Netflix Clips Won’t Replace TikTok—But Will Influence Viewers

BusinessMediaNetflix Clips Won’t Replace TikTok—But Will Influence ViewersByMaureen Kerr,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Maureen Kerr covers AI, media and entertainment economics.Follow AuthorMay 13, 2026, 07:00am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.April 2026. (Photo by Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)NurPhoto via Getty ImagesNetflix’s Clips, the company's newest mobile feature, is easy to misread.The vertical video feed, launched on April 30 in a redesigned Netflix mobile app, is full-screen, swipeable and built for the phone, making the comparison to TikTok inevitable. But Netflix is not trying to become TikTok. It is trying to own the moment before a viewer chooses what to watch.That moment has become valuable entertainment real estate. It is the point at which someone opens an app without a plan, with a few minutes to spare, and decides whether to commit to a title, browse for something else or close the app and open something else entirely. Clips is built for the user who opens Netflix, does not immediately find something and switches to TikTok or YouTube instead.The feature didn’t come from nowhere. Netflix has been experimenting with vertical video on mobile for eight years, from mobile previews in 2018 and later to Fast Laughs in 2021. Those earlier efforts were narrower: comedy or short previews beside the main viewing experience. Clips is broader. It turns the vertical feed into a general discovery layer for the service. The format is not new for Netflix, but the ambition attached to it is.MORE FOR YOUNetflix User Can Discover Vertically And Watch HorizontallyThat distinction is the spine of the strategy. Netflix added vertical discovery instead of moving its core product into vertical entertainment. Its biggest shows, films and live events are still built around horizontal viewing, often on the largest scree...