TikTok will let you know why you’re seeing a video in your For You web page

TikTok customers will quickly get a peek underneath the hood of their For You pages to grasp why every video is being beneficial.

In a blog post as we speak, the corporate mentioned it could start rolling out a brand new characteristic on movies that breaks down why they’re being proven to the consumer. The characteristic — labeled “Why this video” — is accessed by means of the share panel and by clicking a query mark icon.

TikTok recommends content material based mostly on a wide range of alerts the corporate collects from customers however has largely stored its precise strategies underneath wraps. A blockbuster Wall Street Journal investigation final 12 months detailed some methods the TikTok algorithm reads customers, together with how lengthy an individual lingers over movies even when they don’t work together with them.

Explanations within the new characteristic embody a video trending within the consumer’s area, the video originating from an account being beneficial, or the advice being based mostly on what a consumer has watched, appreciated, shared, commented on, or looked for. The characteristic will probably be rolling out to customers over the approaching weeks.

TikTok’s extremely customized feed is a part of what retains customers coming again however has additionally been a subject of criticism, significantly how customers could be inundated with dangerous content material. A Wall Street Journal report final 12 months detailed how younger women have been despatched down rabbit holes of weight-reduction plan and weight reduction content material on the app, constantly serving up associated movies. Shortly earlier than the story was revealed, TikTok introduced it was working to diversify suggestions to keep away from repetitive content material.

The firm has regularly added extra methods for customers to fine-tune their feeds to their liking, not less than by telling the app what they don’t wish to see. In July, TikTok launched the flexibility to filter out sure movies by key phrases or hashtags. Users can even “dislike” movies by lengthy urgent on a publish and clicking “not interested.”

TikTok’s algorithm is the corporate’s secret sauce, the factor that retains customers entertained, intrigued, and at instances slightly creeped out at content material’s relevance. Though the brand new rationalization characteristic doubtless received’t be as exact as to say “we showed you this video because you watched another related one 10 times yesterday,” it’d assist customers higher perceive why the For You web page appears the way in which it does.