TikTok exec: We're not a social community like Facebook, we're an leisure platform

TikTok is totally conscious that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is retooling the Facebook and Instagram apps to be extra like its personal common quick video service. But TikTok has little interest in mimicking Facebook.

“Facebook is a social platform,” Blake Chandlee, TikTok’s president of world enterprise options, instructed CNBC in an interview on Thursday. “They’ve built all their algorithms based on the social graph. That is their core competency. Ours is not.”

Chandlee, who spent 12 years at Facebook earlier than becoming a member of TikTok in 2019, mentioned his former employer will possible run into bother if it tries to repeat TikTok, and can find yourself providing an inferior expertise to customers and types.

Facebook launched Instagram Reels in 2020 as its first actual foray into the short-form video market. Last 12 months, it introduced the service over to its core Facebook app.

“We are an entertainment platform,” Chandlee mentioned. “The difference is significant. It’s a massive difference.”

Facebook app chief Tom Alison instructed The Verge this week he sees TikTok more and more stealing share from the world’s largest social community. Facebook plans to change its major feed to look extra like TikTok by recommending extra content material no matter whether or not it is shared by mates.

“I think the thing we probably didn’t fully embrace or see is how social this format could be,” Alison instructed The Verge.

Facebook’s current efficiency backs that up. Meta’s inventory worth is down 52% this 12 months, underperforming the Nasdaq, which has dropped 32%. In April, the corporate mentioned income within the second quarter may drop from a 12 months earlier for the primary time ever.

Earlier within the 12 months, Zuckerberg acknowledged the elevated aggressive stress from TikTok and mentioned, “This is why our focus on Reels is so important over the long term.”

TikTok is owned by China’s ByteDance, which is privately held.

Chandlee mentioned historical past will not be on Zuckerberg’s facet, and compares its present drawback to the problem that Google confronted when it was attempting to tackle Facebook at its personal recreation.

“You remember when Google was creating Google+,” Chandlee mentioned. At Facebook, “We had war rooms at the time. It was a big deal. Everyone was worried about it,” he mentioned.

But irrespective of how a lot cash Google poured into its social-networking efforts, it could not compete with Facebook, which had turn out to be the default place for individuals to attach with mates and share photographs and updates.

“It became clear Google’s value was search and Facebook was really good at social,” Chandlee mentioned.

“I see the same thing now,” he added. “We’re really good at what we do. We bring out these cultural trends and this unique experience people have on TikTok. They’re just not going to have that on Facebook unless Facebook entirely walks away from its social values, which I just don’t think it will do.”

Facebook did not instantly reply to a request for remark.

Chandlee added that he has deep respect for Zuckerberg and views each Facebook and Google as sturdy competitors. However, he famous that TikTok has an array of rivals the world over, together with companies in e-commerce and stay streaming.

Chandlee mentioned he hasn’t seen a slowdown in advert spending on TikTok, regardless of what’s being reported by corporations like Snap, which instructed buyers that advert income is being damage by inflation and the specter of recession. Snap’s inventory has misplaced virtually three-quarters of its worth this 12 months.

“I’ve heard there’s going to be a slowdown in the ad market, anywhere from 2% to 6%, but we have not seen it,” Chandlee mentioned. “We’re not seeing the headwinds that some others are seeing.”

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