Why are TikTokers choosing ‘Explore' experience over Friends tab?
TikTok regularly tweaks its interface in order to retain its users while attracting new ones. Last year, the app received flak from users for its Friends tab. Now, in a new development, TikTok is removing this tab in favor of another experience close to that offered by Instagram’s Explorer feed. This is the ‘Explore’ feed on TikTok.
The application's Friends tab choices weren't pleasing for the users, and the company's decision last year to replace its useful Discover section with a dedicated Friends tab wasn't all that well-received.
READ MORE
4 easy steps to enable dark mode on TikTok for Android and iOS phones
‘o22’: What does this notes number trend mean on TikTok and Instagram?
Why was Friends tab criticized?
The Friends tab is a personalized news feed dedicated to your friends’ videos. In other words, you will find there content from those you are subscribed to as well as that from other accounts suggested by the TikTok community. On paper, the idea was to slightly change the formula of the social network by putting the focus on content shared and appreciated by our loved ones.
However, the move didn't pan out great. Considering TikTok already has a ‘Following’ page which brings together videos from accounts one follows, the addition of the Friends tab was deemed pointless and unnecessary. A user on Twitter wrote, "No shade but the friends tab on tiktok gotta do"
no shade but the friends tab on tiktok gotta do pic.twitter.com/jMgbLRThoZ
— save yourself amaia! (@cowsspit) April 7, 2023
Understanding TikTok's 'Explore' tab
When TikTok recently introduced its new STEM-focused feed in the app, it made reference to this objective by stating that "discovery is essential to the TikTok experience" and that it's constantly working to assist the community in finding "new and relevant content."
In the tab, users could watch trending videos, organized by hashtag, find new creators to follow, and view some of the most viral videos. It also offered space for TikTok to promote various themes it wanted to touch on that week or month through larger, eye-catching banners at the top of the page.
It's not yet obvious how Explore's recommendations will operate or how closely they'll be related to users' viewing habits, but in the end, it might be used as another method to surface new material and perhaps develop into a platform for advertisements, similar to Instagram Explore.
Currently, the TikTok Now/Friends tab is still the default experience for all users.
