Summary
- In a move to capitalize on the uncertainty surrounding TikTok, X has introduced a new tab specifically for vertical videos.
- While X already offered short-form videos accessible through scrolling the feed, the new tab consolidates them into a central location.
- This ‘immersive new home for videos’ is currently limited to X users in the US on mobile devices.
It’s Monday, January 20, 2025 — and TikTok has seemingly lived on. Don’t get me wrong, the app still seems to be stuck in regulatory ambiguity, but it hasn’t gone completely dark as many had expected.
For reference, back on Friday, January 17, the US Supreme Court upheld the Biden administration’s TikTok ban, which meant the app could have gone dark yesterday, January 19. Although the app did temporarily go down, with users seeing in-app notices stating that “a law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US,” the app seems to be back online, at least for now.
TikTok’s will likely receive a 90-day extension as part of President Donald Trump’s first few executive orders after taking office — however, to sustain long-term operations, TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, will have to divest its holdings. While the app is ensnared in regulatory red tape, X (Twitter) seems to be making a play for the vertical video market.
In a tweet on Sunday, January 19, the Elon Musk-owned platform announced that it now has a dedicated vertical video tab, describing it as “an immersive new home for videos.”
Videos are taking center stage
The new vertical video tab replaces the community icon in the app’s bottom bar. As of right now, the new tab is limited to X users in the US, with no word about its potential expansion. Additionally, the new tab only appears to be available on the platform’s mobile apps.
For what it’s worth, X already offers short-form videos, albeit they’re mostly accessed by tapping on a video on the feed and then scrolling upwards to reveal more videos. This feed highlights videos in full portrait 9:16 aspect ratio and smaller landscape and square formats. The new video tab essentially consolidates this collection of videos into a dedicated central tab. From the looks of it, the new tab seems to only feature vertical/full portrait 9:16 videos. We’re not entirely certain if landscape/square videos will appear in this feed.
