According to a new Forbes story, TikTok and ByteDance can promote films to get them onto more feeds, implying that the viral videos on the TikTok For You page are not solely the result of the algorithm. It’s also possible that the videos we see on TikTok as “viral” weren’t genuinely trending earlier, but were made to trend by showing them repeatedly on your page.
TikTok can use a feature called “heating” to determine which videos go popular
According to six current and former TikTok and ByteDance employees, the social media platform and its parent firm can use a feature called “heating” to determine which videos go popular.
“The heating feature refers to boosting videos into the For You feed through operation intervention to achieve a certain number of video views. The total video views of heated videos account for a large portion of the daily total video views, around 1-2%, which can have a significant impact on overall core metrics”, says the MINT Heating Playbook, an internal TikTok document reviewed by Forbes.
Heated content on TikTok isn’t labeled as “heated” or anything like that, unlike adverts and sponsored content.
TikTok is increasing its “why this video” function, according to a spokeswoman, to provide more precision and transparency about recommended material.
“We promote some videos to help diversify the content experience and introduce celebrities and emerging creators to the TikTok community,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement to Insider. “Only a few people, based in the US, have the ability to approve content for promotion in the US, and that content makes up approximately .002% of videos in For You feeds”.
Some staff exploited the heating feature by raising their own or the accounts of people they know
According to three sources and internal papers examined by Forbes, some staff exploited the heating feature by raising their own or the accounts of people they know, which is against company policy.
Employees of TikTok and ByteDance could use the heating feature to “attract influencers,” “promote diverse content,” “push essential information,” and promote “relevant videos that were missed by the recommendations algorithms,” according to another document acquired by Forbes. According to two Forbes sources, staff might decide on their own what content satisfies the criteria.
As the firm faces pressure from officials concerned that the software could be utilized by the Chinese government, ByteDance has faced increased criticism in the past for granting access to its employees.
As security concerns about the Chinese-owned app mount, TikTok is currently restricted on government devices in at least 27 states in the United States.
