I reset my TikTok algorithm. Here's what happened
This is how long it took me to revamp my feed – and what you could do if you wanted to start over on a new platform
Welcome to Gen Z Translator, where I break down trending topics on Fridays. If you’re new, you can subscribe here and follow me on Instagram. Views are my own. Happy reading!
(This is a companion piece to last week’s newsletter on hacking your algorithm. Be sure to check it out).
I have a confession: I’ve fallen off with TikTok. I have become *Jaws theme song* an Instagram and Facebook Reels girlie. GASP! Trust me, this is not the personal development I wanted either.
Maybe it’s for the best, though. TikTok and the U.S. are currently in a toxic, are-we-aren’t-we relationship. I’m not going to go through and explain the whole saga, because I think I would get it wrong if I tried. All you need to know is the U.S. said bye-bye TikTok, and TikTok didn’t leave. Now they’re saying bye-bye TikTok again. That date is supposedly Jan. 19. Is it goodbye forever? We shall see.
Let’s assume, for the time being, TikTok is ixnayed, kaput, fin, canceled, over, bye-bye for real. I thought, “Hey, why not try to reset my algorithm because what do I have to lose?”
There are two ways you can do this. You can 1) Delete your account and create a new one. But if you’re looking for a less drastic measure, you can 2) Go to “Settings and privacy” > “Content preferences” > “Refresh your For You feed.”
I’ve deleted my TikTok account once before after the height of Covid. Now, a few years after creating a new account, I’m still displeased with my feed. I wanted to use the points I came up with last week to demonstrate whether or not I could actually reset my algorithm to what I wanted it to be.
1. Seek out targeted hashtags/search for specific interests
I mentally set three main TikTok spaces I wanted to end up on: #BookTok, #NewYorkCity, and #glutenfree. These were broad, but specific enough that I’d be able to identify them on my feed when they came up.
First, I looked up the #BookTok hashtag and spent some brief time on it. My new feed showed lots of foreign language content, AI-generated videos, and babies – sometimes even AI-generated babies. I was disturbed and had no idea why TikTok was starting there.
I searched the #BookTok hashtag again and this time spent more time on it – watching the videos, liking them, scrolling through the comments, and liking some of those, too. After watching another batch of videos (on my third round now for those keeping track at home), I looked up #NewYorkCity. I spent more time in the hashtag, watching videos at 2x speed. Upon returning to my feed, I received one NYC-related video, but it was a little too niche. I looked up #nyc, watched some of those, and returned to my feed.
On this round, I was getting closer to some of my interests – mainly, two movie-related videos and a single video related to Sabrina Carpenter. I looked up #glutenfree next. Still, not much was happening to my algorithm. I was receiving the most clickbaity content I had ever seen. Loud voices, creepy AI videos, momfluencer Nara Smith. I was also receiving a lot of videos with less than 100 likes. What did I have in common with these random people talking about random things? Nothing.
Finally, 20 minutes in, I received a #BookTok related video…with ten likes. All three hashtags were at play now. I started getting London content. Okay….closer. Now I was getting New York content back-to-back and movie-focused videos from film accounts like A24 and NEON. But then, all I was getting was New York content. I viewed more hashtags, adding #gfrecipes and #books. A lot of the hashtag-related videos shown to me were long, up to five minutes and I simply did not have the time for that. I tried my feed one more time.
Thirty minutes in, I was getting New York content back-to-back, close to ten videos straight. Close enough, I guess. Charlix xcx and movie content came back. A minute or two later, more BookTok content and pop culture content came up. Scroll, scroll. TikTok was figuring me out, finally.
The algorithm served me a video that began with, “This is advice for girls in yours 20s.” I stopped scrolling, satisfied.
2. Actually engage with content you like
TikTok says upfront in their algorithm-refresh page, “We’ll show you popular videos to launch your new feed” and “The more you interact, the more personalized your feed will be, including your ads (if relevant).” It also says, “Your following feed, profile, and inbox won’t be affected.”
Most of the posts I liked during this experiment happened under the hashtags. I’m not a big commenter – most of the time I feel like it’s meaningless and too public of a gesture. I am an avid bookmarker, though: I save anything and everything I think could be relevant later. Mostly for this newsletter.
(Everyone please clap for me that I checked all 107 unread TikTok DMs I had, too).
3. Follow specific accounts
I’m also stingy with who I follow. I’d rather follow an IRL acquaintance than a rando, since it seems more worth my time to commit to familiar content. This step wasn’t really relevant to me since I already had an established presence on TikTok, but if you were starting an account from scratch, I’d suggest doing it.
4. Unfollow, mute, and block
I didn’t have anyone in particular to mute or block (and did not want to go through 281 followers if TikTok is going to get banned, sorry, I’m a fake), but I did use the “Not Interested” feature by pressing down on irrelevant videos quite frequently as I started my feed from scratch.
5. Set your preferences (as much as you can)
I had already done this prior to beginning my experiment. I didn’t want to do the sliders on “Settings and privacy” > “Content preferences” > “Manage topics” because I felt like it would influence my results too much.
Conclusions
Now, I can’t tell you how much of my algorithm data TikTok actually got rid of. It’s possible – likely, even– the platform still cached a little bit about me. It still had my likes and my DMs and my bookmark folder and my general location. But judging from the randomness of content it served me at the beginning, it sure seemed like my data had been wiped.
I felt like TikTok’s new FYP1 recommendations started on a gross note with clickbait and AI, which almost made me give up entirely. The algo seemed all or nothing: either I had too little content that was relevant or I had very literal, very repetitive – but relevant – content.
I think the steps I’ve laid out to resetting your algorithm ring true. TikTok’s algorithm just seemed to be on a delay. It took probably an upwards of 40 videos to show me what I had actually sought out. I suppose this makes sense – TikTok wants to test the waters first, see if there’s anything else you’d like. A personality quiz, so to speak. All I had to do was stop on one movie-related video and then I was getting more movie content down the line despite not searching a related hashtag.
I was able to get my feed into acceptable shape in 30 minutes. That’s all the time I had (and wanted) to spend on it. If you had more time that than that, I think you could get your feed into tip-top shape in an hour, albeit very tailored to your interests.
Say you wanted to start over on a new video platform, *cough.* This experiment was just an example of what you could do with your algorithm on any given platform if you set out to be intentional with your feed.
As for me, I never want to watch that many TikToks again. Maybe I won’t have to. Lol.
Read my last story: How to manipulate your algorithm
My weekly roundup:
🎶 What I’m Listening To: “Everything is Embarrassing” by Sky Ferreira
🎞️ What I’m Watching: Gone Girl
🔎 What I’m Reading: Bunny by Mona Awad
📱 What I’m Scrolling: I loved this explanation from SZA on one of my favorite songs
⚠️ What’s On My Radar: TikTok alternatives
Read the full Gen Z Dictionary here.
FYP: For You Page, i.e. what the social media platform is predicting you’d like