TikTok has introduced three new comment features which provide users with different options other than just writing a reply in plain text to a message in comment. TikTok on September 3 confirmed that the change included comment polls, voice comments, photo carousel replies, including a live photo option. Taken all together, these moves represent TikTok’s strongest effort to-date in increasing participation through comment interaction.
Voice Comments Let Viewers Skip the Keyboard
The first update is voice comments – a means for viewers to leave a reply as a voice message instead of typing out the comment. Users just hit the mike button in the comment box to record a message, and after posting, the comment appears as a playable audio file with the text underneath it automatically translated.
Voice notes can be as long as 60 seconds. In introducing voice comments, TikTok emphasized the idea of making the response easier in the moment without typing, that people are able to tell their feelings by a voice message without a keyboard.
The rollout for voice comments is global but limited by age. TikTok says the feature is being made available over the next month to users aged 18 and older, so it implies that the company might want to first witness what kind of change in users’ communication in video platforms can be expected after the introduction of an audio-based commenting system before making it available throughout the entire user base, which includes its teenage audience that is quite big.
Comment Polls Turn Replies Into Live Feedback Loops
TikTok has also added a brand-new option to its app by making polls directly available through the comment feature of creators’ own videos. Based on the platform, only the original video creator adds the poll while the audience can cast a vote for maximum five alternative answers provided in that poll.
One thing the company says is very important is that poll results are instantly viewable for creators as they get the votes, which helps them quickly understand the audience response when they are scrolling their video conversation thread. In effect, a video’s comment section gets transformed to a little layer that reacts to the content itself for interaction rather than being merely a text comment thread. While voice comments will still get phased in gradually as TikTok rolls them out, there is a major difference with polls. The new feature is already out for every creator on TikTok which effectively means no waitlist or gradual rollout windows for comment polls as TikTok itself confirmed.
Photo Carousels and Live Photos Bring Visuals Into the Comment Section
Third, there is another notable update where users can reply to videos using images instead of plain text or audio. The comment system now supports a feature called photo carousel comments enabling a user to attach as many as nine pictures to one single comment. Upon selecting the photo, a viewer can zoom in so it turns into a gallery which can be scrolled through, providing a way to look at the entire collection right from the comment box without closing the thread.
And, another new feature offered by TikTok is live photo replies. Here a user is able to post a sort of short “live” image, which is animated. This kind of a response has been likened to the feature that users of iPhones are quite accustomed to – live photo.
TikTok announced that the basic photo comment feature is accessible world-wide whereas, the extended carousel feature is currently being rolled out, over the next month, same thing as it was for voice comment feature.
Why TikTok Is Investing in the Comment Section
These changes fit into a broader pattern across social platforms over the past few years: engagement is increasingly measured not just by views or likes, but by how much activity happens underneath a post. In general, a constant theme in the changes that have happened over the social sites in the last three or four years has been to find ways to encourage more activity underneath the main post, whether that activity is likes or comments. Comment fields have become actively promoted as their own secondary content surface, and sites have been continuing to ad features that are designed to lower the barrier for interacting without having to say something typed.
For TikTok to be exact, this effort comes at a time when the platform is trying to bolster many-day long reasons to stick around inside individual video threads versus just scrolling past. Voice comments, in particular, makes it easier to have a spur of the moment response, since it’s easier to tap record than write a comment on mobile for many users.
Polls gives content creators a quick, light way to do their own informal audience survey, or start a debate, without even requiring viewers to reply with a comment. Photo carousels and live photos extends those same principles of visual response and participation, even further. Also, interesting to note is the competitive dimension. Other social media properties have been trying out different ways of extending comment formats beyond merely text in (Instagram and Reddit) multiple ways over the last year or twovoice clip replies in direct messaging channels, reply image comments, or overlaying interactive polls onto posts. Moving here, TikTok pulls quite a number of these ideas together in a single integrated refresh instead of releasing them as features in their own right, leading us to believe that the company considers comment-driven engagement a powerful incentive to keep people active in the app for a longer period per session.
What This Means for Creators and Brands
For creators, these tools mean they can find and try out some really useful things in practice. Comment polls, which everyone can start using right away without joining a waiting list, offer a simple way to understand your video’s audience at the moment by asking them what they think of a video. This is not only useful for creators who want to decide which type of content to make, but it’s also good for a post getting a bit more engagement. Audio voice comments and image carousels would likely help to create a more personal, community vibe among those comments that are really popular. Really, voice clips and pictures often feel much more like the person talking than just a short text reply.
This change is something for brands and marketers on TikTok who manage accounts should keep a keen eye on as new comment features are introduced, since comment engagement behavior is known to change quite rapidly once a completely new reply structure is on the market. People often experience a quick rise in engagement rates with the first wave of users when a feature like this is released as the format is still new, but platforms like social networks don’t usually mention how much of a part they play in the sustainability of the feature’s popularity.
Rollout Timeline at a Glance
Following the announcement on September 3 it is stated that the voice comments and the comments using the carousel feature will be globally rolled out one month from today. Voice commenting is limited to users who are 18 years of age or over. Everyone is able to use very basic photo comments. Comment polls are live only for creators.
Voice comments and photo carousel comments are both being rolled out globally over the next month from the September 3 announcement, with voice comments restricted to users 18 and older. Basic photo comments and comment polls are already live for all users and creators respectively, with no staged rollout attached.
FAQs
Q 1: What new kinds of comment features is TikTok introducing?
These are voice comments, comment polls, photo carousel comments and live photo replies.
Q 2: What’s the maximum voice comment length?
60 seconds max
Q 3: Who is allowed to comment on TikTok by voice?
People aged 18 and over are getting the feature on a worldwide release over the coming month.
Q 4: What is the requirement for a TikTok user to create a poll inside the comments of the video?
Only the original video maker is allowed to insert a poll into the video’s comment section.
Q 5: What maximum number of options can a poll in a TikTok comment have?
Five options at max.
Q 6: is it true that comment polls will only be available to certain persons?
TikTok is currently enabling comment polls and has stated that it is not doing so as a gradual rollout.
Q 7: How many photos could be added to photo carousel comment on TikTok?
Till 9 photos, which get displayed side by side as a scrollable carousel when users tap on them.
Q 8: is taking comments with photos possible from today?
Photo comments, in their most basic form, have been available worldwide already. Photo comment carousels though are currently being slowly made available to users during the next month.
Q 9: Define live photo reply on TikTok?
Commented by using images that were alive (short animation) that are similar as those available from iPhones, which are live photos, and users can share them as comment replies, that is what a. livephoto reply on TikTok means.
Q 10: What reason has been given for introducing these features now?
As TikTok, these new features will enable viewers to interact with videos in a different and also more engaging manner, which in turn encourages community members to comment.
