The primary thing when the user opens TikTok is the “For You” page, which is a seamless set of videos exclusively crafted to each user. No two feeds in TikTok can be exactly similar, but TikTok has outburst into extreme popularity, with the app having downloaded nearly two billion times. The “For You” page determines a TikTok Influencer’s career, and it acts as a real estate platform in the digital world to buy TikTok likes. But since TikTok’s existence, the users were unaware of the functioning of the “For You” page, leaving users to develop their theories of conspiracies. In a recent post, TikTok has outlined the fundamental mechanics of the “For You” page, unveiling the strategy users were striving to estimate.
When a user uploads a video to TikTok, the app’s algorithm makes it visible to the audience’s small subset. The users may not necessarily follow the creators previously, but TikTok identified that they might engage with the video, observing their past activities. If the user responds positively- watching it completely or sharing the video-TikTok makes the videos visible to many other users who have expressed similar interests. The process iterates, and if the positive feedback loop occurs significant times, then the videos can get viral. But if the initial set of users doesn’t seem to enjoy the content, then the potential reach is limited to few users.
TikTok has mentioned that the app relies on a complex set of bulk signals to suggest videos, songs to the device type the person is using, and hashtags. Most videos on the “For You” page have numerous likes and views, along with videos viewed by few people. A fresh user with limited followers can still make a place in the “For You” page, though creators with a huge following take advantage of the platform. When a user with more followers posts a video, by the account built up with a huge follower base, neither the account’s history of high-performing videos nor follower count is a factor that involves directly in the recommendation system.
TikTok depends on the number of signals to determine the type of videos the users prefer to see. Some signals are heavier than others. The user watching the entire video, sharing it with friends, and following the creator who uploaded are the strong indicating signals for a video getting viral. Language preference, type of device, demographics of the creator who uploaded the footage are weaker signals. TikTok also effectively monitors the negative feedback for any particular video, such as user tapping “Not Interested” or hiding comment from a specific creator, or including certain kinds of sounds. Also, the time the video is uploaded has no considerable impact and falls under a weak signal.
TikTok declares that “For You” page recommendations can be approximate up to three months old, even though the videos get trended at a rapid pace as soon as they are posted. Since TikTok does not display time stamps on the “For You” page, users are unaware that the memes they watch are dated long ago. TikTok algorithm observes other elements like song clips, captions, and hashtags to categorize them and suggests more videos. The users can find that their For You page frequently includes videos with similar sounds, enabling them to nurture new auditory memes and, therefore, establish a career for music artists and grasp the catchy lyrics quickly. Earlier, suppose the user engaged with a video that included #foryou. In that case, it is certainly possible that they get recommended with more of them, but there is nothing compelling about the hashtag separately.
TikTok scans content visually, searching for things that violate rules, but the company declares that the “For You” feed is not accountable for how the videos look and how they are captured. The TikTok “For You” page algorithm is not optimized for any particular metric. Instead, the platform considers many factors, like whether the people are interested in using the application and if they prefer to post content themselves. TikTok blocks content that describes aspects like legal consumption of goods or graphic medical procedures. TikTok aims to balance suggesting relevant content to the user while supporting content that showcases the creator’s efforts.