TikTok Has Suggested Accounts For Me To Follow. Why?

Video challenges, Duets and Stitches, Live streams — they’re just some of the features that have made TikTok the social media platform of choice for younger users.

One other feature of the platform has been even more important to that landmark success, though: the TikTok algorithms.

Those groundbreaking computerized rules and systems track every TikTok user’s activities and interests, allowing the app to display content that’s likely to keep people scrolling their feeds and “hooked” on the app.

Choosing TikTok videos to show on the For You page (FYP) isn’t the only job the algorithms have been assigned. They also decide which “suggested accounts” people will see on their TikTok profiles and elsewhere on the platform.

Suggesting other accounts to check out and follow is one more element of the strategy that has turned TikTok into a top-five social app worldwide: tailoring every user’s experience to match their interests.

How Does TikTok Determine “Suggested Accounts?”

The algorithms use many factors to determine which accounts should be on your “suggested” list.

Phone Contacts and Facebook Friends

If you’ve chosen to sync your TikTok account with your phone and/or Facebook account, people on your phone’s existing contact list and/or your Facebook friends are likely to be shown prominently whenever the app displays “suggested accounts.” If those people have synced their phones and accounts as well, it’s even more likely that you’ll see them on the list.

Want more proof that contacts and FB friends get priority in the app’s suggestions? Some people say they regularly see their contacts and friends suggested, even when they haven’t given TikTok permission to sync with their phone.

Mutual Connections

Have you noticed names that sound familiar on the list, even if you don’t really know them? TikTok often suggests that you take a look at accounts belonging to people who are friends of your friends. Another possibility is that the account being suggested follows many of the same TikTok users that you do.

TikTok Activity

The types of TikTok content you regularly watch shape the platform’s recommendations for other accounts you might be interested in following. If you often watch videos sharing home repair tips and indie music, for example, some of your suggested accounts probably post content focusing on the same subjects.

Other Factors

TikTok’s algorithms are proprietary, so no one knows what else might figure into their recommendations. These seem to be factors, though.

• Geography: Accounts in the same geographic area are more likely to be among your suggested accounts.
• Engagement: Accounts posting videos that you have liked, shared, and commented on will probably appear on your “suggested” list regularly. The same is true for accounts whose TikTok profiles you’ve visited more than once.
• Activity Elsewhere on the Web: A TikTok setting may control whether the app can see what you do on other apps and websites. Toggling the “Activity status” option (found by going to Settings and privacy > Privacy) to “off” may stop the inclusion of “suggested accounts” that reflect the sites and content you view when you’re not on TikTok.

Many users appreciate seeing accounts that the algorithms suggest for them, because it enables them to make new TikTok connections and friends, find people they know on the app, or discover new content creators they’d be interested in.

If you find the algos’ “snooping” intrusive or offensive, though, remember three things:

1. TikTok will always track your activity on the app. It’s how it decides which content you’d probably want to see.
2. You don’t have to click on suggested accounts or even pay attention to the list.
3. You can take steps to protect your own privacy. Turn off the toggle that lets TikTok suggest your account to others (Settings and privacy > Privacy > Suggest your account to others), and no one will ever see your account in their “suggested list.”