Clean your feed: Dodge TikTok's powerful algorithm
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Your social media feed is designed to keep you scrolling.
Most platforms rely on black-box algorithms to study what captures your attention and drum up more of it.
- What keeps your attention? Typically content that makes you laugh, cry or rage — because that keeps you locked in.
Your brain is exhausted from hours of high-octane content. And with the advent of AI, it's getting harder and harder for all of us to tell the difference between truth and fiction.
- Platforms don't make it easy to sidestep their algorithms. But if you're committed to keeping the apps, you can get much closer to the experience you actually want.
- That might mean seeing more posts from friends, family and trusted news sources, and fewer random recommendations built to hijack your attention.
That's why we're launching a new Finish Line mini-series to help you clean your feed — and your mind. We're going app by app, giving you tips on settings or tricks to help escape algorithms and have a better experience online.
Let's start with TikTok — which has one of the most formidable algorithms, powering one of the most addictive apps of our time.
Why it matters: It learns what you linger on — not what you "like" — and feeds you more of it at scale. If you don't actively steer it, it will steer you.
There's no way to fully turn off TikTok's algorithm, but you can blunt its influence on your feed.
- Ditch the "For You" feed: This is where TikTok flexes its algorithmic muscle, serving up videos it thinks will keep you on the app. Instead, explore the "Following" feed, which only shows you TikToks made by friends or creators you've intentionally chosen.
- Prune your algorithm: If you can't escape it, train it. Be ruthless about flagging videos you don't want to see more of — whether that's incendiary personalities or buckets of content, like politics. Press on a video for a bit, and you'll see an option to tap "Not Interested." Use it!
- Seek out the good stuff: Training works both ways. There's a lot of great content on TikTok. Use the search bar to actively look for the videos you do want to see. That could be "how Congress works," "plant care tips" or "guided meditation."
- Scroll away: TikTok's algorithm is a black box. But we do know it pays more attention to how long you spend watching a video than whether or not you "like" it. So hate-watching garbage — like health misinformation or rage-bait hot takes — is going to signal that you want more of it.
- Be extreme: You have the option of clearing all your data and rebooting your algorithm. Head to "Settings," then "Content preferences," then tap "Refresh your For You feed." You can do it whenever you want to make TikTok forget what it's learned about you.
The bottom line: TikTok is relentless, but it's trainable. Every scroll is a signal. Make yours intentional.
