TikTok is enhancing its livestream experience with an updated “Fan Club” feature designed to encourage viewer interaction through gamification. Building on its previous “Creator’s Team” concept, the Fan Club allows livestream viewers to join by sending virtual gifts, automatically enrolling them as members.

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Once part of a Fan Club, members receive a list of tasks—such as watching streams, commenting, and sending gifts—that help them earn points and level up within the community. As users progress, they unlock rewards like exclusive creator chats, special gift options, badges, and highlighted usernames during live sessions.

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TikTok explains that members must earn points within seven days of a livestream to maintain their status; otherwise, membership is paused with a reminder sent. The system aims to foster competition among fans to become top supporters.

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This strategy follows trends seen on platforms like YouTube, which is also experimenting with engagement leaderboards, particularly for gaming content.

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TikTok reports that active members send three times as many gifts and watch streams four times longer than average followers. While the feature currently focuses on creators in Asian markets and is not available worldwide, it’s part of TikTok’s broader push to increase livestream engagement and drive in-app commerce, a sector booming in China.

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An additional “LIVE Journey” feature incentivizes creators themselves to go live more often, further boosting content availability and viewer interaction.

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