TikTok is testing a new “Footnotes” feature that works similarly to Community Notes on X. The social network announced on Wednesday that Footnotes will allow users to add additional context and relevant information to videos to help others better understand certain content, starting in the United States.
The company says Footnotes will complement its current suite of measures designed to help people understand the reliability of content, such as content labels and its fact-checking program. In other words, TikTok isn’t replacing fact-checking with Footnotes, unlike Meta, which is doing exactly that through its new Community Notes feature.
Similar to other community notes systems on X and Facebook, Footnotes uses a bridge-based ranking system designed to find agreement between people who usually have different opinions, the company says in a blog post.
The system works by allowing users who have differing opinions to leave and vote on the helpfulness of a footnote. Footnotes will only become visible to the community once they’re rated as “helpful.” At this point, the broader TikTok community can vote on their helpfulness as well. TikTok says the system will become more effective as more footnotes get written and rated on different topics.
While TikTok’s comments section and other tools like Stitch and Duet allow users to share dialogue around a video, the new Footnotes feature gives users a new way to share their expertise and add a layer of context using a consensus-driven approach to enhance credibility. TikTok points out that Footnotes could be particularly useful in instances where videos cover complex STEM topics, include potentially misleading statistics, or share updates on ongoing events.
The launch of the new feature comes as TikTok has been called out for spreading misinformation about important topics like health and elections. TikTok likely hopes that the introduction of Footnotes will help curb the spread of some of this misinformation by enlisting its user base to add credibility and additional context to videos.
Starting today, United States users can apply to be a Footnotes contributor if they are at least 18 years old, have been on the platform for more than six months, and have no recent history of violating TikTok’s community guidelines.
TikTok plans to begin surfacing Footnotes from contributors over the coming months. At the moment, it’s unknown what exactly Footnotes will look like, and where on a video they will appear.
TikTok says it continues “to partner with more than 20 IFCN-accredited fact-checking organizations to assess the accuracy of content on TikTok in over 60 languages and 130 markets around the world. Footnotes adds to these efforts with more ways to add helpful details that may be missing, ultimately enriching discussions on TikTok and improving the experience for viewers, contributors, and creators alike.”
