Back in the days before facemasks and lockdowns, TikTok was once called Musically. It was “only for kids”, only featured cringeworthy choreography, and you would have to explain to a boomer what it was. Today, TikTok is everywhere. Internet culture is made by TikTok, marketers are asking how to make good TikTok content, and it’s paying back in spades. And what do we owe this massive explosion in popularity to? In a social media landscape where it was thought every need was met? Well, there are a few answers to that. Easy editing tools, the For You page, the authentic creators, the fact that we were forced online due to lockdown? Well, we’d say more than anything, we owe TikTok’s algorithm for the huge popularity of the platform. So, what makes the TikTok algorithm so special, and how is it different from others that came before it?
It’s up there with the Colonel’s 7 herbs and spices
TikTok’s secret recipe cannot be fully deciphered from the outside looking in. Just what exactly goes into the suggestions and what they’re weighed against is vague, and as mentioned, it’s not above surprising you now and then.
But Chris Stokel-Walker, author of TikTok Boom has given it a try. He said: “One person at TikTok in charge of trying to track what goes viral and why told me in my book that ‘There’s no recipe for it, there’s no magic formula.’ The employee even admitted that ‘It’s a question I don’t think even the algo team have the answer to. It’s just so sophisticated.’”
But we can take a guess. Hootsuite, for example, seems pretty confident in the idea of what goes into making these decisions within the TikTok algorithm, with video information like captions, sounds, hashtags, effects, and trending topics. There is also what goes into the decisions on what you see on the FYP, like what accounts you follow, creators you’ve hidden, comments you’ve posted, videos liked or shared, added to favourites, marked as “not interested” or inappropriate, longer videos watched all the way to the end, and content made on your own account.
Popping in something new
One stand-out element of the TikTok algorithm when compared to others, is the ability to see something that might be out of your comfort zone. The TikTok algorithm likes to prod you with new content to see if you’d like it. If you do, you’ll see more of it. Where other algorithms depend on your active likes and what you’re watching/otherwise engaging with to determine if you’d want more of it, TikTok gives suggestions and responds accordingly.
To give an idea of what that looks like, you might stray away from your usual YouTube catalogue because someone sent you a clip of Trixie Mattel. You show your support so you like it. Suddenly every video on your recommended is Trixie Mattel. Or at least drag-related. The TikTok algorithm is definitely more subtle, showing you something new and then offering you more of that thing (if you engage with it) once in a while and building until it’s in there as much as any other genre.
A fairer battlefield
Going a bit deeper, this level of experimentation has found TikTok getting some praise in terms of allowing smaller creators to emerge. Don’t get us wrong, once those creators get noticed, they are forgotten by TikTok and there are a lot of complaints about monetisation. But in the meantime, this TikTok algorithm allows creators to get their face seen and otherwise find ways to make some money, which is a crucial first step.
