You may have already noticed the new feature available on the TikTok app. It allows users to skip forward through the video they’re watching. Quite literally, skipping to the good bit.
Having the ability to skip through various parts of a video really is a blessing. Sometimes, you’ll find yourself hooked on a video, but it’s longer than you have time for. Or, it simply doesn’t grip your interest enough. However, you want to know the ending, so you choose to skip ahead and find out what happens towards the end of the video.
Many content creators add ‘fluff’ to their videos. This is simply extra content that just isn’t needed, but it bulks out the timing. The more time they spend on camera, the more they typically earn. Creators want views, but they also want adverts. The longer the video on platform’s like YouTube, the more adverts that will typically be attached.
How creators clickbait
It’s a similar concept for TikTok. Longer videos equal more work which in turn brings in more money typically. Creators are able to increase their watch time through uploading longer videos. If they clickbait, they’re usually likely to keep a viewer as opposed to if they share their information right from the beginning.
When a creator has something important to tell their audience about, e.g. they’re expecting a baby and want to reveal the gender, or, they’re partnering with a brand – they’ll likely keep the big information until the end of the video. This means viewers have to keep watching to find out what the title is all about. The really smart creators will put it somewhere in between.
Having it at the end of a video means a viewer might skip straight to the final few minutes. This won’t bring people back to your videos because they haven’t watched anything that’s brought them back to your page. However, placing it towards the end, but still somewhere in the middle, means viewers have to watch your video to find it.
TikTok fast-forward feature
They won’t find it by skipping straight to the end, or from the very beginning. Instead, they can skip ahead, but they’ll have to pay attention to your content to find the clickbait. TikTok have made it easy for viewers to now fast-forward through videos. All you need to do is tap and hold on one side of your screen.
It doesn’t matter which side you hold. Choose a side and hold it down to skip through the video. It won’t swipe to the next one, and when it’s done, it will take you back to the start. The speed isn’t superfast, so you won’t miss everything that’s being said. Instead, you can watch the video at a faster speed, allowing you to only stop when you feel necessary.
This means any viewer can stop at any stage and watch the video at a normal speed. For some videos, it’s great to watch the whole thing at speed. Some creators take longer than others to do walk throughs. If you’re someone who only wants to see certain parts, or picks things up easily, you’ll likely want to try it sped up.
