One of the great joys many TikTok users experience is seeing their follower count start to climb. As surfers see their content and decide to become a fan, the number seemingly grows on its own.
At first, every new TikTok follower is cause for celebration. After a while, content creators only take note of every ten new fans, then every 100, then every 1,000 new followers. For those folks, the more the merrier; building a larger follower base means more popularity, more importance, and often, more money.
Not everyone feels that way, though.
Some users who carefully guard their privacy on the social media platform set their TikTok accounts to “private.” The move makes their TikTok profiles largely invisible and stops random people from sending them unsolicited (and usually unwanted) direct messages.
Private accounts also dramatically limit exposure for the content they post. Only a private account’s followers can view the TikTok videos the user posts, and no one can become a follower until they make a formal request. The account owner must approve each follower request individually.
That’s a sensible arrangement for people who only want friends and family to be able to see their TikTok content, or those who want to keep their fan base small and exclusive. It leaves one big question, though: how do you know if someone wants to follow you?
It’s simple.
Where To Find TikTok Follow Requests
Those who want to stay private on TikTok may never have had a reason to tap one of the icons prominently featured on their home screen: the one that leads to the user’s “Inbox.”
System notifications are sent to the inbox, as are direct messages and the alerts sent when someone likes your videos. None of those notices are crucial for users’ enjoyment of the app, though, so it’s easy to ignore the inbox and the notifications that accumulate.
However, one type of notification that lands there is important for this discussion.
When someone wants to follow your account, their request lands in your TikTok inbox. Opening it reveals a category of notifications labeled “Follow Requests,” along with the number of pending requests you’ve received. Clicking on the link shows you the TikTok usernames of the people who want to become your fans; you can approve or delete each one individually.
(If you’re wondering how they’ve managed to send a follow request, they’ve hit the big red “Follow” button on your profile page. That automatically generates the request.)
Some TikTok features and functions can be difficult to figure out once you learn about them. Fortunately, this one is simple. It’s designed to let users control who’s able to see their content and interact with them, and it works like a charm!
About the Author
Peter Hasselworth is a contributor at iDigic, sharing valuable insights about Instagram growth and social media marketing strategies.