😡 Dear TikTok - Live Success #3

Hey, it’s Harry.

Have you ever been frustrated with TikTok LIVE? Hit reply and let me know.

It’s safe to say that streaming from a computer to TikTok has its issues. So today I’m ranting a little but don’t worry, I’m a big fan of constructive criticism!

Today we are covering:

• 😡 Major issues TikTok LIVE is facing.

• 🤔 What TikTok can do to fix them.

• 🚧 What you should do in the meantime.

• 🗞 News you might have missed.

😕 How Many Followers?

The problem: Consistency.

What are the requirements to get a stream key? How many followers to get access to LIVE Studio? Nobody seems to know. There is no consistency from TikTok.

Somebody recently commented on a video telling me they had 1,000,000 followers but no stream key and no TikTok staff member assigned to them.

The solution: State clear requirements.

Even if the “requirement” is that a feature is invite-only it should be clearly stated on the TikTok app. When somebody presses the + button and scrolls to the LIVE option this should clearly state the requirements for all four streaming methods. That being phone cameras, mobile gaming, LIVE Studio and stream key.

Putting this information only on other parts of TikTok is not good enough. People who want to stream on TikTok will often not check this.

You should: Multistream.

Increase your revenue streams, explode your reach and protect yourself from random bans by simulcasting.

Make sure you’re live on at least one other platform. I’ve got a number of guides for that including Kick, LS + OBS Virtual Cam and Streamlabs Ultra.

🔥 Harry The Tech Support

The problem: Communication.

The TikTok support centre doesn’t have a single mention of the requirements to access any part of TikTok LIVE. The Creator Portal at least offers some advice but no requirements.

This is actually to my benefit. I launched my tutorial channel because my gaming channel had over 600,000 views from people trying to stream on TikTok but found no information on the TikTok website.

The solution: Improve the TikTok website.

Such a simple solution. It would take TikTok staff a few hours to update help articles on their website to state the requirements for each TikTok LIVE access point.

We need clear requirements for all methods: phone cameras, mobile gaming, LIVE Studio and stream keys.

You should: Build community.

While you can’t do much about the lack of clear requirements you can certainly grow a loyal fan base. Build a strong community that will follow you and watch you wherever you go.

My go-to app for community building is Discord. Whatever you are using don’t forget to namecheck it often during your streams and have the link in your bio. I personally use solo.to as my link in bio service.

⚠ Your LIVE Has Been Limited

The problem: Warnings.

Have you ever received a warning similar to the one above? Or been banned for no reason? TikTok’s AI detection systems are out of control. Many streamers also say they get banned due to mass reporting. My Fortnite stream once got banned for nudity 😂.

A more common problem is TikTok limiting live streams for the use of TikFinity follower alerts. This is despite their own LIVE Studio software offering the exact same feature!

The solution: Clear guidelines.

Sites like Twitch have very clear guidelines. Whilst TikTok has community guidelines, ToS and many other articles it still lacks a clear set of rules specifically for TikTok LIVE.

An example would be sleep streams which TikTok is now clearly limiting. However, looking at the terms of service or community guidelines it is far from clear as to why.

Live streaming needs its own fully detailed guidelines page. It is simply too different to video content to be lumped into the same ToS and guidelines document.

You should: Experiment.

If you’re a victim of such warnings and bans then change your stream setup. From my experience, the AI is often looking for certain words or images on your stream.

This also emphasises my earlier point about multistreaming. Platforms can ban you at any moment so increase your reach by being live on two or more platforms.

❓ How Do I Do This?

The problem: A lack of features.

Follower-only mode, gifted subs, viewer clipping, desktop moderation tools. I could go on. My point is that many expected features are simply missing.

You could argue that TikTok is fairly new compared to other platforms but I don’t buy this argument. Another recent competitor Kick has taken in community feedback and rapidly added features. All in around 6 months.

The solution: Pay more attention to computer streamers.

With many streamers dissatisfied with Twitch and unwilling to switch to Kick, there are literally millions of dollars to be made for TikTok. Many of the missing features will also benefit the phone streamers and the people doing live battles. I’m sure they would love it if their viewers could press a clip button to capture huge gifts.

Top of my personal wish list would be follower-only mode and gifted subs

You should: Use third-party tools.

There’s really one tool because there isn’t much choice. I’m talking about TikFinity of course. It can’t give you the missing features but it can detect the difference between viewers, followers and subs.

There is of course a ton of useful TikFinity tutorials on my YouTube channel.

📰 News You Might Have Missed

A few things you might have missed this week:

• TikTok released a Google Doc outlining how to troubleshoot LIVE Studio issues.

• TikFinity released a GTA plugin allowing viewers to control your GTA 5 game.

• I worked with Fiverr to show how to improve your LIVE Studio setup.

• TikTok briefly removes like events from the internal API, preventing TikFinity from detecting likes. They were returned around 11 hours later.

• If you’re writing YouTube video titles this free weekly newsletter helps me a ton with good title ideas.

Thanks for letting me rant this week! Hit reply and tell me one thing you would improve about TikTok LIVE. I’m heading on a two-week vacation but the newsletters will remain weekly.

Thanks for reading!
Harry
Fiverr - Book a 1-on-1 - YouTube - Discord