What's going wrong? How should TikTok fix it? What should TikTok streamers do in the meantime? Let's find out...
1: Requirements
It is wild to me that in 2023 the requirements for streaming on TikTok are still unclear. The solution is simple. When you press + at the bottom of TikTok and scroll to LIVE, you should be shown the requirements for all streaming methods. I made a mockup in 2 minutes:
As a streamer, I suggest that you multistream to as many platforms as possible. Check out this guide to learn more.
2: Help Articles
It is crazy how this link is the main help article for TikTok LIVE. It doesn't even say how many followers you need.
TikTok simply needs to update this article and clearly state the requirements to stream from your phone cameras, with mobile gaming, with LIVE Studio and with a stream key. That would instantly solve many issues.
3: Crazy AI
TikTok's AI randomly bans people for no clear reason. Check out this rant from a streamer with 1.2M followers.
The simple fix is for TikTok to turn down the AI and communicate warnings and ban reasons more clearly.
To negate bans and warnings you should build yourself a strong community on a site like Discord or via a newsletter. That way, if a social platform bans you, you can simply send your community elsewhere.
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4: Clear Guidelines
And point three clearly leads to point four which is that there isn't a clear document which outlines the rules for TikTok livestreaming. Twitch has a clear set of community guidelines. TikTok lumps all their rules into the general community guidelines which are written with videos in mind.
TikTok LIVE is too different to video. It must have its own guidelines. An example is sleep streams. These seem to be no longer allowed. This is not clear in any of the current guidelines.
5: Third-Party Support
There is no public API. An API is how tech companies access stream data such as follows and gifts. As a result, companies like Streamlabs don't want to create software for the platform.
In the meantime, TikFinity is the only alerts platform. Luckily, it's a fantastic site. Check out this quick start guide.
6: Lack of Features
Follower-only mode, gifted subs, polls, chatbots, and clickable links in the chat. These are just five of the many features that nearly every other streaming platform has.
TikTok must innovate faster if they want more streamers on the platform.
7: Hire More Staff
And to innovate faster you need more staff. Check out TikTok Twitter vs YouTube Twitter. TikTok support replies once per day while Team YouTube reply multiple times per minute 🤣
There is also examples of creators with hundreds of thousands of followers being IGNORED by assigned partner managers.
TikTok clearly doesn't have enough staff and is too focussed on profits. They must hire more people.
8: Pay Creators More Money
In this tweet I highlighted how TikTok's payout for gifts and subs is the lowest in the industry.
To attract more creators, TikTok must pay their creators a higher percentage of gifts and subs. It's that simple.
Thanks for reading!
Harry
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