Meta overhauled Facebook and Instagram to make them more like TikTok. YouTube created a new feature (Shorts) entirely designed to be like TikTok. Amazon, according to a Wall Street Journal report Wednesday, is testing a photo and video feed for online shoppers that looks like TikTok.
Why are all of these tech companies trying to be like TikTok?
Are users on board with these tech company platform changes?
What do we predict the future of social platforms to look like?
Dive in and find out on Tomorrow Today!
Be sure to Follow the Tomorrow Today Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss a new episode.
Follow us on Social Media
Duke McKenzie
Kyle Kaplanis
Duke McKenzie
LinkedIn - Duke McKenzie
Kyle Kaplanis
LinkedIn - Kyle Kaplanis
TikTok - @theweb3guy
IG - @kyle_kaplanis
YT - The Web3 Guy
Meta overhauled Facebook and Instagram to make them more like TikTok. YouTube created a new feature (Shorts) entirely designed to be like TikTok. Amazon, according to a Wall Street Journal report Wednesday, is testing a photo and video feed for online shoppers that looks like TikTok.
Why are all of these tech companies trying to be like TikTok?
Are users on board with these tech company platform changes?
What do we predict the future of social platforms to look like?
Dive in and find out on Tomorrow Today!
Be sure to Follow the Tomorrow Today Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss a new episode.
Follow us on Social Media
Duke McKenzie
Kyle Kaplanis
Duke McKenzie
LinkedIn - Duke McKenzie
Kyle Kaplanis
LinkedIn - Kyle Kaplanis
TikTok - @theweb3guy
IG - @kyle_kaplanis
YT - The Web3 Guy
All right everybody, welcome to Tomorrow Today. We have a special episode for you today, cuz normally you just see me and my co-host Kyle Kaplanis
Kyle Kaplanis:what's up everybody.
Duke McKenzie:We have another special guest. She was actually our first guest on the show, our coworker, our colleague, extraordinaire, Nadine Jarrard. How you doing Nadine?
Nadine Jarrard:Good. Good,
Duke McKenzie:All right. The reason why all three of us got together today was we wanted to talk about how we're seeing some changes in the platforms and how all the platforms are starting to merge together. I think that one of our hypothesis that we'd like to talk about and is actually on a post that Nadine did on her LinkedIn, talking about how all of the platforms and everything are starting to look. Like TikTok, all embracing short form. Nadine, wanna just talk about what inspired you to make that post and the thoughts around that?
Nadine Jarrard:I think that a lot of the legacy platforms as I would call them like Instagram and Facebook. Obviously under the Meta umbrella are trying to emulate a lot of the ways that TikTok portrays its content. And I just find that really fascinating because, a few weeks ago there was a huge movement on Instagram that was really anti, the changes with the algorithm that were happening on Instagram. and, there was this huge movement that was basically saying, please keep Instagram, Instagram. Which in response to that Instagram's CEO went on to talk about how they're really committed to their audience and they're really committed, to their followers. But essentially the gist of it was that Instagram's really focused on video content. They're really focused on Reels and there's really no way around that. If you are looking to grow your audiences on Instagram, then you're gonna have to adapt with the changes because that's essentially the direction of where the app's going.
Duke McKenzie:Don't you find that crazy, how at one point everybody was poo pooing short form creation on TikTok? And now it's not just Instagram, it's YouTube that has been embracing it. Kyle like you have stat, on one of your posts, something like, a large percentage of YouTube's new growth has come from YouTube shorts or something. I know you've been doing a lot of work with your creators around that.
Kyle Kaplanis:Yeah, apparently YouTube shorts is now on par with their user base on how many people are using YouTube shorts. I believe it's a billion plus users.
Duke McKenzie:Yeah, on YouTube right?
Kyle Kaplanis:On YouTube shorts. Yeah.
Duke McKenzie:Do you think this is a trend that's going to continue? Do you believe what the Instagram CEO said that all of the major platforms are gonna keep on pushing short form and then, why do you think everybody's embracing short form? Even consumers? Like why do you think it's exploded over the last little bit?
Nadine Jarrard:I think obviously right now, the biggest population within the general population is gen Z. And they are deciding essentially a lot of the changes that are happening right now. And what is happening is that there's so many people on TikTok now. There is something for everyone. It's no longer a lip syncing app. It's no longer a dance app. What has happened is essentially time spent on the app has skyrocketed, and growth on the app is skyrocketed. So if you look at growth within all the social platforms, TikTok is essentially having a spike in terms of growth. Whereas other platforms have leveled off or have remain stagnant and other apps have taken a dive. So that said, Instagram's really wanting to go where the audience is. So given that the largest population right now is gen Z, they're essentially dictating that movement. I just feel like Instagram hasn't really perfected the way that they are delivering this content. The superpower of TikTok will always be that algorithm. It's the reason why they've been so successful and that does not happen overnight. It takes a really long time to build a very strong algorithm and that's essentially what's happened here. Now the other thing that caused everyone to freak out is SEO within gen Z has completely retargeted to TikTok. So if you look at where the audience is looking and searching for things, they are going to TikTok. Gen Z really wants a visual representation of everything that they're searching for. Based on where the audience is going, a lot of these other platforms are paying attention and saying, Hey, we've gotta make changes. Are they making changes in the right way? I don't know. I can only speculate, but I would think that if Instagram wants to continue to be competitive, they've got to stick to what they know best while not pissing off their bread and butter. It's really interesting. What do you think Kyle?
Duke McKenzie:Kyle, what do you think?
Kyle Kaplanis:I think the race to be the best in short form is where we're at right now. Everybody's trying to be the best and interesting enough Gen Z is leading this because the Gen Z mindset is so short. Our attention spans are shortening. And because of TikTok, I
Duke McKenzie:eight seconds, eight seconds,
Kyle Kaplanis:it's getting more and more. And my brain is already reconditioned. So even when I'm watching shows that are longer, sometimes I'm like, damn, how long is this thing? It could be like 30 minutes and I'm starting to get bored quickly. And short form is King. It's the new thing. TikTok is always innovative.
Duke McKenzie:Right, right, right. That's how they burst on the scene cuz the algorithm as Nadine, said earlier is extremely innovative and they're always trying to change and alter.
Kyle Kaplanis:Yeah. Where everybody else is just copycast right. So if you notice there's this new trend that people are using and it's this AI generated tool that you can put in key words. Like your birthday or whatever and it creates an image based off of those words. So what TikTok is focusing on right now is AI generated content.
Duke McKenzie:Ah,
Kyle Kaplanis:which is gonna be very interesting.
Nadine Jarrard:I think that's why their algorithm works so well is because AI, right,
Kyle Kaplanis:exactly.
Nadine Jarrard:And that is the future. AI is the future and they can essentially know exactly what the video is about and who it's going to appeal to based on the content of the video. They know exactly what they're doing in terms of serving people up the content that they want to consume. Mm-hmm and that's very different than how Instagram natively works, right. Because Instagram is based on your friend graph.
Kyle Kaplanis:Yes.
Nadine Jarrard:It's based on your friend, whereas, TikTok is very different it's based on your interests. Yep. Mm-hmm so, unless Instagram wants to do complete overhaul of how they are presenting content. I just feel like, something's gotta give.
Duke McKenzie:That's an interesting thought because you're a hundred percent correct, because Instagram,
Nadine Jarrard:That doesn't surprise me.
Duke McKenzie:On Instagram, which is owned by Facebook and everything. Everything is based on the social graph. Mm-hmm . And the reason why TikTok is working as you are saying. Is that TikTok is presenting me with content that I didn't even know I wanted. Apparently there's two things that I like. When there's someone making their dog talk and like saying, what is their dog thinking? I didn't know. I didn't know. I like that. But apparently I really like that. I love those videos. Right. It figured out that I love old school hip hop videos. That makes sense. And then what I find on my, two Instagram accounts. And what I find on both my professional one and then even my personal one is that it is full of Reels. Which is Instagram's, short form, TikTok competitor. Yep. But the thing is, is that it doesn't serve and delight me like my TikTok post mm-hmm it feels random. You know what I mean? When I'm watching stuff on TikTok, I'll get one random thing, but it all, somehow I don't know how they do it, how they can read my brain. Yeah. But it somehow matches that what I am finding on Instagram so far is it feels random. And then I'm even finding that I consume a lot less YouTube than let's say my kids do or whatever it is. But even on YouTube, their YouTube shorts, the way it feels feeds me, content feels, it feels random.
Kyle Kaplanis:It does.
Duke McKenzie:Yeah. Where TikTok, when I'm getting stuff, it feels like it knows what I want it to see. Mm-hmm and that goes into it takes a long time to build an algorithm and that's not how their algorithms are based. It's based on who you are following versus what you are watching and what you like.
Kyle Kaplanis:Yeah.
Nadine Jarrard:And I think YouTube does a really good job of long form. YouTube's here to stay, right?
Kyle Kaplanis:Oh yeah.
Nadine Jarrard:YouTube is just so central in this entire conversation because what I appreciate about them is they've stayed very true to their product. Yeah. Their original product, which is long form content. And they've just added additional products around 'em to compete with TikTok. So YouTube shorts, even though that hasn't fully taken off, I feel like it provides an alternative if you're looking for that, but they haven't departed so far away from that where they've pissed off their audience.
Kyle Kaplanis:Yep.
Nadine Jarrard:And I feel like Instagram's changes were a lot more abrupt.
Kyle Kaplanis:Yes.
Nadine Jarrard:And I think change is good, but I don't feel like it should be abrupt. It should be prepared for and maybe that's the difference between Instagram and YouTube and how they've both approached the changes and the introduction of this massive app, right?
Kyle Kaplanis:Yeah. And what I like about YouTube, how they did it is that they keep it separate. So their long form content is on a totally different algorithm than their short form. So that way it doesn't disrupt the people who are already using long form content. And you're right what I feel as well is like everybody's competing with short form, but they have to remember. And what I teach people about sharing content is, you should share it across other socials, but a different piece, or why would people aggregate to other places if it's the same shit they're seeing across all right. So what I mean by that is on Instagram, I like the old school method you can share a couple images going across and sharing more details because the captions are quite long on there. You can share a story mm-hmm , and instagram stories is still the hottest.
Duke McKenzie:Instagram stories, it has a different use case. Where I find that TikTok is taking up my time now, cuz we say, TikTok is all gen Z and yes gen Z's driving. But I think now short form reaches everybody. Right? Mm-hmm. Where it's eating my time, I find that it competes with my TV time and my Instagram, not stories time, but like scrolling through feed time. Stories is an interesting thing. When I use it for Instagram, I use it as it keeps me updated on what people I'm following do, right? Yeah. I don't even look at their feeds anymore. I just look at their stories and it's just interesting. It's like a quick update or a piece of information or a quick video. They want me to watch or something like that. Yeah. So stories is still a killer app, but I don't know if you could attract new users with stories. I don't know whatever it is. Stories is actually a wonderful product, which Instagram took from Snapchat. Right. And they innovated it, but it's actually my favorite feature to consume. And that's where I spend most of my time consuming it. Mm-hmm cause I find that stories, you go through and you follow where TikTok. I find it fascinating, but you can get caught in the spiral of death totally. Of just watching video video, and then you look up it's an hour. That's how I use.
Nadine Jarrard:A lot of people ask me, so what do you think, is Instagram dead? I feel like a lot of people are rushing towards that conclusion. You cannot count Zuckerberg out. Right? You just can't because of the reiteration of different products that they've done in the past. Great example of that is stories. Snapchat five years ago was wildly different than how it was used then and how it's used now. Like today, Snapchat is a messaging app. That's essentially what it is. They'll tell you that they're a camera app. Zuckerberg, essentially what he did is he replicated that same exact feature, into Instagram. And it took off. In the beginning I think they, again, they received a bit of backlash, not as strong as this one, but it caught on and it became wildly popular and a lot of people are using it. I just can't seem to count them out because of what they've been able to do with stories. Mm-hmm I wish that more concentration is put on stories. Yeah. I wish they would promote that more. Mm-hmm because that's truly a product that everybody utilizes. Exactly. It seems like it's doing well. Mm-hmm it is a video product, so I feel like it would perform. It would do well. It would allow people to spend more time on the app. That is a part of their features that I'm not sure why they haven't pursued fully. I think that they're so hell bent on trying to take TikTok down that they're really trying to say, we wanna be the one stop shop for social media and I'm not sure it's that easy.
Kyle Kaplanis:Also, interesting enough. Tell me this. Isn't true. When you meet creators, they share their TikTok, but then they share their Instagram because that's how you contact me. You DM me on there. Mm-hmm and that's still the number one source for connecting with let's say our creators talk with brands. They DM each other on Instagram. Mm-hmm not on TikTok. TikTok messaging actually is crap. Mm-hmm like nobody used, I don't even, and I feel like if TikTok started matching that where people can DM me easily. Right?
Duke McKenzie:Yeah. But they're gonna get there. Here's the thing what's gonna happen. Everything's going to start looking very similar, right? TikTok knows that it has to create better communication. DMing features communicating to each other. TikTok just launched a story. I think it's called TikTok story even right.
Nadine Jarrard:It's called stories.
Duke McKenzie:Yeah. TikTok just launched a stories, product that they're testing and working out and TikTok is trying to figure out how to create certain longform opportunities for their talent. Just like Instagram is trying to be more like TikTok. And then YouTube is trying to figure out how to capture that market. So, yeah. No, I agree that everyone is going to start looking more the same as we move forward.
Kyle Kaplanis:Yep.
Nadine Jarrard:Yeah.
Duke McKenzie:As we wrap this one up, I would love to hear what's everyone's final take on the future of short form as in, do you think it's faddish or do you think everyone rushing to short form and everything is a long term trend that we just have to get used to? I love your thoughts.
Nadine Jarrard:Yeah. I mean, I think there's a place for two worlds where there's short form and there's long form. Really interesting what TikTok has done in short form. I think additionally, if you look at what's happening with the big streaming service, Netflix Hulu. And the decline in membership there, I think you can attribute so many things to that, but I think TikTok is definitely one of the reasonings there. If TikTok continues on its road to, acquiring more users and, really paying attention to their followers and really taking care of their creators, I think that's one thing that they would still need to work on. Mm-hmm . And they don't get banned. yeah.
Duke McKenzie:That's, that's another show. That is a, another show.
Nadine Jarrard:That's a whole other thing, cuz I know those conversations are once again, just piping hot and if they continue on this path, I think they have a real good shot of being the number one super app in America.
Kyle Kaplanis:Mm-hmm
Duke McKenzie:what do you think Kyle? What are your thoughts?
Kyle Kaplanis:My thoughts are like how Nadine said about treating their creators. Right? So if all the apps end up becoming the same, then the competition is not going to be between apps. It's going to be between users of saying, why would I create here then? So it would be, who's gonna take care of the creator the best mm-hmm Cause if they're all the same, then what's keeping somebody? There's no loyalty to a specific platform it's to their reach. So if they all have the same algorithm, then the loyalty will go where the money is. Mm-hmm . So if YouTube's like, we're gonna pay you better
Duke McKenzie:and then it'll go to YouTube.
Kyle Kaplanis:Everybody's gonna,
Duke McKenzie:because right now, YouTube is the king of creator monetization. You're getting source. That's a good thought.
Nadine Jarrard:What do you think?
Duke McKenzie:What do I think? Yeah okay. All right. Let's let's close it off like this. I think that short form is a form of storytelling that we are just beginning to explore. I think one of the creators that we work with Alex Stemp. He's actually working on creating shows and stuff, but. That told over three or four TikTok, and I've been watching a lot of creators do that. There's this, one young lady from Vancouver, she's created a whole series of characters and she has 50 millon things and like telling short form, episodic short form, contact comedians are all over it. So I think it's here to stay. And I think that we are at the cusp of what it means. Like it started off with just dances, but now what does it mean to tell stories in this format? And that's my final part. Well, listen, Nadine, you have to go join us more?
Nadine Jarrard:No,
Duke McKenzie:wasn't it great having Nadine on Kyle.
Kyle Kaplanis:Yeah.
Nadine Jarrard:Thanks for having me guys.
Duke McKenzie:All right, love it. All ladies and gentlemen, please subscribe, please download, please write and review. I am Duke McKenzie. I'm Kyle Kaplanis and are guest is Nadine Jarrard. All right, we'll talk to you guys later.