🧠 How TikTok Shapes Your Experience

TikTok's 'For You' algorithm alters the user's self-making process. Instead of focusing on a user's network, the platform reshapes how people see the world by amplifying the "algorithmized self."

Author

Vishal George
January 30, 2025

TL;DR: TikTok users interact with algorithm-curated versions of themselves, not their social network. Social media companies prioritising engagement through such algorithms create a self-mirroring experience that often overshadows meaningful social connections.

Who is this relevant for? Product teams, digital strategists, technology teams, AI teams, community managers, marketing & communication teams, policy teams—and anyone exploring algorithm-driven personalisation.

🎓 Researchers

  • Aparajita Bhandari, Cornell University

  • Sara Bimo, York University

📚 The Evidence

Research Objective: To examine how TikTok's algorithm influences user self-making and engagement compared to other platforms.

Sample: College students aged 18–24 from varied educational backgrounds, including computer science, communication, and engineering. User interviews with 14 participants who used TikTok for at least 30 minutes daily over a month.

Methodology: The study combined a walkthrough analysis of TikTok’s interface and features with semi-structured interviews. Researchers used grounded theory to identify themes related to algorithm awareness, content consumption, and self-creation across platforms.

Citation: 

Bhandari, A., & Bimo, S. (2022). Why’s Everyone on TikTok Now? The algorithmized self and the future of self-making on social media. Social Media + Society, 8(1), 1–11.

📊 Key Results

  • Awareness of the Algorithm: Participants exhibited a heightened awareness of TikTok's "For You" algorithm, often describing it as "getting to know" their preferences with striking accuracy.

  • Content Over Connections: Users engaged more with curated content tailored to their interests rather than content from their social networks, reducing traditional social interactions.

  • Algorithmic Personalisation Shapes Experience: The algorithm’s dominance created a feedback loop, where users felt increasingly understood but also constrained by the curated scope of their feed.

❝

Never before in history have 50 designers made decisions that would have an impact on two billion people

— Tristan Harris, Co-Founder of the Center for Humane Technology, The Social Dilemma

👉🏾 Vishal’s Evidence-Based Strategy

1️⃣ Encourage Discovery: Design algorithms to present diverse content, helping users explore different perspectives.

2️⃣ Support Community: Create features to enable meaningful human interactions and strengthen community ties.

3️⃣ Be Transparent: Explain how algorithms work and provide tools for users to adjust their experience.

🧪 Footnote

Evidence evolves over time and will NOT work across all contexts—start with a small experiment to find out what works for your specific challenge and audience.

P.S. I offer limited spots each year for our online masterclass, which includes two personalised 90-minute training sessions to help you apply our behavioural science tools.