"Understanding TikTok's For You Page: How the Algorithm Recommends Videos and How to Use It to Your Advantage"
TikTok has recently updated its popular “For You” page, which is the first screen that users see when they open the app. One of the new features of the updated page is the ability for users to see why the algorithm recommended a particular video for them. To access this information, users simply need to tap a new option in the share panel labeled “Why this video.” When this button is tapped, a pop-over window will open and display a list of reasons why TikTok may have recommended the video in question.
Some of the reasons why TikTok may recommend a particular video include user interactions with the content (such as watching, liking, sharing, or commenting on the video), following certain accounts or being recommended accounts to follow, and the popularity of the content in the user’s region.
This new feature can be particularly valuable for social media marketers and content creators, as it allows them to gain a better understanding of how the TikTok algorithm works and how to create content that is more likely to be recommended to their followers. In 2020, TikTok published a blog post outlining the factors that the algorithm considers when selecting content for the For You page, but this new feature allows users to see this information in context and potentially tailor their content creation strategies accordingly.
For example, if a user sees that a video was recommended because it was popular in their region, they may choose to create a duet with the video in an effort to reach the same group of users. Alternatively, if a video was recommended due to user interactions or accounts followed, users can use this information to create content that is more likely to engage their audience and encourage them to interact with it.