TikTok and Meta’s Latest Moves: A More Commodified Internet Ahead

The Convergence of Social Media Platforms: TikTok’s Foray into Instagram’s Territory

In the ever-evolving landscape of social media, the boundaries between platforms are becoming increasingly blurred. Even the most successful companies, like TikTok, are not immune to this trend of convergence. While TikTok has gained immense popularity with its focus on short-form, vertical video content, it is now taking a leaf out of its competitor’s book by venturing into Instagram’s domain.

TikTok Notes: A New App to Rival Instagram

According to recent reports, TikTok is developing a new app called TikTok Notes, which will allow users to share images, in a clear attempt to compete with Instagram’s core feature of static photo sharing. This move comes as no surprise, given that Instagram itself has expanded its offerings to include video and stories, borrowing elements from other platforms to enhance its own product.

The Domino Effect of Feature Adoption

Meta, the parent company of Instagram, is no stranger to this practice of feature adoption. Its various services frequently borrow from other platforms, as do most social media services you can think of. Remember the great Stories Boom, which saw everyone from Line to Spotify to LinkedIn experimenting with the popular sharing format? If a feature proves successful for one social media service, it’s only a matter of time before others follow suit.

The Quest for User Engagement and Revenue

The rationale behind this trend is simple: the more a service can offer its users, the more time they are likely to spend within the app’s ecosystem. By expanding their feature set, social media platforms aim to increase user engagement and, consequently, their revenue potential. However, this approach comes with the risk of bloat, which can dilute the user experience and, over time, transform an app into something akin to Facebook.

The Commodification of Digital Services

This phenomenon of the slow commodification of digital services through “sameification” is evident in various instances, such as LinkedIn’s attempt to emulate The New York Times’ gaming prowess. To some extent, it also explains why major tech platform companies strive to excel in every aspect: the relentless pursuit of revenue growth. Perhaps this is why your favorite app gradually feels more and more unfamiliar as time goes by. It inevitably evolves away from what made it special and unique because adhering to those principles is not the path to creating a service that appeals to the widest possible audience. To achieve that, you must become Facebook.