Apprentice TikTok 2024 Algorithm - Summer Safety Tips(III)

apprentice summer safety tips algorithm 

this is a continuation of a previous post

3. Device and account settings

Device and account settings don't have as much influence as the interaction and information signals associated with the video, but they still matter to the extent that TikTok uses them to optimize performance. However, they are based on choices made during the first connection rather than active engagements: for TikTok, therefore, they are not as relevant.

Here are some of the device and account settings considered by the TikTok algorithm:

• Language preferences
• The choice of country (you will probably see more content from users from your country)
• The type of mobile device used
• The interest categories you selected as a new user

If you are unhappy with the recommendations you receive, you can reset your personal algorithm. To do this, go to Settings & Privacy, tap Content Preferences, then Refresh Your For You feed.

Apprentice: Interact with the TikTok community

Interacting with the TikTok community through comments or messages also allows you to support this proximity link, which will optimize your content to appear in the TikTok page feed.

Summer safety tips: Post regularly

By posting at least 2 videos per day on TikTok, there is a greater chance that they will appear on the page feed. The TikTok algorithm evaluates the content creator's presence on TikTok and gives importance to content that is posted frequently.

What is not included in the TikTok algorithm

Just as important as what TikTok considers when performing its little magic tricks is the type of content it doesn't recommend. This includes :

• Duplicate content
• Content you've already seen
• Content that the algorithm considers spam (including videos “seeking to artificially increase traffic”).
• Potentially shocking content (TikTok gives the example of “explicit medical procedures” or “legal consumption of regulated products”).

Another element that TikTok does not take into account: the number of followers. This is great news for new TikTok users, or those who haven't yet amassed a large number of followers. Everyone can be successful on the platform, since TikTok does not base any of its recommendations on the number of followers or the performance of previously posted videos.

Of course, accounts with more followers will get more views as users are actively searching for that content. But if you offer quality content that directly meets the expectations of your target audience, you have as much chance of landing on their For You page as the biggest TikTok stars.

At least that’s what TikTok claims:

“You may come across a video in your feed that doesn't seem... to have accumulated a large number of likes... Adding a diversity of videos to your For You feed gives you more opportunities to come across new ones. new content categories, discover new creators and experience new approaches. »

If you want to know more about the ins and outs of the algorithm, know that TikTok has opened a Transparency Center. People who work in politics, content safety or cybersecurity can contact us to book a tour here. TikTok has also implemented a feature allowing everyday users of the platform to understand why certain videos were specifically recommended to them. In your For You feed, tap the share button. Next, tap “Why this video” (question mark icon) for a detailed explanation.

The benefits and risks of visibility on TikTok

Increasing your visibility as a content creator helps create a loyal TikTok community with similar values ​​and interests. This visibility allows you to stand out from other TikTok users and contributes to notoriety. Possibilities such as partnerships with influencers or even collaborations with brands can then be offered, which will further increase the visibility of the content creator on TikTok. This visibility can be beneficial if the content creator decides to start a business.

As mentioned summer safety tips previously, TikTok considers several elements to power its algorithm. We must therefore be on the lookout for trends that change over time. A content creator who does not watch regularly will see his visibility efforts evaporate. All the same, it is important not to create a fixation on this subject to avoid falling into an addiction, that is to want an ever larger

Is the TikTok algorithm sending you messages from the universe? (II)

“If you came across this video, it was meant for you”

In the part of TikTok reserved for New Age followers, this idea that the algorithm is a spiritual force that delivers messages to users at the right times has become a kind of evidence. Many influencers start their video by stating: “If you came across this video, it was meant for you. Stop scrolling and listen to what I have to say.” For followers of the laws of attraction, this ideology according to which the universe bends to our thoughts, then there is a certain logic: the TikTok algorithm reflecting our personality could respond to our desires or our questions. More prosaically, the application would have a whole bunch of tools to aim correctly and give you the right information at the right time.

The algorithm that loved me...

The thing is known: all beginner users start with the same experience on TikTok. The first videos that appear come from accounts with a lot of subscribers and always presenting similar content. You have to watch videos of young women waddling or pranks filmed in time-lapse for TikTok to start offering more specific content. It is in particular the watch time (the fact of watching the video to the end) and our engagement (the fact of liking, sharing or commenting on the video) which will give clues to the algorithm. It will be able to determine what makes us stay or leave a video. If you are a long-time user, it is easy to spot the moments when the platform offers you a new type of content that you might like.

The rest also comes down to suggestions and interpretation. As in the divinatory arts, everyone can interpret chance and other coincidences as messages from the universe.

...the app that sucks up my data

It remains to be agreed that TikTok is an application literally listening to you. Since 2020, we have known that the platform can activate the microphone of smartphones even when you are not scrolling videos. iPhone users are protected, but those on Android are therefore likely to be recorded without their knowledge. And that's not all. TikTok also uses so-called third-party trackers that tell the company about your online activity outside of its app. 

According to a report from the URL Genius site, 13 trackers out of the 14 on TikTok record your Google searches, your location, etc. When we understand to what extent each user is spied on by the application, then the magic tends to disappear slightly.

Is the TikTok algorithm sending you messages from the universe? (I)

More and more users believe that the TikTok algorithm possesses a form of divinatory magic comparable to the tarot deck.

“It’s a crazy story,” says François*, 33 years old. While someone close to me underwent an operation requiring them to wear a very specific medical device for a while, my TikTok feed offered me videos of influencers who were going through the same thing and who were giving popular speeches on this ultra-specific subject. However, I have never done any research on this on the platform and I had never seen any videos on this subject before the operation. I came to wonder if the algorithm was sending me messages. »

“Doctor TikTok sees into the future and brings back your loved one”

Halfway between wonder and paranoia, it is very possible that you have already read or heard this type of testimony. In the same way that we constantly have the impression that Instagram is listening to us, TikTok leaves all its users with a strange impression; that the platform knows us better than ourselves and that its algorithm sends us content which resonates very strongly with our private lives, to the point that it would play a role of divination.

In the media, many articles echo these funny coincidences, similar to Jungian synchronicities. In June 2021, GQ journalist Louis Hanson already found it strange the fact that the platform suggested videos to him on microbehaviors that he thought he was the only one to have, such as, for example, pretending to be surprised when a waiter brings him a dish at a restaurant.

(to be continued)