In the wake of uncertainties around short-form video app TikTok, social media platforms X and Bluesky launch dedicated video feeds.

TikTok is currently facing a potential ban in the US. After briefly going dark over the weekend, the social media app was quickly restored, with President Trump signing an executive order extending the deadline by 75 days. In this uncertainty, Instagram aren’t the only social media platform looking to seize on the opportunity. Earlier this week, within around an hour of each other, both X and Bluesky announced they would be launching dedicated video feeds.

Both X (formerly Twitter) and Bluesky came to popularity as text-focused social media apps. Bluesky is a decentralized social media platform, that has gained popularity since Elon Musk’s brash take over and rebrand of Twitter.

As a place to discover and watch videos, both X and Bluesky’s new dedicated feeds share many similarities with each other. Open either up and you’ll be greeted with a familiar interface, including a full-screen vertically swipeable feed of mostly portrait videos. Along the bottom you’ll see the creator’s name, caption and buttons to engage, such as follow, comment, repost, like and share.

On Bluesky, you can find the feed by heading to the search tab and looking for “Trending Videos – Popular videos in your network”. In the announcement, Bluesky emphasize the app’s customization, enabling you to pin the feed to your homescreen. This creates a new tab in the home feed, alongside Discover and Following.

The feature is rolling out on mobile now. If you don’t see it yet, try updating and restarting the app.

Bluesky also mentions AT Protocol developers creating video-only decentralized TikTok alternatives, including Tik.Blue, Skylight.Social, and Bluescreen.Blue. Although in the early stages of development, this could be an exciting opportunity for developers, creators and consumers.

We had to get in on the video action too — Bluesky now has custom feeds for video! Like any other feed, you can choose to pin these or not. Bluesky is yours to customize.

[image or embed]

— Bluesky (@bsky.app) January 20, 2025 at 3:41 AM

Over on X, videos have been a focus over the past few years, with the ability to vertically swipe a video to watch another, available for some time now. According to X in the full announcement article, videos uploads increased in 2024 by 40%. With Gen Z being a major portion of TikTok’s audience, this demographic makes up 35% of X.

This latest development brings a circular play icon to the bottom navigation bar, making the personalized feed of recommended videos just a tap away.

The Video Tab makes it easy for the best creators to tap into the hottest platform in the world. X is where the cultural conversation is happening. If you’re not on X, you’re out of the loop.

Linda Yaccarino, CEO, X

The feature is currently rolling out to users in the US.