TikTok has announced a host of new features to support the LIVE format and help people enjoy LIVE content on the platform. 

Livestreaming has become an important way for artists, creators, brands, and viewers to connect on TikTok, with the number of people watching and going LIVE doubling in the past year. 

The new tools include LIVE events, currently being piloted in the UK, which lets creators schedule, manage, and promote LIVE videos. LIVE Events also allows for creators and fans to easily connect ahead of an upcoming LIVE stream.

Picture-in-Picture allows users to watch TikTok LIVE streams while opening up another app at the same time – for example, jumping into the Q+A in a group chat whilst watching a performance. 

Rolling out soon, Top LIVEs allows users to more easily find and tune into LIVE videos conveniently from the For You and Following pages.

To help focus on entertaining and engaging the community, hosts can now assign a person they trust, ahead of the LIVE stream, to help them manage their streams. During the LIVE, both the host and the person helping can mute and block users to help keep the stream welcoming and civil.

To help protect the community, TikTok has also introduced keyword filters. Hosts can turn off comments or add up to 200 terms into the keyword filter to limit those comments in the chat. Words can be added to the list throughout the livestream by hosts and the person helping them.