With TikTok getting in trouble with the US government, it seems everyone wants to try and take over the short video format for themselves. Instagram is suspiciously trying to push its Reels feature more aggressively now, with rewards to creators and other changes to the app. Now, even Tumblr is getting into the action.
Tumblr has officially launched Tumblr TV, a video discovery feature previously relegated to its experimental Labs section, to all users. The move comes nearly 10 years after the feature’s initial debut as a GIF discovery tool in 2015, with the app adding support for video down the road. Tumblr didn’t really care to give it a full-fledged general release until now. We wonder what recent events made the Automattic-owned app change its mind.
There has been a surge of people looking for TikTok alternatives following the January 19th US ban on the app. President Trump put the ban on hold through an executive order in his first day in office, but the app is still not available through either the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store (with the Play Store reminding users that “downloads of the app are paused due to US regulatory requirements”).
Tumblr experienced a surge in user activity on the day of the ban, with a 35% increase in iOS app installs and a 70% jump in new users joining its Communities feature. New communities like “TikTok Repository” and “TikTok Refugees” have even emerged, catering to displaced TikTok users that are looking for a new platform for their content. Tumblr TV just offers an easier way to watch that content as if you were doomscrolling through TikTok.
Tumblr TV offers a vertical swipe-based navigation experience similar to TikTok, allowing users to explore various channels like Art and Sports in full-screen mode on mobile devices. However, the platform’s reliance on GIFs and videos not optimized for vertical viewing may present a less polished experience compared to TikTok’s focus on original, vertically formatted content. Many of the videos are grainy and were never recorded for a vertical video app in the first place.
If you want to check out Tumblr TV, check your Dashboard Tabs configuration settings to turn on the feature.
Source: TechCrunch
