TikTok: The Algorithm That Keeps on Giving

TikTok, the fastest growing social media platform technology has ever seen before, has quickly taken over. Was this app timed well with the pandemic? Or was there something more the people at TikTok have created? The answer is Yes. TikTok was created right before all hell broke loose. They had their audience stuck at home and with concern and in distraught, just hoping to find something to take their minds off of what was going on in the world, or maybe the viewer was looking for quick and accessible information about what was going on in our hectic world. TikTok also catered to all of its audience members in this sense as well and they did so by creating a seemingly unstoppable algorithm.

My main question of research was how does this relatively new platform generate its algorithm and through personal experience on the app, how is it so accurate?

TikTok came forward in June of 2020 explaining just this. They explained the following: "This feed is powered by a recommendation system that delivers content to each user that is likely to be of interest to that particular user". It then goes onto describe that no "For You" page will look identical to the next which is something that the platform prides themselves on. Later on in the article posted by TikTok, it explains there are three major factors into the contribution of their algorithm which include the following: user interaction, video information, and device and account settings. Through these aspects the app is able to recommend new videos through trends they see and also allow the app to include some diversity within what the user sees as well. Through my personal use and through having conversations with my friends and their personal usage of the app, it has led me to believe that this algorithm does in fact work for their audience. Like most, there are some flukes and bumps in the road, but all in all this app is so successful due to the accuracy of the For You Page in the app.