People are only just realising ‘creepy’ meaning behind TikTok’s ‘shared with you’ message

For ages now, TikTok has been showing a weird “shared with you” message underneath random suggested accounts, and people are only just realising its creepy meaning.

The app is sharing new features all the time. This week, they added the ability to send voice notes and pictures in DMs, which is actually one of the best updates there has been in ages.

However, the “shared with you” message is a really old feature that still manages to confuse everyone in 2025. Here’s what the bizarre message means.

Credit: TikTok

‘Shared with you’ appears next to random TikTok accounts

The message appears in the suggested accounts section of TikTok, where the app shows you people they think you should follow based on your location, the people you interact with or the videos you watch.

Underneath some of the usernames, a short line appears in grey that says “shared with you”. It also shows when you click on their profile, underneath their bio.

Everyone’s first instinct is to think the message means that account has shared a TikTok video with you, obviously? But that’s not actually the case.

People have noticed that the message appears even when they don’t even know the person, and have never interacted with them in their life, so what the hell does it mean?!

So, what does ‘shared with you’ actually mean on TikTok?

TikTok hasn’t provided an exact explanation of the feature, but it seems to show profiles you have indirectly encountered through sharing links.

For example, when TikTok videos are shared on Facebook or in big WhatsApp groups and opened by lots of people, this links all the people together.

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It could also come up when you’ve shared a TikTok video with a friend and another account has also shared that same TikTok video with another person.

the way tik tok shows me the exact persons account who clicks on a tik tok link i share is so creepy to me

— fuzz (@fuzzbraiin) August 31, 2025

Basically, you have something in common with that random TikTok account because you both opened or shared the same link at one point in time.

So, TikTok is secretly keeping track of all the accounts you have indirectly interacted with without even realising it. It’s kind of creepy when you think about it.

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Featured image by: TikTok