TikTok, the social network with 1 billion monthly users, just announced a new feature in the For You tab. What has the social platform reserved for us?
More control over the For You tab!
In a blog post, Chinese giant ByteDance’s platform announced changes to the For You thread (“For you” in French). In fact, the post indicates that users will now have the option to reset it to view more diverse content as if the user were doing it “came just signed up”.
Remember that this feed is a personalized page that displays videos selected by the TikTok algorithm based on user preferences and behavior. The recurring criticism of the repeated recommendations would be the origin of this change.
The platform commented on this topic:
“The content recommendations may no longer be relevant or not diverse enough. That’s why we’re implementing a way to update the “For You” feed recommendations if they no longer seem to meet your needs.
How do I reset the For You thread on TikTok?
To reset the recommendations generated by the TikTok algorithm:
- TikTok works;
- Go to the app settings.
- Tap on “Content Settings”;
- Click “Update your For You feed” and voilà!
This feature may not be available to you yet as it was released in March of last year. However, TikTok also clarified that this thread reset will not affect the accounts you follow or the settings you have already chosen.
With this option, users will no longer see two consecutive videos posted from the same account or using the same music in the For You tab. Note that the latter accounts for about 74.4% of traffic on TikTok, according to a recent study by Metricool.
TikTok is stepping up its security measures
This new feature was also an opportunity for TikTok to announce new precautions in its recommendations, especially around inappropriate content. TikTok specifically cites sexually suggestive videos, those promoting self-harm or eating disorders, some of which were flagged by the algorithm a few weeks ago.
Towards minors, who make up around 25% of its users, the social platform has said it is doubly vigilant by removing certain content from the For You topic that it deemed inappropriate for younger audiences. The Chinese social network claims to have removed more than 65,000 plastic surgery-related videos from teens’ viewing experiences.
In addition, one of the problems highlighted by TikTok is to control users’ exposure to content that may evoke negative emotions in them, even if it does not violate community guidelines.
“So our systems look for the repetition of themes like sadness or extreme dieting […] If multiple videos on these topics are identified, they will be replaced with videos on other topics with the aim of reducing the frequency of these recommendations.”
Thus, these measures are added to the security options already implemented by the application, which allow to hide unwanted content. The keyword/hashtag filter removes videos containing these terms from both threads of the platform. A way for the platform to make it clear that the safety and well-being of its users is at the heart of its concerns.
A clear advantage over the competition!
This new feature is also an opportunity to strengthen the innovative position compared to other social networks and give users more freedom in their experience.
In fact, TikTok has transformed the way content is consumed on social platforms by implementing an automated system powered by machine learning, capable of offering a fully personalized and engaging user experience.
Unlike other social platforms that primarily rely on manual user actions (likes, shares, comments) to refine their recommendations, TikTok relies on viewing habits and user behavior to update and continually improve its algorithm.
This approach of delivering high-performing videos throughout the app without having to know specific user preferences is part of TikTok’s strategy of always staying innovative and fun for its members. Good reasons to integrate TikTok into your marketing strategy in 2023
