TikTok’s Scandal On ‘Heating’ Videos
Yeah… you thought there was an algorithm… well, you’ve been lied to.
Forbes published an article accusing TikTok of “heating” videos, meaning TikTok employees flag videos they want to see go viral, and yep, you guessed it - it then goes viral. So what makes a TikTok go viral is not a magic formula or the algorithm, but human intervention. Read more below…
WHAT EXACTLY IS HEATING?
“TikTok and ByteDance employees regularly engage in “heating,” a manual push that ensures specific videos “achieve a certain number of video views,” according to six sources and documents”
Yes, you read that right. We’re as shocked as you are. We were led to believe that TikTok is a powerful, organic engine that is personalized to each user by predicting their interests and behaviours on the app. While that still is true, it’s not the full story. According to six sources (whistle blowers from TikTok & ByteDance) and confirmed internal documents, TikTok not only allows for the algorithm to determine what goes viral, but additionally, hand-picks specific videos to “supercharge their distribution”, as Forbes puts it, also known as ‘heating’.
According to an internal leaked document from TikTok, named ‘MINT Heating Playbook’, the total video views of heated videos accounts for approximately 1-2%, which has a large impact on overall metrics. Although TikTok has never admitted to engaging in this practice, it is a known practice amongst all “tech giants” to manually boost certain posts. The only difference, is that it’s disclosed (well… as far as we know). Google & Meta have partnered with public health & election groups to spread accurate information about COVID-19, for example. Again, the difference is, that full & clear disclosure is given in this instance, and in the case of TikTok’s ‘heating’ scandal - it is not.
A TACTIC TO ENTICE CREATORS & BUSINESSES
TikTok’s ‘virality’ factor has always been flattering for creators and businesses. It’s potential to reach more people through organic content was ground-breaking, especially after Instagram’s huge dip in reach and engagement last year. TikTok has allegedly ‘heated’ newer influencers videos, to encourage them to continue producing content on the app, and even to have them convert to TikTok creators, over Instagram creators - which worked. Creators & businesses put far more effort in content creation on TikTok, than they do on Instagram. It’s a known fact that creators will re-upload their TikTok videos to Instagram, because of the current formatting recommendations for both platforms, which you can read more about here.
“... heating has potentially benefitted some influencers and brands - those with whom TikTok has sought business relationships - at the expense of other with whom it has not.”
Not only has ‘heating’ enticed creators to continue to produce content on primarily TikTok, but ‘heating’ is also used when TikTok wants a particular brand (or creator) to get more views. Remember when the Wednesday Adams Dance went viral, just as the show was premiering on Netflix? Yeah, people are speculating that this particular dance could have been ‘heated’ by TikTok'. Without any ad labels, it’s impossible to truly tell.
LET’S TALK ETHICS
There’s no doubt that ‘heating’ is unethical. It would be somewhat, ethical (not quite), if it was disclosed that the video was heated. The issue is, it’s not. It’s been confirmed by the six TikTok whistle blowers that employees responsible for ‘heating’ often ‘heat’ their own videos, their spouses, friends and others with personal relationships. There was even an accounted incident that this misuse of ‘heating’ led to an account receiving more than 3 million views on one video. Even though this is misconduct of ‘heating’ according to TikTok’s documents, it was most likely done because of the lack of clarity in their policies.
According to TikTok’s internal documents, employees are allowed to ‘heat’ videos for the following purposes; 1) attracting followers for influencers, 2) promoting diverse content, 3) pushing important information and 4) promoting videos that the algorithm missed. According to two sources from Forbes, TikTok employees are known to be left to their own devices when it comes to determining whether a video fits within these guidelines. As you can tell, with the very broad regulations stated by the document, as well as from the two sources, it’s pretty easy for TikTok employees to use ‘heating’ to their advantage.
NEW FEATURE: ‘WHY THIS?’
In the attempt to cover their tracks in their newest scandal, TikTok has come out with a new feature, called “Why This Video”, in which you are provided with information on why each video is showing up on your For You Page; however, they are generic reasons (e.g. “this video is popular in your region etc…), and won’t mention anything to do with heating. When TikTok was asked to comment on ‘heating’, they declined to answer.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Although this is a confirmed unethical practice led by TikTok and their parent company, ByteDance, this doesn’t diminish the power of TikTok for businesses. Why? Because your goal should never be, ‘going viral’. You can make sales and have an army-like community without millions of views per video. Of course, more reach/ views, mean a higher probability for more website clicks and therefore, sales; but this doesn’t always mean achieving ‘virality’ (i.e. 800k views +).
Our advice is to continue using TikTok to build a community and generate sales, as all the stats & data still show its potential, over Instagrams.
