Snapchat takes on TikTok with Spotlight feature
Snap says it'll distribute $1 million every day among top creators who submit videos to Spotlight.
- Carrie has lived on both coasts and can definitively say that Chesapeake Bay blue crabs are the best.
Snapchat Spotlight videos (shown here) look an awful lot like TikTok videos.
Snapchat on Monday launched a new in-app feature called Spotlight to highlight videos on the messaging app. Spotlight positions Snapchat to compete with other social video apps and features like TikTok and Instagram Reels (which was also created to compete with TikTok).
"We built Spotlight to be a place where anyone's content can take center stage -- without needing a public account, or an influencer following," Snap said Monday in a blog post. "It's a fair and fun place for Snapchatters to share their best Snaps and see perspectives from across the Snapchat community."
Snaps submitted to Spotlight must be vertical videos that are up to 60 seconds long -- no still-image photos or horizontal videos allowed -- and adhere to the messaging app's Community Guidelines. Snap said Spotlight is meant to be a fun, positive experience and isn't a place for news or "overtly political" content. The 30-second video released to announce Spotlight includes short videos that look exactly like TikTok videos.
To kick off the new feature, Snap says it'll distribute $1 million every day among top creators who submit videos to Spotlight. The reward program will run through at least the end of 2020, Snap said.
Spotlight is available in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and France, with more countries "coming soon," said Snap.
See also: How an ordinary 16-year-old came to dominate TikTok