TikTok Is Turning Comments Into a Promotion Tool: How to Use the New Features

TikTok is changing the way we think about comments. They are no longer limited to short text reactions under videos. Comments are becoming a space for voice messages, polls, photos, and deeper interaction with the audience.

In September 2026, TikTok introduced several new features at once: Voice Comments, Comment Polls, Photo Carousel Comments, and Live Photo Comments. The update makes the comment section more interactive and gives creators and brands additional tools for working with their communities.

Let's take a look at how the new TikTok comments work and how they can be used for promotion.

In Brief: What Has Changed in TikTok Comments

• Voice Comments allow users to record voice comments up to 60 seconds long.
• Comment Polls allow creators to run polls directly under their own videos.
• Photo Carousel Comments allow users to add up to nine photos to a single comment.
• Live Photo Comments allow users to post Live Photos with short motion effects.

The scale of the update becomes clearer when we look at audience activity. According to the official TikTok Newsroom, users post more than 1.7 billion comments on the platform every day. This means that further development of the comment section could significantly change the way creators interact with their audiences.

Voice Comments: Voice Becomes Part of the Conversation

Voice Comments allow users to record an audio message directly in the comment section. The maximum recording length is 60 seconds. To publish one, users simply need to tap the microphone icon, record their message, and post it.

The feature is gradually becoming available to users aged 18 and over in different countries.

For creators, this is an opportunity to make communication less formal. Instead of a standard text reply, a creator can record a short reaction, give advice, tell a brief story, or respond emotionally to a follower.

For example, an expert can provide additional context to a user's question with a voice response. A musician can leave a musical reaction. A brand can record a short comment from a member of its team.

As a result, discussions become closer to real conversations, while the comment section itself gains an additional layer of content.

Comment Polls: Polls Directly Under Videos

Another important update is Comment Polls. Video creators can launch a poll directly in the comments under their own posts.

A poll can include up to five answer options, and creators can determine how long voting remains open. Once the poll ends, users can see the final results.

For SMM, this is an especially interesting feature. Polls can be used not only to generate activity but also as a simple audience research tool.

For example:

• "Which topic should we cover in the next video?"
• "Which product option do you like more?"
• "What type of content would you like to see more often?"
• "Which of these two looks should we choose?"
• "Do you agree with the opinion expressed in the video?"

This way, the user does not simply watch a video but takes an additional action. At the same time, the creator receives feedback and ideas for future content.

As TechCrunch notes in its coverage of the TikTok update, the new features are designed to encourage users to interact more with one another within the comment section rather than simply leaving a short reaction under a video.

Photo Carousel Comments: Up to Nine Photos in a Single Comment

Photo Carousel Comments allow users to attach up to nine photos to a single comment.

This significantly expands the possibilities for user-generated content. Previously, users could describe their experience in text. Now they can immediately show the result through multiple images.

For example, a customer can post photos of a product in use. A follower can show their own version of a trend. A client can share before-and-after results.

For brands, this creates an interesting scenario for working with UGC. They can specifically encourage their audience to post photos in the comments, extending the story of the original video.

Instead of the simple "creator posts — audience responds" model, a more complex format emerges in which users themselves add visual content to the publication.

Live Photo Comments: More Movement in Discussions

TikTok is also adding support for Live Photos in comments. These images contain a short moment of motion and make a user's reaction more expressive than a regular photo.

From a promotion perspective, this is primarily an additional UGC format. It can be particularly useful in niches where visual demonstration matters, such as fashion, beauty, travel, food, fitness, home products, and other industries.

Brands now have an opportunity to receive visual reactions directly under a video without sending users to a separate post or another section of the app.

How to Use the New TikTok Comments for Promotion

The new features alone do not guarantee an increase in views. TikTok has not stated that using Voice Comments, Polls, or Photo Carousels automatically improves a video's position in recommendations.

However, they provide more ways to encourage interaction with a post. This means that simply using a new feature is less important than integrating it into an overall content strategy.

1. End Videos With a Question

Instead of the standard "leave a comment," ask a specific question. The easier it is for users to understand what you want them to do, the easier it is to start a discussion.

2. Continue the Topic With Polls

A video can become the first stage of interaction, while a poll becomes the second. For example, talk about three trends and ask your audience to choose the most interesting one.

3. Reply to Interesting Comments With Voice

Voice Comments can help highlight particularly important responses. This can be useful for experts, educational content creators, and personal brands.

4. Encourage UGC Through Photos

Invite followers to share their own results, purchases, looks, or versions of a challenge through Photo Carousel Comments.

5. Use Comments to Find Content Ideas

Polls and regular questions allow creators to quickly understand what their audience is genuinely interested in. The results can then be turned into topics for future videos.

6. Create a Chain of Interactions

One of the most interesting scenarios looks like this:

Video → Comment → Interaction → Return Visit → New Content

A user watches a video, moves to the comments, participates in a poll or discussion, returns to see the results, and encounters new content from the creator.

In this way, comments become part of the overall audience retention strategy rather than the final step after watching a video.

Will Comments Become a New TikTok Ranking Factor?

TikTok's new comment formats do not guarantee additional views, but they expand creators' ability to encourage discussions and repeated interactions with content.

This is an important distinction. Voice Comments and Polls should not be viewed as a secret way to "trick the algorithm." Their value lies elsewhere: they give audiences more reasons to interact with creators and other users.

For TikTok, this is a logical direction of development. The platform has long moved beyond being just a feed of short videos. Search within the app is also becoming part of promotion.

Now a similar transformation is happening with comments. They are gradually evolving from a supplement to a video into an independent environment for interaction.

What the New TikTok Comments Mean for Brands and Creators

The main change is not simply the appearance of a few additional buttons. TikTok is expanding the very concept of what a comment can be.

For creators, this is an opportunity to build more dynamic communication with followers. For brands, it provides ways to collect feedback, encourage UGC, conduct small-scale audience research, and test ideas directly under their posts.

The comment section can now be viewed in several roles:

• a space for communicating with the community;
• a source of user-generated content;
• a tool for studying audience interests;
• a source of ideas for new videos;
• an additional point of interaction between users and an account.

This is especially important as competition for attention continues to grow. When thousands of accounts publish similar videos, a single view is no longer enough. Creators need to give users reasons to continue interacting.

TikTok's new comment features provide additional opportunities to do exactly that.

How to Prepare Your TikTok Strategy for the New Formats

There is no need to completely rebuild your content plan. You can start with a few simple experiments.

Choose videos that already generate discussions. Add a clear question or poll. See which topics receive more responses. Encourage users to share photos where visual UGC feels natural. Use Voice Comments for responses that genuinely benefit from emotion or additional explanation.

Then compare the results of different approaches: the number of comments, the nature of the discussion, repeated interactions, and the quality of UGC.

At the same time, it is important to remember that the new features address audience interaction but do not replace the work required to distribute content. If an account needs additional initial activity and social proof, you can use PRMotion's TikTok promotion tools together with an organic content strategy.