TikTok is adding a new feature that will allow users to credit video creators and trend originators.
By allowing users to tag, mention and credit a video in posts, it will encourage people to credit their sources of inspiration.
Currently, when TikTok users want to credit another video, they can only acknowledge that creator in the captions or comments. The new feature will allow them to credit specific videos.
Kudzi Chikumbu, TikTok’s Director of Creator Community said in a blog post:
“These features are an important step in our ongoing commitment to investing in resources and product experiences that support a culture of credit, which is central to ensuring TikTok remains a home for creative expression,”
Users will be able to access the feature through the video page after posting or editing a video.
On the video page, they will have the option to tag videos they have liked, favorited, posted or that used the same sounds.
Additionally, TikTok will add user prompts like pop-ups explaining the importance of crediting and encouraging user to cite original creators.
Image Credit: Screenshot from newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/crediting-tools, May 2022.
Feature Comes Nearly a Year After Backlash from Black Creators
For some time, TikTok has faced accusations from users who feel their original content is being hijacked without proper credit being given.
Last April Jimmy Fallon and Addison Rae, one of the social media site’s most-followed personalities, drew the ire of black users after performing a series of dances popular from the site on “The Tonight Show”, without acknowledging the creators. In response, Fallon apologized and invited five TikTok creators onto the show to perform their dances.
However, this did not lessen claims that white content creators were stealing dances and memes from black creators, and last June many African-American content creators boycotted the platform, using the hashtag “BlackTikTokStrike.” The hashtag was used across multiple social media platforms and received millions of views.
“It’s important to see a culture of credit take shape across the digital landscape and to support underrepresented creators in being properly credited and celebrated for their work,” Chikumbu said in the post.
Source: TikTok Newsroom
Featured Image: Screenshot from newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/crediting-tools, May 2022.
