TikTok Introduces New Feature to Refresh For You Feed Recommendations

TikTok is introducing a new feature that allows users to refresh their For You feed if they feel that the recommendations are no longer relevant. This update is part of their ongoing efforts to balance the goals of self-expression and an enjoyable viewing experience.

The For You feed on TikTok is designed to help users discover a wide range of content, creators, communities, and products. However, there are times when the recommendations may not feel relevant or diverse enough. To address this, TikTok is rolling out a feature that allows users to refresh their For You feed recommendations. When enabled, this feature will show content as if the user just signed up for TikTok, and the recommendation system will start surfacing new content based on their interactions.

This new feature adds to the existing content controls that TikTok's community already has to shape their TikTok experience. Users can choose to filter out videos with specific hashtags or phrases from their For You feed, and they can also indicate that they are "not interested" in videos from a particular creator or that use a specific sound. Enabling the refresh feature will not override any existing settings or impact the accounts that users have followed.

TikTok constantly works to provide an enjoyable viewing experience and takes several approaches to safeguard the platform. This includes removing content that violates their rules, such as self-harm or disordered eating. They also ensure that content not suitable for a broad audience is not recommended in the For You feed. Additionally, they minimize recommendations of topics that could have a negative impact if viewed repeatedly, and filter out content with complex or mature themes from teen accounts.

One challenge TikTok faces is avoiding repetitive patterns in the content recommendations. They strive to design a system that offers a variety of topics to viewers. For example, they try not to show two videos in a row from the same creator or that use the same sound. They also aim to avoid showing users content they have already seen.

Furthermore, TikTok carefully applies limits to certain content that may not violate their policies but could impact the viewing experience if seen repeatedly. This includes content with themes of sadness, extreme exercise or dieting, or content that is sexually suggestive. They understand that people express themselves in various ways on TikTok, even when they are feeling down or going through difficult experiences. Experts have advised them that closing the door on this expression can increase feelings of isolation and stigmatization. Therefore, they remove content that promotes or glorifies self-injury or violates their policies, while allowing for recovery or educational content with limitations on its frequency of recommendation.

TikTok's systems identify repetition among themes like sadness or extreme diets within the eligible videos for recommendation. If multiple videos with these themes are identified, they will be substituted with videos on other topics to reduce the frequency of these recommendations and provide a more diverse discovery experience. TikTok continuously works on improving these systems, and in the past year alone, they have implemented over 15 updates and expanded their language support. Their trust and safety and product teams collaborate on this work, which is informed by academic literature and consultation with experts from organizations like the International Association for Suicide Prevention and the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children's Hospital. They are committed to recommending a diverse range of content to enable an enriching discovery experience. Their goal is to provide a welcoming space for self-expression and an enjoyable environment for their community.