Okay, it really seems that permanently online people believe the world really works the same way their social media apps work.

It’s “social” right? It’s all real people, so the theory would be that if you are seeing a lot of real people doing a specific thing, then it means majority of real people are doing exactly that.

Except it is not true. If you’re interested in taking actual Red Pills, realise that social media apps like this are duping you.

The TikTok algorithm explained breaks this down

The TikTok algorithm is a system that makes content recommendations personalized for each user. It decides which videos a user might like based on their individual interests and displays them on the user’s For You page.

As a result, the For You page is highly personalized for each user. What you see on your For You page will not be the same as what your friend or colleague sees on their For You page. Someone who watches a lot of beauty and makeup content will naturally see more recommendations for similar videos. Yet those videos will rarely show up for someone who mostly consumes content related to sports and gaming.

It also means that the types of content you see on this page will change over time as your viewing behavior and preferences change. For example, as you pick up a new interest in DIY projects, you may see more DIY-related videos on your For You page. This happens as you engage with more crafting and DIY content.

“But I don’t like those videos or follow those people!” addicts cry, well, TikTok uses more than those methods to track user behaviour.

The TikTok algorithm considers the following key data signals:

  • Video likes and shares
  • Accounts followed
  • Comments posted
  • Content created
  • Videos completed
  • Favorited videos

Videos completed, yes. Whatever you spend the most time looking at, is what it gives you more of. A simple idea that’s already effective at tricking users into believing something is more popular than it is. Curated media.

TikTok uses the most aggressive form of curated media algorithm, but this basic principle is applied to pretty much every social media app (Yes, even Reddit). Because more engagement = more money from advertisers.