Feed: Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Feed Link: https://www.engadget.com/
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Title: TikTok is making it easier to control what is (and isn't) in your 'For
You' feed

Date: Tue, 03 Jun 2025 17:53:01 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/social-media/tiktok-...

We may never fully understand how TikTok's "For You" algorithm works or why
it sends users down the sometimes very specific rabbit holes it does. But the
company is making it a bit easier to control what topics are likely (or not)
to appear in recommendations.

The company is rolling out a setting to "manage topics" within the app to all
users in an attempt to add more personalization to users' feeds. The setting,
which the company began offering in the United States last year, is a set of
sliders that allow people to specify how often they want particular types of
videos to appear in their recommendations. The sliders cover about a dozen
general topics, like nature; food and drink; fashion and beauty; and pets.
For each interest, you can drag the slider to "see more" or "see less."

TikTok notes that these in-app controls "won't eliminate any topics
entirely," so the sliders won't, say, prevent any sports content from ever
appearing in your feed. But the company says the setting "can influence how
often they're recommended as your interests evolve over time."

For those who want more granular control over their feeds ΓÇö at least when
it comes to blocking specific types of content ΓÇö TikTok is also expanding
its keyword filtering option, which allows people to choose specific keywords
they don't want to see. Now, the app will use AI to make those filters
smarter by adding extra keywords for similar content. For example, if you
choose to filter "remodeling," the app may also opt to add "renovations" to
your filtered words. The app may also automatically block alternate spellings
of topics, like "cat" or "c@t." The company says it expects these "smart
filters" to "get increasingly precise as more people use it over time" and
that it will eventually allow users to add up to 200 keywords.

Both features are available now in TikTok's settings in the app's "content"
preferences section.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/social-media/tiktok-...
what-is-and-isnt-in-your-for-you-feed-175301931.html?src=rss

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