It happened in India and is likely to occur in the US. With TikTok facing an imminent ban in the country, several players and tech businesses are looking to fill the void that the short video platform is likely to leave behind.
One of these companies is Amazon.com’s live streaming platform Twitch, which unveiled its short-form video feature. Named Discovery Feed, this new service allows users to browse through bite-sized clips extracted from longer live streams, accessible through a new Twitch mobile app tab.
While Twitch is renowned for its gaming streams and interactive content, Discovery Feed marks its foray into short-form video content.
Unlike TikTok, where users upload short videos, Twitch relies on its community to curate engaging moments from live streams, turning them into shareable clips.
The initial content on Discovery Feed includes diverse offerings, from a university professor welcoming students to class to unexpected encounters faced by streamers on the streets.
Twitch aims to personalize the Discovery Feed based on individual viewing history and real-time interactions, potentially featuring mature content within the boundaries of its content guidelines.
The launch of Discovery Feed comes amid various legal developments that are raising significant doubt about TikTok’s future in the US. TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance Ltd., faces pressure from Congress and the Biden Administration to divest its US operations or risk a ban over national security apprehensions.
Despite TikTok’s massive user base in the US, Twitch sees an opportunity to offer an alternative short-form video experience.
Twitch and TikTok have been borrowing ideas from each other’s platforms for some time. In 2022, TikTok introduced a live subscription feature similar to Twitch’s offerings.
However, Twitch remains dominant in the live streaming market, with TikTok’s live streaming efforts yet to significantly impact Twitch’s market share.
Notably, according to a Twitch spokesperson, creators on Twitch won’t receive a share of the ad revenue generated on Discovery Feed, as ads appear between clips rather than within them. This revenue model diverges from TikTok’s, where creators can earn from advertisements directly within their videos.
As Twitch ventures into short-form video content, it remains to be seen how Discovery Feed will resonate with its community and whether it will emerge as a viable alternative to TikTok in the US market.
