Exploring and Discovering Content on TikTok

This is part three in our blog series about the For You feed on TikTok. In this post, we will focus on the various ways to explore and discover content on the platform.

The For You feed is where you can find entertaining and inspiring content that is recommended to you based on your interests. It is the starting point for your TikTok journey. But there are also other ways to explore more from the many communities on TikTok.

One way to discover trending content is through the Discover page. Here, you can find what's currently popular on the app, from trends to effects and sounds. You can also draw inspiration from previous trends as you scroll through the page.

If you have favorite creators whose content you enjoy, you can easily keep up with them by following them. By tapping the "+" on their profile photo in your For You feed or the Follow button on their Profile page, their content will start showing up in your Following feed. This feed surfaces the latest and most relevant content from accounts you follow.

Searching for content you love is also easy on TikTok. Just head to the Discover page and you can search for hashtags, videos, creators, and sounds. Exploring the search results can expand your viewing experience in your For You and Following feeds. Interacting with the content you discover through search, such as following an account or saving a video to Favorites, can help shape your future content recommendations.

TikTok also has safeguards in place for the search experience. For example, searching for eating disorder terms may surface expert resources and support organizations. Additionally, searching for content that violates TikTok's Community Guidelines may redirect you to those guidelines for a refresher on the platform's policies.

Your video interactions, such as likes, shares, and comments, play a role in shaping your For You feed. You can also indicate your preferences by responding to in-feed surveys that ask for feedback about the videos you come across. Long-pressing on a video and tapping "Not Interested" can indicate that you'd like to see less of a certain type of video. Hiding videos from specific creators or with certain sounds, as well as reporting videos that violate guidelines, also help shape your For You feed.

Occasionally, you may come across videos in your feed that don't seem relevant to your interests. This is intentional, as TikTok aims to bring a diversity of videos into your For You feed, providing you with opportunities to discover new content categories and creators.

With TikTok's built-in discovery features, your feed becomes not just a place to watch videos you already love, but a portal to explore content from all across the TikTok universe.