Platforms

Will Reports of TikTok’s ‘Heating’ Practice Turn Up the Heat Even More on the Platform?

Distribution of videos chosen by employees was boosted, bypassing the algorithm that populates the For You feed

Smartphone on fire — TikTok said 'heated' content makes up approximately 0.002% of videos in For You feeds.ferrantraite/iStock

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The For You feed on TikTok is valuable real estate, and there are countless online posts featuring advice and best practices on how to stake a claim to part of that land, but the most foolproof method of doing so is apparently out of the control of brands and creators.

Emily Baker-White of Forbes spoke with six current and former employees of TikTok and parent company ByteDance and reviewed internal communications and documents confirming the existence of a practice referred to within the companies as “heating.”

Baker-White