TikTok, the social network with 1 billion monthly users, just announced a new feature on its “For You” tab page. What has the social platform in store for us?
More control on the “For You” tab!
Through a blog post, the platform belonging to Chinese giant ByteDance announced the change to the For You thread (“for you” in French). In fact, the post indicates that users will now have the option to reset it, such as to display users more diverse content. “Came just signed up”,
This feed, remember, is a personalized page that displays videos selected by TikTok’s algorithm based on user preferences and behavior. Recurring criticisms about repeated recommendations will be at the heart of this change.
On this subject, the forum expressed itself:
“Content recommendations may no longer be relevant, or they may not be different enough. That’s why we’re implementing a way for you to update feed recommendations if they no longer meet your needs.
How to reset the For You thread on TikTok?
To reset TikTok’s algorithm-generated recommendations:
- Open TikTok;
- Go to App Settings;
- Tap “Content Preferences”;
- Press “Refresh Your For You Feed” and voila!
This feature may not be available to you right now as it was released last March. However, TikTok also clarified that this thread reset will have no effect on the accounts you follow or the settings you’ve already chosen.
With this option, users will no longer be able to see two videos posted by the same account or using the same music on the For You tab in a row. Note that according to a recent study by Metricool, the latter represents about 74.4% of traffic on TikTok.
Tiktok strengthened its security measures
This new feature was also an opportunity for TikTok to announce new precautions in its recommendations, specifically related to inappropriate content. TikTok specifically cites sexually suggestive videos that promote self-harm or eating disorders, some of which were highlighted by the algorithm a few weeks ago.
Towards minors, who represent about 25% of its users, the social platform has announced to be doubly vigilant, removing some content from the “For You” topic deemed inappropriate for young audiences. The Chinese social network claims that more than 65,000 videos related to plastic surgery have already been removed from the viewing experience of teenagers.
Additionally, one of the issues highlighted by TikTok is controlling users’ exposure to content that may elicit negative emotions in them, even if it does not violate the Community Guidelines.
“So our systems look for repetition of themes such as sadness or extreme dieting. […] If too many videos related to these topics are identified, they will be replaced by videos from other topics in order to reduce the frequency of these recommendations.
Thus, these measures are in addition to the security options already implemented by the application, making it possible to hide unwanted content. Through keyword/hashtag filters, videos containing these terms disappear from both threads on the platform. It’s a way for the platform to make it clear that the safety and well-being of its users is at the center of its concerns.
A significant advantage over the competition!
This new feature is also an opportunity to strengthen its innovative position compared to other social networks and gives users more freedom in their experience.
In fact, TikTok has changed the way content is consumed on social platforms by implementing an automated system based on machine learning and being able to provide a completely personalized and engaging user experience.
Unlike other social platforms, which rely mainly on manual user actions (likes, shares, comments) to refine its recommendations, TikTok uses viewing habits and user behavior to update and continually improve its algorithm. it depends on.
This approach to delivering top-performing videos throughout the app without needing to know specific user preferences is part of TikTok’s strategy to always remain innovative and entertaining for its members. Good Reasons to Integrate TikTok in Your Marketing Strategy in 2023