TikTok has taken another step forward in its quest to become a long-form video destination. The app has introduced a feature described as “video-scrubbing thumbnails,” which makes it easier to locate specific moments within longer clips.
Matt Navarra, the keen-eyed Twitter user known for spotting updates on social media platforms, pointed out TikTok’s new thumbnails on his feed. In this case, the individual who actually spotted the change was Navarra’s teenage daughter, so it would seem the analyst is spawning a whole clan of hawk-eyed observers.
FINALLY… TikTok added video scrubbing thumbnails! 👀🔎
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Makes it easier to find the bit you’re looking for in longer videos
h/t my 13 year old daughter pic.twitter.com/DpyjNoz5dE
— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) January 5, 2023
TikTok’s update brings its video-skipping capabilities closer to YouTube’s. The latter platform already lets users see a thumbnail of the moment they plan to skip to. To provide more control for impatient viewers, YouTube also displays the moments that get skipped to most often. That layout is particularly useful when browsing a highlight reel or a video with multiple parts.
It’s not a coincidence that TikTok is trying to catch up with YouTube in this particular area. The ByteDance-owned platform spent much of 2022 developing more support for long-form videos. The biggest change came in February, when TikTok upped its maximum video length to ten minutes. Then, in December, increased support for landscape formats indicated that TikTok plans to promote the “lean back” style of viewership.
These shifts have already delivered meaningful results for the company that initiated them. Last May, a study from eMarketer reported that TikTok would have more U.S. watch time than YouTube by the end of 2022. YouTube is looking to reverse that trend by encroaching on TikTok’s territory. One of its major themes of the past year was the rise of its vertical video platform, YouTube Shorts.
TikTok’s search for long-form viewership isn’t necessarily new. Back in 2020, the platform launched a TV app filled with curated playlists and more.
