By Nicole Sparacio

03/28/2020

TikTok is the new social media app that is taking the world by storm. With over 1 billion users and millions of videos uploaded daily, TikTok’s popularity has continued to spike in the past year. A social media video app from China, TikTok involves users creating short videos with music and special effects. Most of the content contains simple jokes, comedy routines, singing and dancing. For that reason, most users are between the ages of 13 and 30. Creators, deemed “TikTokers” spend an average of 52 minutes per day on this platform. The average user opens the app 8 times per day and 83% of users have posted a video.

Yet, what makes this app so captivating and popular? One reason is the short film format that promotes nonverbal communication, which makes TikTok an ideal medium to convey a message to people of other languages. However, most notably is TikTok’s unique Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) algorithm that interprets users’ behavior and delivers content based on those interpretations. This algorithm traces back to Bytedance, the company that developed and runs TikTok, who deals with AI development and original algorithms.

This diagram does a good job at depicting the TikTok algorithm.AI is basically the “simulation of human intelligence to use it in machines and programs them to think in terms of humans and to mimic their actions” (Frankenfield). So, how does that relate to TikTok’s algorithm? Well, TikTok is designed to employ the batch theory. When a video is initially uploaded to TikTok, it shows the content to a small number of users in between popular videos. Popular videos are those that have gone “viral” and have been seen by a large number of people. New videos are shown between strings of popular videos so the user does not get bored. Next, the algorithm measures how much of your video is actually watched, as well as how many likes, comments, shares, and downloads it receives. It also records negative signals, such as the viewer swiping away, and the speed at which the user does so. In order to trigger the algorithm to show the video to more people, a video must earn about 1 like for every 10 views. Furthermore, the algorithm is triggered by the velocity of the engagement it receives, meaning if a video receives 20% more likes in a single day, it will be pushed out to more people as a result. Therefore, since TikTok has over a billion users, the possibility of your video being seen by a lot of people, or going viral, is pretty high.

Upon joining TikTok, there is no option for users to specify their preferences. On the consumer side, TikTok’s algorithms quickly absorb individual preferences in the short span of time the video plays to determine which videos catch a user’s interest. This in turn, drives user engagement. Within a day the app can get to know you so well it feels like it’s reading your mind. These recommended videos are displayed on a user’s conveniently named, “For You Page.” Furthermore, on the creator’s side, TikTok helps users devise viral videos by simplifying video editing and suggesting enhancements in components like music, hashtags, and filters that are trending or popular.

As you can see, they are different for all users, since they all have different interests.

Examples of users “For You Pages.” As you can see, they are different for all users, since they all have different interests.

In my free time, I decided to try making TikTok videos. I currently have made 20 videos and 2 of them have gone viral. Both of my videos that went viral were about the popular show The Bachelor. In these videos, I made a joke about the production of the show and several of the contestants. I believe these videos went viral because I posted them the day of the finale episode, a time when most people are up to date on the show and would understand the humor of the videos. Also, I think my videos successfully flowed through the TikTok algorithm due to my use of hashtags, the Morph editing transition, and a popular song.


This TikTok currently has 177.1 thousand views, 8,399 likes, and 80 comments.		 TikTok is completely different from other platforms because it entirely interprets and decides what the user will watch. A Chinese investor describes TikTok as the “first mainstream consumer app where artificial intelligence IS the product. It’s representative of a broader shift.” People are so drawn to this app because it is not only easy to find trends and participate in them, but also keeps things fun and entertainment with content for you. The success of TikTok is its ability to seamlessly combine fun, short videos with sophisticated AI that endlessly entertains customers. TikTok has proven to make huge strides in conveying the power of AI, and only time will tell how influential and popular it will be with users, brands, and creators around the world in the coming years.

Sources

  1. https://medium.com/beautytech-jp/how-cutting-edge-ai-is-making-chinas-tiktok-the-talk-of-town-4dd7b250a1a4
  2. https://www.analyticssteps.com/blogs/how-artificial-intelligence-ai-making-tiktok-tick
  3. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/xwezwj/how-does-tiktoks-for-you-page-work-users-have-some-wild-theories
  4. https://medium.com/@mattprd/how-tiktok-is-changing-the-world-and-youre-missing-it-fa283338649a
  5. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/artificial-intelligence-ai.asp