TikTok is spicing things up with a new feature called Footnotes, and it’s giving some serious X Community Notes vibes. Announced yesterday, this feature is all about letting the community sprinkle extra context on videos to make content clearer, richer, and more trustworthy. Think of it as TikTok’s playful nod to crowd-sourced wisdom, and it’s kicking off with a test run in the U.S. for short-form videos.
Whether it’s clarifying a misunderstood science tidbit, fact-checking a viral “statistic,” or adding details to breaking news, Footnotes is TikTok’s new tool for separating signal from noise, with help from the community.
“TikTok gives over 170 million Americans the freedom to express themselves and share,” Adam Presser, TikTok’s Head of Operations and Trust and Safety, wrote, highlighting how much content flies around the platform. “Footnotes offers a new opportunity for people to share their expertise and add an additional layer of context.”
Think of it as a helpful friend popping in to whisper, “Actually, that’s not entirely true,” when a video starts throwing questionable facts your way.
Here’s how TikTok Footnotes works
Much like Community Notes on X, Footnotes will be powered by selected contributors – real people who can annotate videos with additional information. These contributors don’t get the green light immediately, though. You’ll need to meet a few criteria to qualify:
Once approved, contributors can start adding footnotes to videos and rating ones left by others. But before you imagine a wild west of random notes on every video, TikTok has a moderation trick up its sleeve: a bridge-based ranking system.
This system tries to find common ground between people with different viewpoints – yep, even those who would never agree on pineapple on pizza. Only footnotes that reach a consensus of being “helpful” get displayed publicly. After that, the wider TikTok community can weigh in too, which should make the system smarter and more effective over time.
With everything from STEM explainer videos to hot takes on global events going viral in seconds, misinformation on TikTok has been a growing concern. TikTok already works with over 20 IFCN-accredited fact-checking organizations and uses things like content labels, search banners, and Election Centers to guide users toward accurate info. Footnotes add another layer to that toolkit, tapping into the community’s collective brainpower.
It’s also, let’s be honest, TikTok’s clearest move yet to mirror the success of Community Notes on X, which has become a widely appreciated tool in the fight against misinformation. By allowing regular users to participate in flagging and clarifying content, TikTok is moving beyond its comment section and Duets into something a little more structured and consensus-driven.
For now, the Footnotes feature is being tested only in the U.S., and TikTok says it will gradually onboard contributors “over the coming months.” That means we might have to wait a bit longer before seeing it in action here in Kenya (or anywhere else outside the U.S.), but it’s an important signal of where TikTok wants to go – toward a more informative, community-backed platform.
Whether TikTok Footnotes can replicate the success of X’s Community Notes remains to be seen.
