The trend: As social media platforms continue their never-ending jockeying for user attention, personalized, algorithmically recommended content is making a comeback—and it’s been accelerated by TikTok.
How we got here: Five years ago, when the algorithm was discussed in media and marketing circles, it was often with anger or annoyance. Platforms had the power to prioritize or deprioritize certain types of content, seemingly on a whim, and control entire revenue streams in the process.
- In 2018, Facebook’s announcement that it was tweaking its algorithm to show fewer publisher posts sent shock waves through the media industry. Meanwhile, YouTube’s algorithm became a byword for radicalization and misinformation.
What changed? TikTok is arguably the first major social platform to prioritize algorithmically recommended posts over those from accounts that a user follows. Users can follow zero accounts and still have an endless feed of content to scroll through on the algorithm-driven “For You” page.
- TikTok explains its algorithm uses interactions like comments and likes, video info like hashtags and captions, and device settings like language preferences to curate a user’s feed.
That’s a radical departure from the follower-driven model used by most social platforms—and it has paid off. In late September, TikTok hit 1 billion monthly active users, reaching that milestone years ahead of other social platforms.
- It’s also been hugely successful in driving time spent on the app. We estimate that US TikTok users spent 39 minutes a day on the platform in 2020—the highest time spent figure of any social network we measure—and will maintain its lead through 2023.