The voice message people know from WhatsApp and Messenger is coming to TikTok videos. On 3 September the platform announced that it is adding voice comments, polls, photo carousels and so-called Live Photos to its comments section. According to TechCrunch, TikTok is borrowing the logic of messaging apps and wants to deepen user engagement.
More than 1.7 billion comments are shared across the platform every day, according to TikTok. It is this section that the company is now changing, from a place for feedback into a space where people are meant to stay together and react.
What is changing in comments
A user records a voice comment by tapping the microphone icon, and the recording can be up to 60 seconds long. The feature is rolling out globally over the next month and for now remains available only to accounts over 18. In its announcement, TikTok invites users with the words “React out loud with Voice Comments”.
Creators add polls under their own video, can offer up to five options and set the voting period. They then follow the results directly in the comments, and this feature is already available globally. The photo carousel extends a single comment from one image to up to nine photos at once, and rolls out over the next month. Live Photo comments let users upload images with a short motion clip, and according to Engadget they work straight away.
Formats borrowed from messaging apps
Voice messages, polls and picture replies are standard equipment in messaging apps. Now they are moving into the public comments section, which anyone can see.
Instagram is heading the same way. This June it launched photo comments, that is, replies to posts with an image from the gallery instead of plain text. Meta has also added AI voice effects to direct messages, which let users change the sound of their voice messages.
According to TikTok, sound has been part of its videos from the start. The voice comment now carries this principle from the video into the reactions beneath it.
A new surface to moderate
Audio in comments opens new material that the platform has to moderate. Voice comments are subject to the community guidelines, and according to TechCrunch TikTok checks them with a combination of human and automated tools, including speech-to-text transcription. The age limit for now applies only to voice comments, not to the other features.
In the European Union, TikTok counts among the very large online platforms under the Digital Services Act. The European Commission designated it in April 2023, when it had around 135.9 million monthly users in Europe. That status brings an obligation to assess systemic risks and moderate content. Audio comments add another type of material that falls under these rules, and the Commission has been running proceedings against TikTok since February 2024 to protect users.
The centre of engagement is shifting from the video to its comments.
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