted to post a Story at all. However, I felt like I had to post something today… just in case you were curious.

Start by pressing the + button you would regularly press when you want to make your own TikTok post. There’s now an option where you can either post a “quick” post, go with a template, or you can select “camera” for longer TikTok videos. After you’re done with filming and editing, you’ll have the option to either press “Post to Story” or “Next” to post regularly. Stories won’t show up directly on your profile or feed. You will apparently be able to access Stories through users’ profile pictures—just like Instagram—before they disappear after 24 hours.

However, when I tried posting my own Tiktok Stories post, my co-workers weren’t able to access the Stories post through my profile picture. Instead, they’d have to find my profile and watch it from there—so I’m a little bit confused as to how it works. Still, for some reason, my silly one-off Story post got a decent amount of engagement.

I’ve not really seen too many TikTok users actually use the Stories function—and I don’t see why they need to. I’d usually get what I need through my For You Page, an algorithm-based feed made especially for each user. But time will tell whether the feature will stick in the long run.

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• TikTok stealing from Snapchat and Instagram for once, testing out their own ‘Stories’