Ever wondered how the TikTok following list order is generated? What factors influence who is at the top or who shows up more frequently? And is there any way to change it?
I had the very same questions a while back, and I set about on an internet adventure to find out how it works and what the algorithm behind it is.
As it turns out, there are quite a few factors that affect the following order on TikTok, and I’m going to be sharing them with you.
Does TikTok Following Go In Chronological Order
Short Answer: TikTok’s following goes in chronological order. However, content on the ‘For You’ page is influenced by factors like engagement and interaction consistency, recency, content consumption, follower-following ratio, and creator status.
Your following list will show you the most recently followed profile first, and the first profile you followed last.
But for content on your ‘For You’ page, TikTok’s algorithm kicks in to determine what content would interest you the most.
TikTok Following List Order
While your following list order isn’t affected by TikTok’s algorithm, here are the factors that affect what content you can expect to see from people you follow.
1- Engagement And Interaction Consistency
How often you engage and interact with content determines whose content shows up higher and more often on the ‘For You’ page.
This means the profiles you interact and engage with more tend to show up towards the top of the list.
It’s also affected by users you perform duets with.
While this factor alone doesn’t determine who’s at the top of your list, it does play a crucial role.
2- Recency Of Interactions
The more recent an interaction with a profile, the higher the chance of it being toward the top of your content list.
While you might engage with other users on TikTok, how recently you’ve interacted with them also matters.
For example, if there are two people you interact with regularly on TikTok, but one of them was a few days ago and the other one was yesterday, the more recent account’s content shows up higher in your list.
3- Content You Watch
The content you consume from people you follow is also a key factor.
If you follow a lot of different content creators from different fields, but watch a lot of cooking TikToks, chances are you’ll see a lot more cooking videos before other content starts showing up.
So if you’re seeing a lot of people in your ‘For You’ page with similar content near the top, it’s because of the content you’ve been watching.
4- Follower-Following Ratio
The follower-following ratio of various users is basically how many users you follow versus how many are following you.
Essentially, TikTok tends to favor users with a balanced ratio or people with more followers than they are following.
Generally, people who have a much higher follower count in comparison to the accounts they follow are content creators.
So, more often than not, the people at the top of your list will be content creators.
However, if you’re trying to follow someone but can’t, we have the solution you need.
5- Creator Status
Users who are verified content creators or have a creator badge tend to be favored to be at the top of the list of their followers.
So if you’re following multiple content creators, the other four factors mentioned above will come into play to determine how the list is ordered.
See Also:
Final Words
Even though the TikTok following list order is chronological, the content that shows up on your feed has a few algorithms in place to determine how the list is populated.
It’s easy to understand why certain profiles are always at the top once you know the factors that influence them.
Additionally, it also helps TikTok provide better and more relevant content to you based on these factors.
As a seasoned DIY tinkerer, Arvind found the simplest way to help anyone troubleshoot or set up tech without feeling overwhelmed by it. He’s an advocate for smart home technology and in his free time makes music. He’s also an avid gamer, mostly obsessed with single-player titles.
