An Insider’s Guide to TikTok’s Algorithm (2021)
What makes TikTok so obsessive is the For You feed. It wants to keep you glued to the app so it is doing its best to show you content that you truly enjoy. If you are a huge TikTok user, you should be browsing it every day. For You feed is all about curating content and creators that you want to see and interact with. But what is For You feed powered by? TikTok says it is powered by a recommendation system a.k.a the algorithm. It is based on user interactions, video information and device, and account settings.
In this article, we will be going in-depth about these key ranking indicators for TikTok’s algorithm.
User interactions
User interactions? You might be thinking “Oh it must be the posts that I liked, commented, and shared.” It’s actually more than that. TikTok even keeps content that you dislike into account. Let us create a list of user interactions contributing to the algorithm:
Content that you liked/shared/favorited
Content that you created
Comments that you posted
Accounts that you follow
Content that you marked as “Not interested”
Content that you reported
Video completion rate
Image from WalkTheChat
Video Information
Video information includes captions, sounds, hashtags, effects, and trending topics. These indicators are based on the content you normally seek out on the Discover tab.
Image from GroovyPost
Device and account settings
TikTok optimizes performances based on your device and account settings as well. However, they are only based on several one-time settings such as language preference, country setting, type of mobile device, and interests that you selected as a user. Therefore, they are not as influential as the user interactions and video information signals.
Image from Medium
Content that is not included in TikTok’s algorithm
The following content will not be recommended by the algorithm:
Duplicated content (Not the original copy of video)
Videos that you’ve already seen before
Flagged videos (Promoting harmful practices/Spam/Violence)
Potentially upsetting content (Graphic medical procedures/Legal consumption of regulated goods)
If you want to grow on TikTok, knowing how the algorithm works is the primary requirement. Growing on TikTok does not require a huge following or base on your previous videos’ performances, you just need to create good content that keeps your target audience engaged.
Want to learn our insider tips to work with TikTok’s algorithm in 2021? Stay tuned to our weekly updates!
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