TikTok Algorithm – The Definitive Guide by Brandon Doyle at https://wallaroomedia.com/blog/social-media/tiktok-algorithm/
As of March 2023, TikTok has over 1 billion users with over 150 million in the U.S. alone. If your business targets people from 13 to 60, you have to be on Tik Tok as Tik Tok is the fastest growing social media app now.
Here is the definitive breakdown of how the TikTok algorithm works.
Subset of Users
When a video is uploaded to TikTok, the For You algorithm shows it first to a small subset of users. These people may or may not follow the creator already, but TikTok has determined they may be more likely to engage with the video (based on their past behavior).
If this initial group responds positively by either liking, sharing, or watching the entire video at a rate higher than what is normal for that account—TikTok then shows it to more people who it thinks share similar interests. That same process then repeats itself, and if this positive feedback loop happens enough times, the video can go viral.
But if the initial test group doesn’t signal they enjoyed the content, it’s shown to fewer users, limiting its potential reach. It’s basically a mini-voting system that happens over and over until the metrics fall below the norm.
For You Page
This strategy is why your For You page may contain videos with lots of likes and views, alongside videos that may have been seen by only a few people.
A new user with a small number of followers can still make it to the For You page.
Although creators with large followings may have an advantage due to their inherent advantage of follower count.
“While a video is likely to receive more views if posted by an account that has more followers, by virtue of that account having built up a larger follower base, neither follower count nor whether the account has had previous high-performing videos are direct factors in the recommendation system,” the TikTok blog post reads. This is why TikTok is the best we’ve ever seen in regard to building an organic social following.
TikTok relies on a variety of signals to identify what kinds of videos users want to see. Some signals are weighted more heavily than others.
Strong signals include things like whether you watched a video to the end, whether you shared it, and if you followed the creator who uploaded it after watching.
TikTok also considers negative feedback on a video, like whether a user tapped “Not Interested,” or if they choose to hide content from a certain creator or feature a specific sound.
Due to these signals, creating content that catches people’s attention early (as in the first few seconds) is key.
Publish Date/Time
When videos are published is also a weak signal. TikTok says recommendations on the For You page may be up to roughly three months old, though videos usually peak in virality soon after they are posted.
Since time stamps aren’t visible on the For You page, users may not know the videos they’re watching are from long ago. So anyone saying that there are certain days/times that work best for distribution is incorrect (although late at night probably doesn’t help at all).
Songs and Hashtags
The For You page algorithm looks at other elements like songs used in the video, hashtags, and captions, to categorize them and then recommend more videos like them.
That’s why you may have noticed that your For You page often includes videos with the same sounds, if you’ve engaged with content using similar sounds in the past.
The fact that TikTok utilizes hashtags proves that gaming the For You page—simply by adding the hashtag #foryou, is effective.
If users engaged previously with videos using #foryou, it’s indeed possible they could be recommended more of them, but there’s nothing particularly special about the hashtag itself. Just a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Rule Violations
TikTok says it visually scans contents to look for things that violate its rules such as nudity or violence. The Intercept published internal training documents from TikTok that directed moderators to suppress videos from people deemed too ugly, poor, or disabled. TikTok has since said the rules were outdated or never put in place. User safety is also considered: TikTok says it may block videos depicting things like “graphic medical procedures or legal consumption of regulated goods” from being recommended, because some people may find the content shocking.
Evolving Recommendations
TikTok says the For You page algorithm isn’t optimized for any specific metric, but rather is designed to take into account many factors. TikTok acknowledged in its blog post some of the challenges that come with designing recommendation algorithms, like the risk of creating filter bubbles, where users are shown the same one-sided ideas over and over again. To prevent this, TikTok says it purposely shows users different types of videos, even if they don’t match what they may have engaged with in the past. “Our goal is to find a balance between suggesting content that’s relevant to you while also helping you find content and creators that encourage you to explore experiences you might not otherwise see,” the company.
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