Even though TikTok isn’t typically thought of as a messaging app, it already has messaging features. But it seems like the business is committed to changing this opinion.
TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is actively hiring for a variety of positions within a team called “TikTok Social,” indicating a concerted effort to significantly improve TikTok’s messaging features.
These job listings still retain some of the usual ambiguity, but they also reveal TikTok’s future plans. For instance, the TikTok messaging team is described in the engineering lead listing. The goal of our team is to develop TikTok’s messaging platform, which is still in its early stages, into a platform that fosters meaningful user connections.
Another job posting for a backend tech lead mentions working with global teams to create a unique TikTok social solution that includes messaging. The TikTok Social team also expects a product manager to have “passion and curiosity for Social direction to create great impacts.”
TikTok’s job listings don’t explicitly mention any overarching product plans, and the company has told Axios that TikTok’s primary focus will continue to be entertainment. However, according to the job description for a backend software engineer, the Social team is in charge of managing a number of elements, including “User Profile, Story, Inbox, Messaging, Follow, Like, Comment, and Tag,” all of which point towards a full-fledged messaging app similar to many of its competitors.
While others are attempting to imitate TikTok’s incredibly engaging short-form video feed, it appears that the platform itself is busy attempting to adopt features from other apps.
