TikTok is launching an Agency Center to help creators connect with talent firms for guidance and support. Creators who toggle the “agency invitation” button to “on” in the TikTok LIVE center will allow their profiles to “be searched and invited by any agency.” Eventually, LIVE Agencies can invite creators to join their network for coaching and connection with a community of experienced LIVE talent. The move is the latest effort to help creators earn on TikTok as the app strives to fend off competitors who have added short-form videos but indicate longer-form videos are more ad-friendly.

In July, TikTok expanded from one-minute to three-minute clips, and last month it added 10-minute videos, CNBC reported.

The Agency Center aims to help creators learn and network within the app, establishing partnerships that support monetization, “because right now, top stars can earn a lot more money by posting to YouTube or Instagram instead,” according to Social Media Today.

The agency program “is still in development, but the idea is that it will enable creators to refine their live broadcasting strategy, which will then better enable them to build audience, and likely incorporate additional tools, like live shopping and promotions, into their streams,” Social Media Today reports.

Citing the collapse of Twitter’s Vine app when its stars began migrating to greener pastures, Social Media Today says TikTok “needs to keep these popular users active —because if they stop uploading their content, and TikTok loses their engaged audiences, that, eventually, could be a disastrous blow for the app.”

Though TikTok is far larger than Vine at its peak, “the vultures are circling, with both Meta and YouTube now offering bigger, more sustainable, more reliable monetization processes,” the social publication says, noting that TikTok’s Creator Fund is static while its audience continues to grow, a model that could eventually result in diminished  payments.

Statista in September reported TikTok had 1 billion monthly active users worldwide, a 45 percent increase over its 689 million MAUs in July 2020.

The ByteDance-owned TikTok does face challenges, however. Last week, a bipartisan group of state attorneys general launched an investigation into its effects on kids, and last month the Commerce Department took steps to strengthen rules for foreign-owned social platforms, including TikTok.