TikTok is injecting more choices into its infamous recommendation algorithm. As first reported by The Verge, TikTok users can now adjust sliders that affect the frequency of specific video categories on the For You Page.
The sliders can be found in the “manage topics” section of TikTok’s content preferences. Categories like “creative arts,” “current affairs,” and “humor” all have their own sliders.
The feature brings more customization to a TikTok feature that has been maligned for its deleterious effects on mental health. TikTok has made an effort to demystify the mechanism that drives hours-long scrolling sessions, but even with those insights at their disposal, many TikTok users see the For You Page as the digital equivalent of a bag of junk food.
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As negative perceptions of TikTok recommendations have become more common, the app has rolled out features that limit its reliance on its algorithm. A depersonalized version of TikTok showed up in the E.U. after the region’s Digital Services Act mandated the development of a new algorithm.
As evidenced by the rise of customizable social feeds like Bluesky, users in the U.S. want access to the depersonalized algorithm. For now, they’ll have to settle for the new sliders, which join the other tools TikTok has introduced to promote more user choice.
Marketers may also find applications for TikTok’s latest feature. Since the platform’s algorithm is a “black box,” the reveal of specific content categories that factor into the For You Page provides useful context for brands. The Verge noted, for example, that “dance” is a separate category from “creative arts.” That decision reveals that TikTok still emphasizes the category that was so integral to its early success.
On the other side of the equation, TikTok itself may benefit from a transition to customized feeds. A U.S. Appeals Court recently ruled that recommendation algorithms may interfere with the “safe harbor” protections platforms like TikTok rely on. Perhaps, by giving its users the choices the crave, TikTok is shoring up its own legal status in the process.
