It took a long time for TikTok to introduce “Stories,” short video clips that only live on a user’s feed for 24 hours before they vanish forever. The feature was first seen on Snapchat in the mid-2010s, and it was soon added by other social media platforms. TikTok finally introduced Stories in 2022, and it’s still growing in popularity.
TikTok Stories are different in two important ways, though.
- Viewers can publicly comment on Stories and see the comments others have left.
- Content creators can see who’s viewed their Story — as can many other TikTok users.
TikTok has been rolling Stories out in newer versions of the app and in selected regions of the world.
If you have access to the feature, you’ll find new Stories posted by the users you follow in a bar at the top of the “Following” and “Inbox” screens. You can also check the profile of the user whose stories you’re interested in; anyone who’s posted a new Story will have a blue circle around their profile picture.
Being able to see who’s watched your Story is a cool aspect of TikTok’s version, but there’s one important limitation: you have to enable the right TikTok setting.
The Setting That Lets You Check Your TikTok Story Viewers
Buried deep in the depths of the app’s settings menus is an on-off switch that determines whether you’ll be able to see who’s viewed your Stories. Assuming your TikTok version contains the Stories feature, here’s what to do.
Go to your TikTok profile, hit the “Menu” icon (three horizontal bars at the top right of the screen), choose “Settings and privacy” from the pop-up window, tap “Privacy,” and scroll down to “Story views.” Make sure that the setting is toggled “on” (it’s set to “off” by default), and you’re all set.
There’s one potential issue to be aware of, though. Once you’ve enabled Story views, other TikTok users who’ve done the same thing will be able to see the usernames of your Story viewers, too. People interested in protecting their privacy on the app may not want that list widely viewed.
The only “fix” is to make your entire TikTok account private. That way, only your approved followers will be able to see your Stories and who’s viewed them.
Where is the List of People Who’ve Viewed My Story?
This one’s easy.
Just open your Story, and at the bottom of the screen, you’ll see how many views the video has received. To see the list of viewers, just swipe up and the list of all your viewers who’ve enabled “Story views” in their app will appear.
If you don’t have the Stories feature when you install the latest version of the TikTok app, be patient. It’s coming.
About the Author
Peter Hasselworth is a contributor at iDigic, sharing valuable insights about Instagram growth and social media marketing strategies.