ByteDance’s Douyin Introduces Interest-Based Social Function

ByteDance’s Douyin, the Chinese mainland version of TikTok, has recently launched an “interest matching” function, which focuses on socializing based on short video content, Tech Planet reported on Monday.

The function allows users to get to know others who are also watching the same short video on the platform. After the user matching is successful, the interface where the short video is played can become a chat window, and the short video can become a chatting background. Users can send emojis, words and other content through the chat bar, or even initiate a video chat.

Users can only activate the matching function five times per day. If they fail to be matched for a long time, they can choose to invite friends to join.

In order to seek more interest points and topics, users can also order videos from those recommended by the system, or works they have made or collected. Through these common interests, they can deepen their understanding with strangers and establish a friendship.

Kelly Zhang, CEO of ByteDance, once said that the social function of Douyin is naturally established and is driven by user’s interactive demand.

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Therefore, in the past two years, ByteDance has successively launched various social functions within Douyin. It even added the originally independent social product “Duoshan” in the popular short video app. Recently, the “friend” column at the bottom of the Douyin app has been replaced by “Douyin Mall,” indicating that Douyin may prefer commercial profits to new social functions.