TikTok has taken a new step in social media competition and has begun integrating the Publishing Channels feature, which Instagram launched in 2023, into its own platform. The China-based platform is testing this feature under the name “Bulletin Board”. This system, which allows one-way communication between content producers and their followers, is currently being experienced by a limited number of users.

TikTok is adopting the “Publishing Channels” feature

Instagram’s Publishing Channels system allowed content producers to create a group chat-like area. In these areas, only the content producer can write messages, share polls, and send videos and images.

Followers can participate in these chats, but they cannot send active messages and can only react with emojis. The same structure applies to TikTok’s Bulletin Board feature. Users join these boards created by content producers and can react to the content shared by content producers with emojis. Features such as writing messages, creating polls, or commenting have not yet been added to the system.

TikTok is currently keeping this feature in the testing phase. The first accounts to participate in the trial include brands and artists with large follower bases, such as Paris Saint-Germain football club, singer Zara Larsson and People magazine. Depending on the interest in the feature, more functions are expected to be integrated into the system in the future.

This step by TikTok is a new example of the feature copying race among social media platforms. Instagram, especially under the Meta umbrella, has expanded its system with features such as Reels, Stories and now repost, inspired by many different platforms over the years. TikTok’s Bulletin Board step, on the other hand, represents a copying process that works in reverse this time.

Instagram also introduced a new feature to its users during the same period. Users can now directly repost posts they like without needing a third-party application. A separate tab is created on the profile for reposted content and special comments can be made on these posts.