TikTok is moving beyond the short-form video format that made the social-media app famous, giving the online stars it helped create and others more airtime amid heightened competition for eyeballs.

TikTok on Thursday said it would widely roll out the ability to edit and upload videos that can run up to three minutes over the coming weeks after testing the features with some users. When the app owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd. made its debut, its videos largely ran 15 seconds or less. The limit was then expanded to videos lasting up to 60 seconds.

“With longer videos, creators will have the canvas to create new or expanded types of content on TikTok, with the flexibility of a bit more space,” TikTok product manager Drew Kirchhoff said in a blog post.

The app, which currently has about 100 million monthly active users in the U.S., is facing increasing competition. Facebook Inc., through Instagram, last year launched a short-video feature in the U.S. called Reels. Snap Inc., the app that became known for its focus on communication between friends and on professionally curated posts, introduced a video feature last year called Spotlight. Facebook and Snap have offered payments to lure creators of viral content to their respective apps. And Alphabet Inc.’s Google has been pushing YouTube content on its platform.

Enabling longer videos will potentially allow TikTok users to make more money on the platform and help the company compete with other longer-form content providers such as YouTube and Facebook, said Devain Doolaramani, chief executive of Fuel Injector, a firm that says it manages about a dozen TikTokkers.

“I think it’s a great move,” he said. “There’s such a vast array of YouTubers that are like ‘All right, we need to focus on YouTube content.’ But now, if they can repurpose a video or cut up a video into a two/three-minute that’s engaging on TikTok, too, it just opens up a whole new realm of opportunities for them.”

TikTok, in part, has built a name for itself for the overnight success some of its users have had, with videos going viral and reaching millions of viewers. Several of those sensations have gathered large followings that companies have tried to reach, paying popular creators to use specific songs, wear branded clothing and directly promote products in their videos.

Last year, TikTok’s loyal following swung to its defense when then-President Donald Trump signed an order calling for TikTok to either be shut down or sold to a U.S. company, citing concerns that TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, could share information about U.S. users with the Chinese government.

President Biden last month revoked his predecessor’s order and replaced it with a broad review of apps controlled by foreign adversaries to determine whether they post a national security risk.

Facebook Inc., through Instagram, last year launched a short-video feature in the U.S. called Reels.

Facebook Inc., through Instagram, last year launched a short-video feature in the U.S. called Reels.

Photo: Facebook

It is not unusual for social-media companies like TikTok to abandon some of their original principles. Twitter Inc. in 2017 walked away from its 140-character limit that long defined the short-messaging system. Snap introduced features to allow its users to replay some of their disappearing messages.

Some TikTok users have already found ways to get their audience to view longer videos by linking multiple short clips together. The new format, the company said, was a response to user demand for more time.

Whether the longer form will resonate with users is still uncertain, Mr. Doolaramani said. “I’m sort of curious to see if people are perceptive to the long-form content and actually retain enough attention to it.”

Earlier

TikTok is becoming a popular forum for Gen-Z and Millennials to learn about entrepreneurship and making money. To find out more, WSJ spoke with three TikTokers who are attracting large audiences that support their thriving online businesses. (Video from 12/1/20) The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition