The ‘For You’ feed really is for you

TikTok, a platform that is taking over the time and attention of teenagers across the globe since 2016. The app continues to gain more momentum as the years go by, now with around 850 million users.

The first feature TikTok serves to users is its “For You” page. This page acts as a homepage, where users can scroll and browse through TikTok’s most viral and trending videos. Although users’ For You pages could potentially be fairly similar, the page contains an algorithm, a system of equations that creates an individualized page for each user. This system generates a stream of TikToks according to preferences. The way this algorithm worked was unknown until TikTok released a blog post in June confirming theories many users had.

In your For You feed, “you’re presented with a stream of videos curated to your interests, making it easy to find content and creators you love” according to TikTok’s blog series about the For You Feed. Each feed is formed by a system of recommendations that delivers content that each user will likely be interested in.

Factors like user interactions (leaving a like, comment, or watching a video all the way through/multiple times), video information (captions, hashtags, or sounds behind videos), and account settings (language preferences or country setting) are what generate this system of recommendations in order to personalize each user’s page.

“Every new interaction helps the system learn about your interests and suggest content – so the best way to curate your For You feed is to simply use and enjoy the app” confirms the TikTok blog series.

As one scrolls through the For You feed, TikTok offers more options than liking, commenting, saving, and sharing a video, they provide an option to select if you are not interested in the video or if you would like to hide videos from a specific user or sound.

Another aspect to notice about the For You page is the fact that distinct sounds come along with specific trends. All throughout November, TikTok users have seen the ‘Corvette Corvette’ dance, the ‘Blow Your Mind’ jumping trend, and the ‘Tricky this or that’ challenge. According to TikTok’s second part of their For You Feed blog, these trends go viral based on how engaging the videos are and the songs behind them. TikTok advises creators to measure their video performance and connect with the right audiences if they want their videos to reach For You pages far and wide.
Watch the ‘Corvette Corvette’ dance below.

@gracekellyannGuess where I’m going for the first time today?! 👀 ##foryou ##fyp ##foru♬ Adderall (Corvette Corvette) – Popp Hunna

Watch the ‘Blow Your Mind’ jumping trend below.

@marialaura_gm##duet ##fyp ##yoenlafiesta♬ Blow Your Mind (Mwahchallenge) – Dua Lipa

Watch the ‘Tricky this or that’ challenge below.

@annaxsitarthis or that ✨♬ It’s Tricky – RUN DMC