what are 2021's most popular TikTok songs

This is exactly how TikTok decides what goes on your ‘For You Page’

Now I know why my Fyp is full of thrifting videos


The TikTok For You Page always seems to know exactly what we wanna watch – feta pasta, roasting Zara’s website and another dance by Addison Rae. The TikTok algorithm has got it down to a fine art in showing us videos that we’re going to continually watch and end up stuck on the app for hours.

Everyone’s For You Page is completely different, even your closest friends who you send TikToks to and have very similar interests with, will somehow be on gym TikTok whilst you’re laughing over Ollie Ball’s videos.

One video hooks you in and then you’ve got another 10 like it. I’m not complaining, I like seeing multiple ASOS hauls in a row, but how does it know this is what I wanna waste my time with?

People have long guessed at how it works, but after the app exploded in popularity last year, TikTok revealed the secrets of the For You Page.

How does the TikTok algorithm work and decides what you see on your For You Page?

There are a number of factors that influence what you see on the For You Page, such as:

Your interactions on the app

Everything you interact with on the app is taken into consideration for your recommendations. This includes things such as which TikToks you like, the ones you comment on and who you follow.

It will also look at which hashtags, captions and sounds you view and like.

Your account settings

TikTok says they take into account your device and account settings so content can be “optimised” for performance. Settings such as your country location and language preference will also have an impact.

How long you watch a video

If you watch a TikTok to the end, you’re more likely to get similar videos popping up than if you watched it for a second and then moved on.

Negative feedback

Not only does it take into account the things you like but also the things you don’t. If you select “not interested” on a video or choose to hide content from a particular creator or block a sound.

The recommendation system

TikTok says all these factors are fed into the recommendation system and “weighted based on their value to a user”.

Videos are then ranked for how likely they are to be of interest to the user and then delivered to the user’s unique For You Page.

Featured image credit before edits: Solen Feyissa on Unsplash  

Related stories recommended by this writer:

Inside Percy Pig and Colin the Caterpillar’s unhinged world of M&S TikTok

Um, so someone on TikTok revealed the true meaning of the Macarena and I am in shock

NFT explained: What is this new digital art selling craze that’s all over TikTok?