TikTok

Marisa Paryasto
10 Feb 2021
The culture

• Facebook - only the people you know

• Twitter - high velocity

• Instagram - mostly pictures

• YouTube - long duration

• Tiktok
*https://chrissniderdesign.com/blog/resources/social-media-statistics/
 https://in uencermarketinghub.com/tiktok-stats/
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https://id.oberlo.com/blog/tiktok-statistics
https://id.oberlo.com/blog/tiktok-statistics
https://id.oberlo.com/blog/tiktok-statistics
https://id.oberlo.com/blog/tiktok-statistics
https://id.oberlo.com/blog/tiktok-statistics
https://id.oberlo.com/blog/tiktok-statistics
https://id.oberlo.com/blog/tiktok-statistics
https://id.oberlo.com/blog/tiktok-statistics
https://id.oberlo.com/blog/tiktok-statistics
https://id.oberlo.com/blog/tiktok-statistics
Features

• Duet • Video editing

• Stitch • Live streaming

• Use sound • React

• Filter
Algorithm
The ranking indicator most important to TikTok is video completion. This
means that if users watch a video in its entirety, this video is more likely to
have more visibility.
When you open TikTok and land in your For You feed, you're presented with a
stream of videos curated to your interests, making it easy to nd content and
creators you love. This feed is powered by a recommendation system that
delivers content to each user that is likely to be of interest to that particular
user.
A strong indicator of interest, such as whether a user nishes watching a
longer video from beginning to end, would receive greater weight than a weak
indicator, such as whether the video's viewer and creator are both in the same
country.
To help kick things off we invite new users to select categories of interest, like
pets or travel, to help tailor recommendations to their preferences. This allows
the app to develop an initial feed, and it will start to polish recommendations
based on your interactions with an early set of videos.
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Algorithm
Diversity is essential to maintaining a thriving global community, and it
brings the many corners of TikTok closer together. To that end,
sometimes you may come across a video in your feed that doesn't
appear to be relevant to your expressed interests or have amassed a
huge number of likes. This is an important and intentional component of
our approach to recommendation: bringing a diversity of videos into your
For You feed gives you additional opportunities to stumble upon new
content categories, discover new creators, and experience new
perspectives and ideas as you scroll through your feed.

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.
Security is important in the algorithm

Another tip on how the TikTok algorithm works is the fact that the TikTok
algorithm guarantees visual security, which means that the platform will
take care of the content that appears in the feed. Videos that could be
shocking to users will not be shown, nor will medical procedures that
are too graphic or anything that is considered illegal. Spam and videos
that seek to increase traf c in other ways will also not be recommended.

If you are interested in knowing the patterns of other applications, I invite

you to discover how the Instagram algorithm works.
The platform also has an option called “family safety mode“, where
parents can restrict the content they do not want their minors to
consume. In order to provide safety for children, this feature allows
representatives to decide who can and cannot write to their children.
They also a feature that limits the time the child spends on TikTok.
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Data that TikTok will have about you
• Date of birth.
• Email address.
• Phone number.
• Description of your pro le.
• Personal photography or video.
• Information collected through surveys, contests, and competitions in which you
participate.
• If you associate your account with other social networks (Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, or Google), you will be giving TikTok permission to collect
information from those platforms.
• Tik Tok will know the websites you have used, the applications you download
and the purchases you make to evaluate your interests.
• It collects your IP address, your browsing history, and the mobile service
provider you use for advertising purposes.
• Contacts from your phone or friends list on Facebook to make invitations
through that platform.
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To whom is this information shared and where is your data
stored?

• If you register your account through other platforms, they will have access to your
information on TikTok. That is, if you use Instagram when creating it, you will allow
them to have your name and pro le. They will also share your data with those
business partners.
• If you want to carry out some form of monetization, you will be giving permission to
share your data with the payment providers.
• Your Tik Tok information will also be held by analytics and service providers. That is,
those who moderate the content or take care of the cloud can access your data, as
well as third parties who optimize the information.
• Your ID will be known to third-party advertising and advertising companies. In this
way, they associate your pro le with other websites of interest.
• TikTok business partners know your data.
• Public authorities also have access to your pro le, in this way the user is forced to
comply with all legal guidelines and network problems or fraud are prevented.
• If your pro le is public you are also allowing your content to be fully visible to anyone.
• Personal data is stored at a destination outside the European Economic Area
(“EEA”).
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Subset of Users
When a video is uploaded to TikTok, the For You algorithm shows it rst 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.

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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 amount of followers can still make it to the For You page.
Although creators with large followings may have an advantage do 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
regards to building an organic social following.
 Watchability and Share-ability of Content
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 featuring a speci c sound.
Due to these signals, creating content that catches people’s attention early (as in
the rst few seconds) is key.
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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
are 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-ful lling prophecy.
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Rule Violations
TikTok says it visually scans content 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 nd the content shocking.

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Evolving Recommendations
TikTok says the For You page algorithm isn’t optimized for any speci c 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 lter 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 nd balance between suggesting
content that’s relevant to you while also helping you nd content and creators that
encourage you to explore experiences you might not otherwise see,” the company
wrote.
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Gaining Views

• Create short videos

• Create contents that engages from the start

• Use attractive video titles

• Use the right hashtags

• Join the trends or challenges