When opening the TikTok short video application, a sequence of content recorded by other users appears, which the platform selects and displays in a section called For you. This main stream of videos is different for each user, it is personalized. From the beginning, content creators have struggled to discover what characteristics their publications should have to appear in this section, since it is the one that has the most visibility on the web. app. Now, the company has detailed what are the factors that contribute to a video appearing on it and how the content is weighted for each user.
Like many other platforms to recommend their content, TikTok’s For You section is organized with user activity in mind, the company explains. The app takes into account the videos they like or share, the accounts they follow, the comments they post, and the content they create to help determine their interests. Creators who want their videos featured in this section don’t have much to do here. But they can customize the information in their posts, such as captions, sounds, and hashtags associated with the content.
TikTok also values other less obvious data, such as language preference, country and device type, although it claims that these factors have less weight in the recommendation system compared to others. For example, if a user watches a long video from beginning to end, it is considered a strong indicator of interest. This would carry more weight than the fact that the viewer and the owner of the video were from the same country.
The videos that have the most views are those created by accounts with many followers. In this case, the company confirms that it is simply because that account has a larger viewer base. But he adds that neither the number of followers nor the visits of the videos are considered decisive factors to recommend them to other users. This indicates that the main influencers of TikTok are not guaranteed that their content will reach For You.
As it begins
Like any application that is based on the tastes of its users to make recommendations, TikTok has to find a formula to suggest content of interest to newcomers to the social network, for which it does not yet have references. In these cases, the platform does not know what type of content an individual likes. To manage this situation, ask new users to select categories that interest them, to help tailor the initial recommendations. If users choose not to select categories, TikTok displays a general set of popular videos until it can collect more information.
TikTok also explains what it’s doing to ensure the system isn’t creating bubbles, i.e. to prevent the videos shown to users on For You from being too homogeneous: over-attending to someone’s personal taste can lead to development. from limited experience. To avoid this, remove content that is repetitive, duplicate, or that the user has already seen before. It also prevents watching two videos in a row from the same creator or with the same background sound.
Additionally, TikTok will add videos to your feed For You at times that don’t seem relevant to their expressed interests or have racked up a large number of likes. This is part of its attempts to add diversity, by giving users the opportunity to stumble upon new categories of content and new creators, and allowing them to “experience new perspectives and ideas,” the company says.