PARIS —TikTok is adding group chats with support for up to 32 people, the company announced recently.
The feature is available to users aged 16 and up, allowing them to share TikToks with friends and family members without having to open a separate messaging app.
You can start a group chat by selecting the Inbox button, tapping Chat, selecting which friends you want to include, and hitting “Start group chat.”
There are some exceptions: for example, you can only join a group chat if you’re invited by people you follow back. Also, if you don’t allow anyone on the platform to message you, you won’t receive invites at all.
TikTok isn’t going to replace your favourite messaging app quite yet, it’s unlikely that you’ll be dumping Whatsapp or Facebook Messenger straight away.
But it’s a step in the right direction for TikTok to start keeping the conversation on their app rather than someone else’s app.
To help everyone feel comfortable with who they are messaging, people will be able to use muting and blocking tools and also report messages or the entire chat if they are concerned content violates the TIkTok Community Guidelines.
TikTok will also limit the number of groups someone can create and the number of times a message can be forwarded.
TikTok may be a little late to the group messaging game, but it sounds like the new feature will at least save you a trip to your Messenger or WhatsApp group to share the funny TikTok video you just found.
