Threads And Bluesky Prepare To Replace TikTok With Media And Video Tabs

The last few months have been confusing for social media enthusiasts.

One of the biggest platforms—TikTok—was facing a ban in the United States, as it posed national security concerns.

Despite being the livelihood of numerous influencers, businesses, and 170 million other users in the country, the platform was eventually banned.

TikTok’s ban lasted 14 hours.

This is because the ban was enforced a day before outgoing President Joe Biden’s last day—and was rolled back because incoming President Donald Trump promised he would give the platform more time before it was sent to the darkness.

However, Trump’s executive order only postponed the inevitable by 75 days. That is, unless TikTok fulfilled the previous condition of selling off its ownership to U.S. stakeholders. Trump also suggested that the U.S. Government should be half-owner.

The idea was to allow the Trump administration “an opportunity to determine the appropriate course of action with respect to TikTok.”

Either way, TikTok’s life in the U.S. hangs in the balance, creating a massive hole for other social media platforms to fill if an agreement isn’t met.

One of the most prominent names thrown in the mix is Bluesky, which is setting itself up to become more than just a rival to X (formerly Twitter).

In its 1.97 version update, the platform said it was rolling out a “Video” tab to user profile pages along with other improvements, including updated translations and quick menu options upon user reporting actions.

This move comes soon after the platform launched its own dedicated video feed.

However, this isn’t the main attraction for Bluesky.

Developers are flocking to the platform to create decentralized video platforms that could serve as alternatives to TikTok for users of Bluesky and its AT Protocol.

Essentially, the platform allows developers and users to control their data and move freely between servers. As per reports, the top contenders in this domain are Bluescreen, Reelo, Skylight, Videos for Bluesky, and Flipboard’s Surf. Some of these are iOS exclusive, with most available (or soon to be available) for Android devices.

All of this comes as Bluesky celebrated hitting the 30-million-user mark, just a month and a half after reaching 25 million users—a post that came with a colorful image sporting the caption “This is how it feels to reach 30 MILLION users!!!”

At the same time, Bluesky also celebrated 1 billion posts on the platform.


Even though the number is impressive for the (relatively) newly launched platform that gained popularity mainly after Twitter’s takeover.

Yet, it’s got a long way to go to catch up to Meta’s Threads, which currently has over 100 million daily active users and 300 million active monthly users (increasing from 300 million in December).

Threads itself is a major competitor vying for TikTok’s user base.

Following Bluesky’s “Video” tab announcement, Threads made a similar reveal.

Through a post on the platform, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said, “We’re also introducing a “media" tab where others can quickly see all photos and videos you share, a long overdue request from the community.”

“Also” refers to the first part of the announcement, which includes a markup feature that lets users add their take on someone else’s post “and the ability to tag people in the photos you share.”

The update to focus on over here is the new, shiny, and dedicated “Media” tab, which will enable users to quickly view photos and videos shared by accounts they are following.

Both Bluesky’s and Meta’s updates follow X’s move, which saw the platform add a dedicated vertical video feed and video tab in the app’s bottom bar for U.S. users, allowing them to quickly view video content on the platform.

"The Video Tab makes it easy for the best creators to tap into the hottest platform in the world,” said Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX), CEO of X. “X is where the cultural conversation is happening. If you're not on X, you're out of the loop.”

Do you think TikTok will fulfill the terms set forth by the U.S. government and remain in the country, or do you think another platform will be able to attract its users? Which platform do you think will win this race?

Let us know in the comments below!