Sharing a video is the only option for users to send their favorite posts to others, and this has thus far been accomplished in three ways — 1) copying the link to the original video and sharing it to others via networking apps, or 2) saving a video to the camera gallery and reuploading it as one’s own, or 3) stitching or dueting with other’s contents to share it on one’s profile. If your purport is pure, then you can save all this trouble and directly share or repost someone else’s video on TikTok.
Wait, so TikTok has a “repost” button now? Since when? Since very recently. Let’s see how it works and how to use the feature.
TikTok “Repost” in a glance
The video editing tools, algorithm, good user experience all fall under the TikTok development team’s purview to undertake constant tuning and tweaks to increase the traffic in the platform. Based on various feedbacks or innovations, new functions are frequently rolled out by the team, like the increment allotted to the maximum length for video uploads in a recent update. Another new function that is recently delivered to its users is the option to repost their favorite videos.
Discovering videos on TikTok is a process users usually hand over to the algorithm. We expect to be spoon-fed with exclusive content we are interested in, and the algorithm does it for us. But, for the creators, leaving things up to the algorithm might not be an advantage, what they need is a voluntary and active recommendation by followers to truly create a niche.
Repost is such a tool that allows users to share videos they like with their followers. However, there are a few conditions to what kind of videos are allowed to be reposted by a user. For instance, you cannot repost a video discovered on someone’s profile or through TikTok Discover. You can only repost videos found on your TikTok “For You” feed. Similarly, the video you repost is only up for recommendation in the home feed of your mutual connections.
Let’s take a look at how it is done.
Related: How to use TikTok filters: Everything you need to know
How to repost on TikTok
Launch the TikTok app on your device.
Tap the Home icon to go to your ‘For You’ feed.
Hit the arrow icon of the share button.
Tap Repost found next to the contacts at the top row.
The first time you use this function, a popup informs you about its purpose and effects. Hit Repost to continue.
A confirmation popup shows up once the video gets successfully reposted. There is even a textbox available to Add your thoughts about the video. Tap the text box.
Enter your message in the text box and hit Add.
What happens after you repost a video on TikTok?
The videos you repost do not show up as a comment under it. Rather, TikTok adds them as labels to the video.
When a reposted video appears in your ‘For You’ feed, it shows the labels of all users who have reposted it above the creator’s name.
When you tap the label, you can view the comment added (if any) by the user while reposting.
Related: How to Find Your Favorites on TikTok (Videos, Sounds and Effects)
How to undo TikTok repost
As we already discussed, the TikTok videos you find by any other means such as a link you received over the DMs, from a creator’s profile, or from the TikTok Discover do not come with a repost button. Hence, once you repost something, you ought to remove it immediately lest you lose the opportunity to do it later.
To undo a repost, all you have to do is tap the Repost button again.
A popup asks you to confirm the activity. Hit Remove to proceed.
Your repost along with the comment you added will be immediately removed from the video once complete.
How does TikTok repost work: Things to know
The purpose of the TikTok reposting function is to allow users to share their favorite content with their followers and the shared content gets sort-of organically recommended to the mutual follows.
If you are familiar with social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook, you might have some understanding of how well its users utilize the repost feature to share the content that they like with their followers or the public. The option to repost instantly acts as a tool to connect a creator with users far outside and beyond their followers, as each video or content reposted by an individual follower has the potential to reach their own with the followers or related community. Of course, it all depends on privacy settings, but for the most part, most posts shared by users reach all their friends even if they are hidden from the profile wall for public view.
As a video-sharing platform with its root deeply embedded in content sharing and global discovery, why hasn’t TikTok introduced a similar feature to its arsenal?
It is likely that it wasn’t not considered, but because of the lurking threat of power abuse involved that has likely kept the repost feature from making its way over until now. TikTok’s “for you” page recommendations are brought to each user after grinding through the sieve of the algorithm that only allows ‘related’ or interesting content to users. So, if you follow a few popular creators who form a pact to support each other by reposting each other’s content, imagine what kind of mess your FYP would fall into?
However, the repost feature on TikTok seems to have found a workaround for this. Because, even if you follow some influential TikToker, their reposts won’t show up on your feed unless they follow you as well. Hence, manipulation to cheat the algorithm is expected to be less with such a root formula guiding the repost function.
However, reposting is also a necessary function expected by users as we often come across videos that we wish to share with someone else. Previously, the most used method was to share the link of a video with others in DMs. There is the second category of users who often download other creators’ content and upload it as their own. However, reposting someone else’s original content is highly frowned upon on TikTok. Hence, the repost feature is anticipated to remedy the situation at hand and allow for easy video sharing and recommendations.
Related: How to Trim on TikTok: 3 Ways to Trim Videos Easily
Who can view your reposts?
The videos you repost get recommended only to those with whom you share a ‘mutual following’ connection on TikTok. Since the TikTok algorithm also considers the interests of related accounts to curate a user’s “For You” page, videos recommended as reposts are expected to add an advantage to its reaching a bigger audience through such a network.
Where to view the videos you reposted
Unexpectedly, there is no shortcut or dedicated “Reposts” tab on your profile to review all the content you have reposted. As a result, you cannot undo a “repost” unless you do it immediately after reposting or if you come across it again on the For You page.
Alternate ways to “repost” a video on TikTok
While it may not be “reposting” in the real sense of the word, another way to share a TikTok video is by sending the link to it to someone else. Sharing the link to videos comes in handy when you find a video from anywhere on the app; that is to say, fetching and sharing the link does away with the restriction of the repost button to the home feed on TikTok.
Method 1: Copying the link to a video for sharing
Launch the TikTok app on your device.
On any video that’s playing, tap the Share icon.
Tap the link icon to copy the link.
You can paste the link in the text box of any interactive app like WhatsApp, Instagram, etc.
Another method to repost a video is by uploading someone’s content as your own. Here is how it is done.
Method 2: Downloading a video to re-upload it
Launch the TikTok app on your device.
On any video that’s playing, tap the Share icon.
Tap Save video to download it to your camera roll.
Now, open the TikTok app and tap the Record button to go to the create page.
Tap Upload to access the videos in your camera roll.
Select the videos and tap Next.
In the editing page, add overlays and effects of choice, and tap Next.
Add captions and adjust the privacy setting on the processing page. Hit Post.
The videos uploaded thus would have watermarks of the original creator’s details on the video, you can use the link to download the videos from websites that remove watermarks from downloaded videos.
Method 3: Stitching or Dueting with other creators’ videos.
When you stitch or duet with other videos, they appear on your profile along with the additions you have made to it. For instance, when you stitch with a video, you can take a 5-second byte from someone else’s video as a starter clip for your own video. Similarly, when you duet with some, you can “share” the screen with them by appearing on split-screen with their original content. You can read more about stitching with someone else’s video on TikTok by following the link below.
Related: How to Stitch a Video on TikTok: Everything You Need to Know
There, now we have seen all the ways to repost and share someone’s video on TikTok. The new Repost feature is definitely a bonus to recommend the videos we like to our followers and similarly view the content they like in our for you feed recommends.
Share your thoughts about the feature with us in the comments!
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