Viral video-sharing app TikTok unveiled plans to let users reset their “For You” feeds, offering people a chance to get a clean slate of recommendations if their interests have shifted or they’ve grown tired of seeing the same kinds of content.
(Bloomberg) — Viral video-sharing app TikTok unveiled plans to let users reset their “For You” feeds, offering people a chance to get a clean slate of recommendations if their interests have shifted or they’ve grown tired of seeing the same kinds of content.
“This feature allows someone to view content on their For You feed as if they just signed up for TikTok,” the company said Thursday in a statement. People will be able to refresh their feeds “if their recommendations no longer feel relevant or entertaining,” TikTok said, and the system will offer videos based on new interactions on the app.
As part of the rollout, the company said it’s also updating its approach to content moderation to minimize videos with “themes of sadness, extreme exercise or dieting, or that’s sexually suggestive.” While this type of content doesn’t technically violate the company’s policies, it can still cause harm if viewed repeatedly, TikTok said.
TikTok rose to prominence by perfecting the algorithm — the software-based recommendation engine — that powers its feed. The algorithm gives the app an uncanny ability to show videos that people actually like, and as a result growth has exploded to more than 1 billion users worldwide, many of them teenagers and young adults.
The new feature is a significant shift for the social media giant, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., and comes in the wake of increased scrutiny around the company’s data privacy practices. In recent months, TikTok executives have been on a charm offensive in Washington, seeking to persuade lawmakers the app is safe for US users. To address national security concerns, TikTok leadership has considered splitting off from its Chinese parent company, Bloomberg has reported, and the US government has told TikTok’s owners that they must sell their shares or risk the app being banned, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
Resetting the feed of suggested videos on TikTok’s app won’t change anyone’s existing privacy settings, the company said Thursday, such as filtering out videos with certain hashtags or skipping videos from a particular creator.
The recommendation changes will mean that if TikTok detects that a user is repeatedly watching sad videos or those touting extreme diets, for example, the system will switch out the content. “If multiple videos with these themes are identified, they will be substituted with videos about other topics to reduce the frequency of these recommendations and create a more diverse discovery experience,” the company said — adding that it also doesn’t want to make users feel more isolated or limit people’s access to potentially helpful information about how others handle difficult emotions.
TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Chew has been asked to testify before a House committee next week about the app’s data privacy and security practices, and the company’s relationship with the Chinese Communist Party.
–With assistance from Alex Barinka.
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