Amazon is the next to squeeze engagement out of a TikTok-like social feed. Thus, the e-commerce giant joins the long, sad list of companies that had the same idea: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, Spotify, Netflix… what's next, a vertical video feed on the IRS app that tracks your tax refund?

Amazon is testing a vertical photo and video feed within its app among its staff, according to Watchful, an AI product intelligence platform. Based on photos provided by Watchful to the Wall Street Journal, the feed, which is presently named "Inspire," will be accessed by swiping down on the bottom navigation bar from the Amazon app. Users can see posts on the feed by tapping on the diamond-shaped icon, which would link customers to shop for any item available in the post.

This isn't the first time Amazon has been shown to shadow the behaviors of major social apps. It even boasts Posts, an Instagram clone feature, as one of its advertising tools. Of course, Amazon has also dabbled in influencer marketing and live shopping, a feature Facebook will soon sunset to focus on… you guessed it, its TikTok competitor.

Amazon's TikTok clone doesn't altogether come out of left field, though. Amazon product recommendations are super popular on TikTok, with 25.6 billion views for the hashtag #amazonfinds; some influencers made millions based solely on the Amazon products they could find to recommend to their audience and then get a commission for if the viewer used the affiliate link they provide. Given this, it makes sense that Amazon would want its customers to find these "Amazon must-haves" natively in its app instead of via TikTok or Instagram Reels.

It's not clear if the company ever intends to roll it out on the Amazon app itself-it's common for companies to test out feature ideas in-house, even if some never emerge into the public-facing products. Consumers might find Amazon’s native marketing less authentic than a social media post, but it’s pretty clear that most of those product recommendation TikTok videos are also just part of a money-making machine (why else would so many people make beautiful TikTok grids where they only post videos of cute Amazon gadgets?).

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