TikTok has announced a new feature that allows users to refresh their ‘For You feed’ if they feel that their recommendations are no longer relevant.
This feature adds to the existing content controls that TikTok users have to shape their experience. The For You feed is a feature that helps TikTok users discover a diversity of content, creators, communities, and products.
However, there are times when people’s recommendations don’t feel relevant anymore or provide enough variety. To address this, TikTok is rolling out a way for users to refresh their For You feed recommendations, which allows them to view content as if they just signed up for TikTok.
TikTok is constantly working to provide an enjoyable viewing experience and takes multiple approaches to help safeguard its platform. For instance, TikTok removes content that breaks its rules, makes inappropriate content ineligible for recommendation into For You feeds, minimizes recommendations of topics that could have a negative impact if viewed repeatedly, and filters out content with complex or mature themes from teen accounts.
TikTok also tries to ensure that the breadth of content surfaced to a viewer isn’t too narrow or too repetitive. The system generally won’t serve two videos in a row made by the same creator or that use the same sound, and TikTok tries to avoid showing people something they’ve seen before.
TikTok understands that people express themselves in all sorts of ways on the platform – including when they’re feeling down or are going through a difficult life experience.
With this in mind, TikTok’s approach is to remove content that promotes or glorifies self-injury or other policies while allowing recovery or educational content, with limits on how often such recovery or educational content is eligible for a recommendation.
TikTok has implemented over 15 updates in the last year to improve its systems, along with expanding to support more languages. Its trust and safety and product teams partner to drive this work, which is informed by academic literature and consultation with experts, such as the International Association for Suicide Prevention and the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital in the US.
TikTok will continue these efforts as it strives to recommend a diversity of content to enable an enriching discovery experience. The platform is determined to provide both a welcoming space for self-expression and an enjoyable environment for its community.
