TikTok is bringing voice notes to the comment section

TikTok's comment section is about to get a lot more chaotic.

The platform is rolling out a slate of new ways to interact beneath videos, including voice comments, polls, photo carousels, and Live Photos. The four new features expand what users can post beyond text and single image replies, giving TikTok's famously active comment sections even more ways to become part of the content itself.

Those comment sections are already busy. According to the company, more than 1.7 billion comments are posted on the platform every day.

TikTok is bringing voice notes to the comments

TikTok's comment section is becoming a group chat. Credit: TikTok

Perhaps the biggest change is Voice Comments, which allow users to record and post audio messages up to 60 seconds long directly beneath a video.

That means instead of typing "I'm screaming," you could, theoretically, let everyone hear you scream.

TikTok imagines people using the feature to leave spoken reactions, laugh along with a meme, or even sing back to a music creator. But anyone who's ever opened the comments on a viral TikTok can probably imagine plenty of other possibilities.

Of course, giving TikTok users 60 seconds to say whatever they want could open up new opportunities for harassment and other harmful behavior. TikTok says Voice Comments will be subject to the same Community Guidelines as other content on the platform. The company will use a combination of human and automated moderation tools, including speech-to-text transcription, to detect and remove violations.

Voice Comments will roll out globally over the next month to users 18 and older.

Creators can now poll their comment sections

Take it to a vote. Credit: TikTok

TikTok is also introducing Comment Polls, which allow creators to launch a poll directly in the comment sections of their videos.

Creators could use them to ask followers what they should post next, settle a debate sparked by a video, or let viewers vote on anything from an outfit to a favorite character.

Unlike Voice Comments, there's no waiting for this one: Comment Polls are available globally starting Sept. 3.

Photo comments are becoming photo dumps

Why post one reaction photo when you can post nine? Credit: TikTok

TikTok's photo comments are getting an upgrade, too.

With Photo Carousel Comments, users can attach up to nine photos in a single comment. Instead of choosing a single reaction image, commenters can drop an entire photo dump under someone else's video. Photo Carousel Comments will roll out globally over the next month.

There's also Live Photo Comments, which allow users to upload Live Photos directly from their camera rolls. The feature gives viewers a brief glimpse of the movement captured in the image rather than limiting photo replies to static shots. Live Photo Comments are available globally starting Sept. 3.

TikTok wants the comments to be content, too

If you've spent any time on TikTok, none of this feels entirely surprising. "Opening the comments" has practically become part of the viewing experience.

A video's joke gets extended through hundreds of replies. Viewers add context, tell stories, post reaction images, answer questions, and occasionally write something that becomes more memorable than the original TikTok. Creators, meanwhile, routinely turn comments into prompts for their next videos.

These updates give that behavior even more room to grow. TikTok's comment section can now contain text, photos, photo dumps, Live Photos, polls, and, soon, minute-long voice notes.

It's another sign that TikTok doesn't necessarily see comments as something that happens after the content. Increasingly, the comments are part of the content.

And they're about to get a whole lot louder.