The “TikTok Social” team is growing. Is the short-form app sending a message?

TikTok has already established itself as a short-form video leader, a search competitor for Google, and a global music service. Now, the app seems to have its sights set on another function: Messaging. Several job postings related to the “TikTok Social” team indicate that the ByteDance-owned platform plans to expand its in-app messaging hub.

Some of the postings describe TikTok Social as “the messaging team on TikTok.” New hires in both North America and Asia will help take TikTok’s messaging experience out of its “infancy” by developing an expanded chat service.

“Social Interaction team is mainly focusing on building a reliable and adaptive platform that enables users to meet and interact with their real-life friends seamlessly on TikTok, and encourage them to share their life moments with each other and stay connected regardless of where they are,” reads one of the postings. “Some core features and components we build and maintain include Story, Video Like, Comment, Friends Tab, Inbox Tab, Repost, TikTok Now feature and standalone app, etc.”

A standalone TikTok Social platform would not be ByteDance’s first foray into the world of messaging. In 2019, it launched an app called Duoshan, which was described at the time as a “Snapchat clone.” Duoshan pivoted to a photo-based format in 2022; as of 2023, it’s one of the ByteDance services named in an unfair competition lawsuit filed by competitor Tencent. The WeChat owner could also have something to say about TikTok’s messaging plans.

TikTok is keeping quiet about the Social team rumors. Axios, which first reported on the relevant job postings, shared a statement from a TikTok spokesperson. “Being an entertainment channel has always been and remains the core of TikTok’s business model even as we experiment with new features to enhance the user experience,” the spokesperson said.

That sort of rhetoric is typical of TikTok. The platform’s execs have avoided branding it as a social media app, preferring to play up its position in the entertainment world. But with apps like Instagram copying TikTok, ByteDance is doing what it can to copy them right back. A full-scale messaging service embedded within TikTok would be an interesting challenge for competitors like Instagram and Snapchat, though the Social team will need to complete its hiring binge first.