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TikTok CEO Shou Chew on Its Future — and What Makes Its Algorithm Different | Live at TED2023
@ TED
04/22/23
Takeaways
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Shou Chew
04/22/23
@ TED
The mission of TikTok is to inspire creativity and bring joy, which serves as a guiding principle for product managers working on the platform.
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Shou Chew
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@ TED
TikTok's vision includes providing a window for discovery, a canvas for creation, and bridges for connection among users.
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Shou Chew
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@ TED
What makes TikTok unique is its discovery engine, which uses machine-learning algorithms to show users content they like rather than relying on social graphs.
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Shou Chew
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@ TED
TikTok allows everyday people with talent to be easily discovered, exemplified by creators like Khaby, who gained 160 million followers through his unique content.
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Shou Chew
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@ TED
The recommendation algorithm on TikTok is based on collaborative filtering, which identifies patterns in user interests to suggest relevant content quickly.
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Shou Chew
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@ TED
TikTok's approach does not require users to answer questions about their interests; instead, it learns from their interactions with content organically.
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Shou Chew
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@ TED
The platform ensures that every user has an equal chance to gain an audience, allowing anyone with talent to be discovered, regardless of their prior fame.
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Shou Chew
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@ TED
For TikTok to achieve virality, the content must resonate with the audience; simply pushing content without genuine interest will not lead to success. The complexity of TikTok's algorithms is significant, but what truly sets us apart is our mission and the original purpose of our platform, which focuses on content discovery rather than social networking.
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Shou Chew
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@ TED
Our mission is to ensure users experience a diversity of content, which is crucial for discovery on TikTok.
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Shou Chew
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@ TED
We have clear community guidelines that prohibit pornography, child sexual abuse material, and violence, and we ensure that users under 18 have a more restricted experience on the platform.
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Shou Chew
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@ TED
For users under 16, we do not allow them to go viral or use certain features like instant messaging and livestreaming, and we provide parents with tools to manage their teenagers' experiences.
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Shou Chew
04/22/23
@ TED
To verify user ages, we primarily rely on age gating during sign-up and also check the age against the content they post, while balancing privacy concerns.
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Shou Chew
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@ TED
We actively encourage healthy screen time habits by sending reminders to users who spend too much time on TikTok, and we set a default 60-minute time limit for users under 18.
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Shou Chew
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@ TED
The recommendation of a 60-minute screen time limit for teenagers comes from discussions with experts at the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children's Hospital.
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Shou Chew
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@ TED
We take the safety of our teenage users very seriously and have made commitments to prioritize their safety, as it is essential for fulfilling our mission to inspire creativity and joy. Dangerous challenges are not allowed on TikTok. We proactively invest resources to identify and remove them from our platform, redirecting users searching for such content to safety resources.
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Shou Chew
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@ TED
We collaborate with creators on campaigns like "Stop, Think, Decide Before You Act" to educate users about dangerous behaviors and promote safety on TikTok.
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Shou Chew
04/22/23
@ TED
TikTok employs tens of thousands of people for content moderation, which is a significant cost, but necessary for maintaining safety on the platform.
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Shou Chew
04/22/23
@ TED
Most content moderation is done by machines, which are improving, but human oversight is still essential to ensure accuracy and effectiveness.
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Shou Chew
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@ TED
We are committed to addressing the mental health concerns associated with social media by proactively removing mature content unsuitable for teenagers and redirecting searches for sensitive terms to safety resources.
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Shou Chew
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@ TED
The issue of mental health predates TikTok and the internet, but we take responsibility for investing in understanding and addressing these concerns to keep our platform safe.
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Shou Chew
04/22/23
@ TED
Project Texas aims to localize American user data to be stored on American soil, controlled by Oracle, to address data privacy concerns related to TikTok's ownership by ByteDance.
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Shou Chew
04/22/23
@ TED
We are localizing data in a way that no other company has done, ensuring American data is stored securely and overseen by American personnel.
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Shou Chew
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@ TED
All new US data is now stored in Oracle's cloud infrastructure, ensuring it is protected, while we work on deleting legacy data from our servers.
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Shou Chew
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@ TED
I made commitments during the congressional hearing to ensure TikTok remains a platform for freedom of expression, free from government manipulation, and to maintain transparency through third-party monitoring.
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Shou Chew
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@ TED
We allow third-party reviewers to access our source code, providing unprecedented transparency to ensure that hypothetical scenarios of government interference cannot happen on our platform.
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Shou Chew
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@ TED
TikTok is not just about dancing; it also promotes educational content, with trends like BookTok encouraging reading and science content gaining popularity.
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Shou Chew
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@ TED
There is a huge opportunity for discovery on TikTok, giving everyday people a voice and helping creators gain visibility that they might not have had otherwise.
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Shou Chew
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@ TED
New technologies, including AI-generated content, will enhance creativity on TikTok, allowing users to express themselves in innovative ways.
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Shou Chew
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@ TED
TikTok supports five million businesses in the US, and we aim to significantly increase that number by connecting communities and fostering commerce.