As it gets harder and harder to tell the difference between the major social media platforms, TikTok is now testing a Shoutouts feature to compete with Cameo.
According to screenshots posted by Fabian Ouwehand, the Cameo-like Shoutouts will allow TikTok users to request and pay for personalized videos from their favorite creators. As it stands, the feature is only available to creators in Turkey and Dubai, according to BuzzFeed News. The creator then has three days to either accept an assigned Shoutout or decline, then a further week to create the clip and send it to the user’s inbox. Eligibility requirements are unclear.
Shoutouts can be bought using TikTok’s in-app currency, TikTok coins, according to SocialMediaToday, which likened TikTok coins to Facebook Stars and YouTube’s Super Chat.
Cameo, which dates back to 2016, also allows you to request videos from celebrities and social media personalities. Prices can range from a few hundred bucks to thousands of dollars depending on the star power of the celeb in question. As Entertainment Weekly reports, Cameo saw a huge boom during the pandemic, as performers who would otherwise be in clubs, on the stage, or on set were stuck inside with little to do and dwindling sources of income.
On TikTok, Shoutouts could offer a similar revenue stream to well-known and aspiring influencers who might already be creating the bulk of their content in their homes or neighborhoods. Analytics firm App Annie predicts TikTok could have more than 1.2 billion average monthly active users by year’s end; that’s a lot of possible Shoutouts.
