Many social networks use algorithms to determine what you see, but none are as omnipresent as the TikTok algorithm. The TikTok "For You" page is incredibly personal---sometimes eerily so. We'll share some tips to make it even better.
The TikTok algorithm is a huge part of the TikTok experience. People are constantly referencing it and talking about how their "For You" page totally gets them. And it's true, just use TikTok for a day or two and you'll witness it adapt to your interests and personality very quickly.
How Does the For You Page Work?
To understand how to improve the For You page, we first need to look at how it works. What factors is TikTok taking into consideration when it decides to serve a video to your For You page? Unsurprisingly, it's a number of things.
First and foremost, it's how you interact with the videos you see. Likes, comments (reading or writing), watching a video all the way through, and re-watching videos multiple times all tell TikTok "I like this and want more of it.
In those ways, you are basically directly telling TikTok what you like, but there's more to it than that. TikTok won't just simply show you more videos from that creator. It considers the subject matter, the caption, hashtags, and sounds associated with the video as well.
There's also a lot of stuff going on that you may not even think about. The For You page can be influenced by the accounts you follow, accounts you've looked at, and videos that other TikTok users have shared with you. It's a very complex web of considerations.
Improving the For You Page
Okay, so how can we use all of this information to train the algorithm for a better For You page. As mentioned above, there are a lot of factors being taken into consideration. However, TikTok doesn't give all of them the same level of importance.
One of the most powerful signals you can give TikTok that you like something is watching a video multiple times or all the way through. TikTok wants you to stay in the app as much as possible. It wants to show you content that will keep you engaged.
Of course, following accounts that you like will also ensure you see more from them, but even just visiting a page is a sign to TikTok that you're interested. Liking videos you enjoyed and leaving comments is also a good way to see more of it. That may seem pretty obvious, but it's important to be thoughtful about your usage.
The biggest thing you can do to improve your TikTok For You page is to be mindful of how you use the app. You may think simply liking videos and following accounts is all that matters, but there's so much more. Everything you do is taken into account, so pay attention to what you do. That's what makes TikTok different from other social networks.
As you refine your TikTok experience, learn how to, update the app, unfollow people, block users, see and clear your watch history, and reset your algorithm.