What Does Profile View Order Mean on TikTok?
On TikTok, the profile views section shows the usernames of people who have recently viewed your profile. This section can be accessed by going to your profile and tapping on the “Profile Views” button.
The usernames shown are listed in chronological order, with the most recent viewers at the top. So the first username you see will be the person who most recently viewed your profile. As you scroll down, you’ll see previous viewers in the order they viewed your profile.
The profile views section gives TikTok users insight into who has been interacting with their profile recently. It can help creators understand who their content is resonating with and identify new audiences interacting with their profile.
Are TikTok Profile Views Chronological or Randomized?
According to TikTok’s help page, profile views appear in a chronological order with the most recent viewers listed at the top. Users have also confirmed this observation, noting that the order of accounts matches when they view someone’s profile with multiple accounts or in collaboration with friends.
However, TikTok does not display a complete list of all profile views. They only show a sample of recent views, the number of which may vary. So while the order is chronological, it is not a full chronological history of all views.
According to tests by users, refreshing the page can surface older views that were not initially shown. But the refreshed list still prioritizes recent views. So the view order is chronological but filtered to emphasize more recent viewers.[1]
In summary, profile views appear chronologically within the filtered list shown to users. But the feed does not include a complete view history.
Factors That Determine Profile View Order
The main factor that determines the order of profile views on TikTok is recency – views are displayed with the most recent at the top. According to TikTok’s support page, profile views are listed in chronological order.
Beyond recency, other factors like engagement, connections, interests, and content interactions may also play a role in view order. For example, views from accounts you are connected with or that have engaged heavily with your content may be prioritized. Views from accounts with similar interests and content tastes to yours may also be ranked higher in the list.
So while recency is the primary criteria, TikTok’s algorithm does seem to take other factors into account as well when determining the exact order of profile views.
Does Order Indicate Priority of Views?
The chronological order of profile views on TikTok does not necessarily indicate your most engaged or important viewers. Just because someone is first in your view order does not mean they spent more time looking at your profile or are more likely to follow or interact with your content.
The order is simply based on the time the viewer loaded your profile page. They may have clicked in briefly without actually consuming much content. On the other hand, later viewers in the order may have actually watched multiple videos or explored your page in-depth.
TikTok’s algorithm also personalizes and ranks content in feeds based on each viewer’s interests and behavior over time. So the viewers that TikTok deems most relevant for your content may not be at the top of the chronological view order.
It’s best not to make assumptions about the importance of viewers based on the profile view order alone. Look at their overall engagement and activity with your profile to gauge true interest and priority.
How Many Views Are Displayed?
TikTok only displays a limited number of profile views at one time. When you open your profile view history, you’ll initially see the 100 most recent views of your profile. TikTok does this to optimize performance and prevent lagging when loading profile views.
According to TikTok’s support page, “Due to performance optimizations, you’re not able to see all viewers to your profile at once” (source). So the initial 100 views you see do not represent all views to your profile.
To see more views, you need to continuously refresh your profile view history. Each refresh will load additional batches of 100 profile views. By manually refreshing, you can scroll further back to see older views of your profile over time.
Refreshing to See More Views
TikTok only displays a limited number of recent profile views on your profile at one time. According to TikTok’s support page, refreshing your profile allows you to see more views beyond the most recent ones shown.
To refresh your profile and see additional views, you can tap the refresh icon in the top right of the Profile Views screen. This will load more profile views. You can also go to your settings and tap “Refresh Profile” which will reload your profile data and display more views according to TikTok’s instructions.
Refreshing gives you visibility into more profile views over time. However, it still only shows a sample of views, not every single viewer. The exact number shown is unclear but refreshing helps reveal more of your recent profile traffic beyond just the last few viewers.
Private Settings and View Order
Making your TikTok profile private can significantly impact the visibility of your view order. When your profile is set to private, your view history and list of profile visitors will be hidden from everyone except you. This means other users will not be able to see who has viewed your profile or in what order those views occurred.
TikTok states that setting your profile to private provides you with “more control over your privacy.” This control comes at the cost of losing public visibility into your view metrics. However, for some users, increased privacy is more important than publicly tracking profile views.
It’s important to weigh the pros and cons of a private profile based on your goals for using TikTok. If you prefer keeping your viewer data and activity private, a private profile makes sense. But if you rely on view order to assess viewer interest or tailor content accordingly, you may want to reconsider going private.
The choice ultimately depends on your priorities. But switching to a private profile means sacrificing the ability to see your public view order on TikTok.
Using View Order to Understand Your Audience
While view order may seem random, there are strategies TikTok creators can use to gain valuable insights into their audience and content performance from profile view tracking:
- Look for spikes in views after posting new videos to see which content is driving the most profile clicks.
- Track views hour-by-hour and day-by-day to understand when your audience is most engaged.
- Compare view sources to see if profile traffic is direct, from TikTok’s For You page, or referred from other users.
- Notice if certain viewers are checking your profile repeatedly, indicating loyal fans.
- Monitor view locations to identify new geographic audiences.
- Watch for trends around types of content that lead to spikes in profile views.
- See if views eventually lead to more followers, shares or engagement.
While view order alone doesn’t give a complete picture, combined with analytics it can provide valuable insights to help TikTok creators improve content and engagement.
Third-Party Apps to Track Profile Views
While TikTok has limited built-in analytics for tracking profile views, there are some third-party apps that can provide more robust tracking capabilities:
ViewTracker is one of the most popular third-party TikTok analytics tools. It lets you see exactly who has viewed your profile, provides timestamps for each view, and gives you statistics on your top viewers. The free version has limited capabilities but the paid premium version offers more detailed analytics.
TokTrack is another app that tracks detailed statistics on who has viewed your profile. It also lets you export the data to Excel or CSV files for further analysis. However, TokTrack does require providing access to your TikTok account.
While third-party apps provide more tracking capabilities, it’s important to carefully review their privacy policies and permissions before using them. They may collect more data than desired. The official TikTok analytics will suffice for most basic profile view tracking needs.
Best Practices for TikTok View Tracking
Here are some tips for tracking and making the most of your TikTok profile views:
Turn on view history in your settings to see the last 30 days of profile views. This lets you identify new or repeat viewers [1].
Check your views daily to get a sense of trends and patterns. You may see spikes after posting new content.
Refresh your view history periodically to see more views. Only a limited number display at one time [3].
Use your top viewers to understand your target audience and tailor content accordingly.
Interact with repeat viewers by liking, commenting on, or sharing their content.
Analyze third-party analytics apps connected to your account for deeper insight into views [2].
A/B test thumbnail images, captions, or video content to see what attracts the most profile views.
Promote your profile through collaborations, hashtags, and cross-platform marketing to drive more viewers.
Maintain a consistent posting schedule so fans know when to check your profile for new content.