TikTok adding ‘gifts’ feature in comment section to donate money to creators
Unsplash: May Gauthier.
TikTok is rolling out its ‘gifts’ feature to comment sections of some creators’ videos, allowing users to donate money to their favorite creators.
As video-sharing app TikTok continues its rapid rise in popularity across the world, new stars are popping up on a regular basis, with some of them becoming widely recognized as celebrities in their own right.
People like Addison Rae and Charli D’Amelio have been making huge career moves beyond the platform, but the start of their career can all be attributed to TikTok.
There are of course plenty of smaller creators on the app, too, who are often looking to the app as a viable source of income.
Now, it looks like it will be much easier for fans to support their favorite creators, as the platform is testing the ‘gifts’ feature in the comment sections of some videos.
‘Gifts’ were originally only available in live streams, allowing users to pay real-life money to purchase coins, which can then be used to buy ‘gifts’ for people in the form of colorful icons. These gifts come at various costs, and at a certain point, creators are able to cash them in and get real-life money.
Users have now started noticing that the gift feature is being added to some videos as a bar at the top of comment sections, allowing people to donate more easily than ever.
Opening the ‘Top Gifts’ tab and clicking ‘Recharge’ allows users to spend real money to buy coins, after which they are able to select from a range of Classic and Premium gifts. Coins currently cost £0.49 GBP for 40, but prices vary from currency to currency.
So far it’s not clear whether this feature will be rolled out to every user, or whether it will only be for verified creators. Many will no doubt be happy to see the feature being expanded across the app, as it provides an easy way for people to support growing creators.
