After temporary TikTok shutdown in the USA: Bluesky and X get video feeds
It is still unclear what will happen with TikTok in the USA, but with Bluesky and X, two social networks are trying to attract video-savvy users.
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After TikTok was inaccessible in the USA for more than half a day and a ban is still not ruled out, two social networks, Bluesky and X, have introduced special areas for videos. Bluesky has a so-called "custom feed" that anyone can subscribe to and attach to their homepage, while X has a link to shared videos that is only available in the USA. Both services are apparently aiming to attract users who leave TikTok by focusing on videos. Bluesky is also working independently of the development team on TikTok alternatives based on the underlying protocol.
Bluesky's openness as an advantage
The innovations could therefore be most extensive at Bluesky, where the openness of the platform also encourages external contributors. The Bluesky team has only built a timeline of the most popular posts that contain a video. This can be pinned to the side (on the desktop) or at the top (on the smartphone) and can therefore be easily accessed at any time. Users can also create similar feeds themselves and make them available to others. At the same time, with projects called @tik.blue, @skylight.social and @bluescreen.blue, there are also attempts to build pure video apps based on the ATProto protocol on which Bluesky is based. However, none of these are yet available.
Videos by heise
Just like Bluesky, X introduced its "new home for video" today, Monday, shortly after TikTok temporarily went offline in the US. According to a short video, it is a button at the bottom of the app that leads directly to popular videos. It will be available in the USA from Monday. However, TikTok is working there after the short break on Sunday, and it is currently not clear what the future holds for the popular video app. Shortly before taking office as US President, Donald Trump assured that the app would no longer have to be blocked, but there was clear opposition from the US Congress. Quite a few of TikTok's 170 million US users are therefore likely to be looking for alternatives.
(mho)
