- X, Bluesky, and others have rolled out vertical video feeds following TikTok’s short shutdown.
TikTok’s offline period may have lasted less than 24 hours, and the controversial social network may have received a 75-day reprieve from Donald Trump, but other sites are moving ahead with their own versions of the site for people to flee to, should the ban be enforced at a later date.
Elon Musk’s X, late on Sunday, announced the launch of a new tab for vertical videos, which allows users to endlessly scroll through video shorts. It’s a slight tweak to the site’s previous model, which required users to first click on a video, then begin scrolling.
To access the feature, click the new “play button” icon at the bottom bar.
X wasn’t alone in rolling out a TikTok-like feed. Bluesky, also on Sunday, created a scrolling video feed that it calls Trending Videos. That feature is now available on the "explore" tab.
“We had to get in on the video action too—Bluesky now has custom feeds for video! Like any other feed, you can choose to pin these or not. Bluesky is yours to customize,” the site said in a post.
Neither site discussed the algorithm it uses to populate the video feed.
While it’s easy to duplicate the core thrust of TikTok—an endless scroll of user-generated videos—the magic in that app is TikTok’s ability to populate the feed with videos that captivate users. That algorithm is ByteDance’s secret sauce—and the feature it is fighting hard to protect, even risking a U.S. ban in the process.
TikTok’s fate is still far from certain. While Trump has extended the deadline for a ban, he continues to push ByteDance to sell the app to an American company, at least in part. Should that fail to happen, it could put Trump and TikTok in an awkward spot, given the recent Supreme Court ruling that gave a green light to the ban.
TikTok’s not the only ByteDance property that other social media companies are looking to duplicate. Instagram said it is working on a video-editing app that is similar to CapCut. The first version of that is expected to release within the next month, said Instagram chief Adam Mosseri on Sunday.
