TikTok Suggested Accounts: TikTok’s Account Recommendation Explained

What are TikTok suggested accounts? How does TikTok choose accounts to suggest to users? Does TikTok suggest your account to random people on the platform? Here’s everything you need to know about how TikTok’s account suggestion process works. 

What Does Suggested Account Mean on TikTok? 

What does suggested account mean on TikTok? Suggested accounts on TikTok may be any of the following:

• TikTok users whose contact information (phone number or email) is in your phone. 
• Accounts with whom you share mutual connections on TikTok, i.e., you’re following the same people. 
• People you’re friends with on Facebook. 
• People who have your contact information in their phone. 
• Accounts following you on TikTok. 

Why Does TikTok Suggest Accounts, and How Does the System Work?

Why does TikTok suggest accounts for you to follow? TikTok suggested accounts are a way to help you find and follow people you might know on the platform. It’s a way to grow your community. There are a number of ways that TikTok identifies accounts to suggest to a user. How TikTok suggests accounts depends on the information a user chooses to share with the platform and their privacy settings. 

TikTok Suggested Accounts: How Does TikTok Suggest Accounts to You?

How does TikTok select accounts to suggest to you? Your suggested accounts on TikTok are users who allow TikTok to suggest their account to others via their Privacy settings. They may have selected any of the following options in their “Suggest your account to others” setting:

• Contacts. The user must also provide their phone number or email or sync their contacts. 
• Facebook friends. The user must connect their Facebook account and sync their Facebook friends. 
• People with mutual connections. These connections include those within and outside TikTok. 
• People who open your links or send links to you. These may be links to TikTok content shared outside TikTok. 

If the user selects any of the above, TikTok may suggest their account to you if:

• Their phone number or email is in your phone contacts, and you’re also syncing your contacts and Facebook friends. 
• They have your phone number or email address in their contacts, and you share the same info on your profile. 
• You’re friends with them on Facebook, and both of you are syncing your Facebook friends list with your TikToks. 
• You’re following the same accounts. You’re following some of the user’s followers. Or they’re following some of your followers. 
• The user is following you on TikTok. 

TikTok Suggested Accounts: How Does TikTok Suggest Your Account to Others?

If you’re a creator, influencer, or brand on TikTok, you’d want to be a suggested account on TikTok. Having TikTok suggest your account to others will make you more discoverable to an interested core user base. And you’ll be able to grow your followers more quickly. How does TikTok suggest your account to others?

Depending on your Privacy settings and the contact information you allow TikTok to share, TikTok may suggest your account to:

• Contacts
• Facebook friends
• Users with whom you have mutual connections
• Users who open your links or send links to you

If you enable the “Suggest your account to others” setting, you can select any of the following options:

• Contacts. You must also add your phone number or email address or sync your contacts. TikTok may suggest your account to a user if your contact info is also in their contacts. They must also be syncing their phone contacts. Additionally, TikTok may suggest your account if a user is in your contacts. They must also be sharing their contact info on their TikTok. 

• Facebook friends. TikTok may suggest your account to a TikTok user who’s also your friend on Facebook. But both of you must be syncing your Facebook friends list with TikTok. 

• People with mutual connections. If you follow the same accounts, TikTok may suggest your account to a user. This also applies if you’re following some of their followers or if they’re following some of your friends. 

• People who send you links or open your links. These may be links to TikTok videos shared on or off the platform.  

How To Turn Off Suggested Accounts on TikTok? 

You can adjust your “Suggest your account to others” settings anytime. You can change how TikTok suggests your account to others or sends you TikTok suggested accounts. You may also turn off this setting to keep your account more private. Here’s how to turn off suggested accounts on TikTok. 

TikTok Suggested Accounts: Manage “Suggest Your Account to Others”

You can manage TikTok suggested accounts via the “Suggest your account to others” setting. 

1. Go to your Profile and tap the Menu in the upper right. 
2. Tap Settings and privacy. 
3. Tap Privacy. 
4. Tap Suggest your account to others. 
5. Enable or disable the options you like. Note that if you enable Facebook friends, you also need to Sync Facebook friends. 

Take note of the following: 

• You don’t need to add your phone or email to enable Contacts. But you’ll need to enable the Sync contacts option instead. 
• If you disable all the settings above, TikTok may still suggest your account to others. These may be accounts you interact with on the platform or people you follow. 
• You can enable all settings and keep your account private. TikTok will suggest your account to others, but you’ll have to approve requests from people who want to follow you.
• Allowing TikTok to suggest your account to others is an excellent way of getting organic followers and instant likes. 

TikTok Suggested Accounts: Manage “Sync Contacts and Facebook Friends”

Another way to manage TikTok suggested accounts is through the “Sync contacts and Facebook friends” setting. 

1. Tap the Profile symbol and tap the Menu in the upper right. 
2. Tap Settings and privacy. 
3. Tap Privacy. 
4. Tap Sync contacts and Facebook friends. 
5. Tap Sync contacts to turn it on/off. Tap Sync Facebook friends to turn it on/off. 

Take note of the following:

• If you disable Sync contacts or Sync Facebook friends, TikTok will stop syncing contacts. This means TikTok won’t have access to new phone contacts or Facebook connections you add. But TikTok will continue to suggest accounts from your previously synced contacts. 
• You can remove previously synced contacts and Facebook friends to remove all your contacts from TikTok. 
• If you disable all settings for “Sync contacts and Facebook friends,” TikTok may still suggest your account to others. These may be accounts you follow or interact with on the platform. 
• You can enable all settings and keep your account private. TikTok will suggest your account to others, but you must approve connection requests.

Can You Suggest Your Account to Others on TikTok? 

Can you suggest your account to others on TikTok? The best way to do this is to set up the TikTok suggested accounts setting and enable all the options. While TikTok will mostly suggest your account to people you may already know, it’s a good place to start. The bigger your initial TikTok community is, the more branches you can form from each new follower. 

TikTok Suggested Accounts: How To Connect With Potential Followers

Are there more active ways to get yourself out there? You don’t have to rely only on TikTok suggested accounts. By directly engaging with them, you can make your presence known to potential new followers. This means following people and liking and commenting on their videos. Here’s how you can find users who are likely to become followers:

• Through influencers in your niche or industry. Identify their most engaged followers via their popular videos. If you’re using the app, you’ll have to tap on the user’s name to visit their profile and hit follow. If you’re on a computer, you can simply hover over the user’s name and hit the follow button. Don’t forget to like some of their most recent videos after following them. 
• Through competitor accounts. Again, find their most engaged followers and start following them and engaging with their content. 

TikTok Suggested Accounts: How To Connect With Profile Viewers

TikTok suggested accounts include profile visitors. You can also find out who’s viewing your profile and see if they’re already followers. If they’re not, make the first move and hit follow. TikTok will send them a suggestion to follow you back when you start following people. You have to turn on Profile view history to check your profile viewers. Here’s how to do it:

1. Go to your Profile and tap the Menu in the upper right. 
2. Tap Settings and Privacy.
3. Tap Privacy, then tap Profile views.
4. Toggle the Profile view history to turn it on or off. This setting is off by default.

Take note of the following:

• Your profile view history will only show accounts that have also turned on this feature. They must have also viewed your profile in the past 30 days. 
• Accounts you visit that have also turned on this setting will be able to see that you visited their profile.

TikTok Suggested Accounts vs. For You Feed Recommendations

How are TikTok suggested accounts different from the For You feed recommendation algorithm? 

The major difference is that suggested accounts are often people you may already know or who may know you. They’re people in your phone contacts or Facebook friends list, or vice versa. You may also have mutual connections, i.e., you’re following the same accounts on TikTok. 

For You feed recommendations, on the other hand, are accounts and videos that suit your interests. Among others, TikTok bases these recommendations on the types of accounts you’re following and videos you’re watching and engaging with. 

There may be some overlap between suggested accounts and For You recommendations. One example is if you’re keeping your niche community tight and only following accounts closely related to yours. TikTok may identify accounts to suggest and content to recommend from mutual connections and shared interests. TikTok may also suggest your account your content to users with whom you share a second- or third-degree connection. And it may recommend your account and content to the same people because you have shared interests. 

If you’re still building a presence on TikTok, allowing TikTok to suggest your account to others is a must. Establish your brand identity through your content to increase your chances of getting picked up for For You recommendations. 

You should also always explore TikTok’s account suggestions and content recommendations. TikTok is still a social networking platform, so keep building your network whenever possible. At the same time, make sure you’re building a community that contributes to your brand’s sustained growth. If you want to gain followers who will give you quality engagement, follow and engage with accounts that share your TikTok spirit.  

Optimize Your Profile To Become a TikTok Suggested Account

As matchmaking opportunities go, TikTok suggested accounts are as straightforward as they can get. TikTok’s recommendation algorithm helps people discover accounts they might be interested in and want to follow. On the other hand, its account suggestion process considers different factors. 

If you’re a creator, influencer, or a business, having TikTok suggest your account to others will help you grow. More people can discover you easily. How do you make the cut? How do you optimize your profile to have TikTok suggest your account to interested users and potential new followers? 

Establish your brand identity and construct a tailor-made profile for your community and target audience. Build an engaged community with you as the common denominator. Give TikTok a bigger network of mutual connections to work with to be a more effective matchmaker. 

You can also give yourself an added technological advantage and further enhance your audience-targeting capability. Team up with a TikTok growth expert like High Social and leverage their advanced, proprietary AI technology. Subscribe to one of High Social’s monthly plans to boost your discoverability and get the right eyes on your content. 

There’s more than one way to become a TikTok suggested account. Start growing your TikTok today!

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