Snapchat is renovating its app to introduce a new tab feature for short videos. This feature is called Spotlight and one can’t help but notice its resemblance to Tiktok’s uncanny.
In a recent press release, Snapchat states that Spotlight is designed to entertain the community while living up to Snapchat values, with society’s well-being as one of the top priorities. Spotlight content is moderated and doesn’t allow (for) public comments.
In the same way that users add a video to their story, they can submit their video snaps to Spotlight by selecting the ‘Send To’ option on the screen, followed by tapping on ‘Spotlight’ and then choosing the ‘Send’ option. Snapchat encourages its users to use various creative tools available within the app including text captions, AR lenses, GIFs & sounds, and music, to make their videos stand out from the rest.
The company also mentioned that the content posted on Spotlight needs to be original and that the user creating the posts should be 16 or older to be eligible for the mentioned $1 million rewards. Any breach of material or contents reported by others will be removed from the platform immediately.
The spotlight will be initially available in countries like the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and France, and will be made available in more countries soon.
Snapchat did not mention when the Spotlight feature will be available in India. When it arrives, it will be part of the flock of apps that have tried to fill the gap since TikTok got banned in India earlier this year.
Instagram has also announced their extension of the testing of Reels, a new video format, to India which allows a new way of creating and sharing short 15-second videos on Instagram. Reels which could be further found on two parts of Instagram – in the ‘Stories’ space and the on the ‘Explore’ page. These Short videos could be viewed and played back from their respective profiles.
There are also other platforms like Gaana HotShots, Trell, Roposo, Mitron, Chingari, MX Takatak, and Zee5’s HiPi, which all provide users an opportunity to consume short-format videos.
