Open-source TikTok alternative Loops coming to the fediverse

The fediverse is growing.

Loops, an open-source TikTok clone, has started to accept sign ups, as first reported by TechCrunch.

The short form, looping video platform will provide an open-source alternative to TikTok in the same way that Mastodon provides an alternative option for X, formerly Twitter. Loops was created by Daniel Supernault, the founder of the open-source Instagram alternative Pixelfed. The project is being financed by user-support.

For those unfamiliar, the fediverse is a group of social media platforms that are working together through a federated protocol in order to allow users to communicate and interact with one another between social networks. A number of online platforms like Mastodon, WordPress, Flipboard, and even Meta’s Threads have joined the fediverse in the past year or so. By implementing this protocol, Threads users can choose to have their content automatically become accessible on platforms like Mastodon.

Loops will work much like TikTok, allowing users to post short form videos as well as comment on and share clips. However, for new users, content will be held in a moderation que as they build their “trust score.” This trust score will also help the platform hide certain comments and apply warning labels to clips. Users with high trust scores will be able to post content immediately without having to wait for approval.

As with most open-source platforms, Loops is user privacy-oriented. The platform says it will not sell user data to third-party advertisers or allow user content to be used to train AI.

It will be interesting to see an independent alternative to TikTok. While the viral video platform has found competition with YouTube Shorts, most other attempts to take on TikTok have yet to be successful. Facebook, for example, tried to take on TikTok with an app called Lasso which it eventually shut down in 2020.

Will Loops be successful? Judging by the surge in popularity for X alternatives like Bluesky and Threads, it certainly has a shot.