TikTok has confirmed that users can manually promote certain videos on the platform to ensure their videos get more views.
First reported by Forbes, TikTok has confirmed that some of its employees can promote videos to “raise the profile of celebrities and those who make up the TikTok community.”
This is done through a button called “heat”, which bypasses the TikTok management system.
Background Editing Can Promote Virality
According to an investigation by Forbes, six current and former employees of TikTok and its Chinese company ByteDance, who work in the United States, are able to increase certain videos fraudulently.
In the “MINT Heating Playbook”, an internal document obtained by Forbes, ByteDance said, “Heating refers to the expansion of videos in the For You feed through actions to achieve multiple videos.”
This contradicts how TikTok has previously stated that its feed works by using an algorithm to tailor a person’s feed to everyone’s preferences.
Burning is used to promote unity
According to Forbes sources, this strategy builds business relationships and attracts influencers and brands.
“We encourage other videos to help differentiate content and showcase celebrities and emerging creators to the TikTok community,” TikTok spokesperson Jamie Favazza told Forbes. “Only a small number of people, who live in the US, have the ability to accept ads in the US, and that content makes up about .002% of For You video feeds.”
However, according to MINT’s document, animated videos make up about 1-2% of video clips every day.
See Control Is a Common Method
According to Brent Csutoras, a digital marketing expert and co-founder and managing partner at Alpha Brand Media, the parent organization of Search Engine Journal, this type of fraud is more common than the platforms allow — and often leads to misuse. .
“Although it is not unusual for social networks to use the actions of employees, give other ‘power users’ influence, or force the inclusion of content in your feed (whether by advertising, forced, or algorithmic factors), TikTok. “For too long it has been a company that seems to ignore how these decisions affect user trust, especially when they happen behind closed doors and without explanation,” Csutoras said.
“Any time a person or group of people can take action that affects the visibility of content on a platform, whether it’s a social network or a search engine, we’ve seen users push back hard and abuse.”
Featured Image: Roman Samborskii/Shutterstock
