TikTok is a popular short-form video sharing platform launched in 2016 that allows users to create, share, and discover 15 to 60 second videos. Some of the key features that set TikTok apart from other social media platforms include:
Duets – Users can reply to or collaborate with others in a side-by-side video.
Stitch – Users can clip and integrate scenes from other creators’ videos into their own.
Editing Effects – Fun filters, text overlays, and augmented reality effects to enhance videos.
Hashflags – Branded emoji hashtags that appear next to tagged keywords.
Favoriting – Allows users to bookmark videos they like to easily find them again later.
Since launching, TikTok has quickly grown to over 1 billion monthly active users worldwide. The app provides a unique platform for creators to express themselves through short videos and connect with a massive audience.
What is Favoriting on TikTok?
Favoriting on TikTok allows users to bookmark videos they like so they can easily find them later. When a user favorites a video, it gets added to their “Favorited” tab on their profile. According to Later.com, favoriting a video is a way for TikTok users to curate content they want to save and categorize for later viewing.
The favoriting feature provides an alternative to just liking a video. Likes show appreciation for a video, while favoriting is more for categorizing and saving content. Favoriting is meant to serve as a bookmarking feature, similar to saving posts on other social platforms like Instagram and Twitter.
Overall, the purpose of favoriting on TikTok is to allow users to keep track of videos they want to be able to access repeatedly. It provides a way to organize videos into catalogs based on topics or interests.
Sources:
https://later.com/blog/tiktok-favorites/
When Did TikTok Introduce Favoriting?
TikTok first introduced the ability to favorite videos in May 2022, as announced in a Later blog post. The favoriting feature allowed TikTok users to save and categorize videos they liked into a dedicated Favorites tab on their profile.
According to the announcement, favoriting gave TikTok users a way to easily find and rewatch videos they enjoyed. Favorited videos also gained more visibility on a user’s For You page feed. Overall, the introduction of Favoriting aimed to enhance the viewing experience and personalization on TikTok.
Did TikTok Remove the Favoriting Feature?
Yes, TikTok removed the ability to “favorite” videos in March 2022. This was confirmed by the TikTok Support account on Twitter, which tweeted on March 23rd, 2022 that favoriting was removed and suggested using playlists instead [1].
Prior to this change, favoriting a video on TikTok allowed users to bookmark content they enjoyed so they could easily find it again later. Favorited videos were all collected within the “Favorites” section of a user’s profile. But now when users attempt to favorite a video, the option is gone across the platform.
So in summary, TikTok decisively removed the favoriting feature in March 2022, taking away the ability for users to bookmark and save videos they liked. Playlists and following creators now serve as the main alternatives for users to find favored content again.
Why Would TikTok Remove Favoriting?
There are a few speculations as to why TikTok may have chosen to remove the favoriting feature:
One theory is that favoriting was being abused by some users to essentially “bookmark” videos with harmful content like hate speech or harassment. By removing the feature, TikTok limits the ability to easily save and find this type of inappropriate content again.
Another possibility is that favoriting did not have enough user engagement to warrant keeping. With likes, comments, shares, and other ways to interact, the Favorite button may have been seen as redundant. Removing it declutters the interface.
There’s also a chance that the Favorites feature was resource intensive on TikTok’s infrastructure, especially as the volume of videos and users grew exponentially. Eliminating it could have freed up backend resources.
Overall, removing favoriting aligns with TikTok’s increased focus on safety and streamlining. While useful for some, it was likely a low-value feature for the majority of users. TikTok possibly determined the costs outweighed the benefits.
User Reactions to Removal
When TikTok removed the ability to favorite videos in early 2020, many users expressed disappointment and frustration. According to discussions on Reddit and other social platforms, the change was met with significant backlash from longtime TikTok users who relied on favoriting to curate content and manage their feed.
One of the main complaints about removing favorites was that it made it harder for users to keep track of videos they wanted to watch again later. Favoriting was used to bookmark content, similar to how likes function on other platforms. Without it, users felt they lost their collections of top videos.
Others were upset because favoriting was previously private and removing likes made it public which videos they interacted with. Some users preferred keeping their interactions private and felt losing favorites removed that control.
There were also complaints that removing favorites made the platform feel more fleeting, like users couldn’t develop collections of top content anymore. Overall, vocal parts of the TikTok community widely viewed this as a detrimental change to their experience on the app.
Alternatives to Favoriting
While the favoriting feature may be gone, there are still ways for TikTok users to bookmark and save content they enjoy. Here are some alternatives to favoriting:
Use the share button – You can still share videos to direct message friends or share to other platforms like Twitter. This creates a record of videos you wanted to save.
Like videos – Liking a video makes it easier to find again later, as you can click on the heart icon in your profile to access all your liked videos.
Comment on videos – Leaving a comment on a video also makes it more discoverable later by checking your comment history.
Follow creators – If you want to rewatch videos from a specific creator, make sure to follow their account so their new videos show up in your Following feed.
Screen record videos – You can screen record videos you want to save and access them in your camera roll. Just be mindful of copyright and fair use if sharing them elsewhere.
Use playlists – TikTok has a playlist feature that lets you compile and group videos into custom playlists to watch later.
Will Favoriting Return?
As of now, TikTok has not given any indication that they plan to bring back the favoriting feature. The removal seems to be permanent, as part of TikTok’s efforts to streamline the app and focus on the core experiences of creating, viewing, and engaging with videos.
Some users speculate that TikTok may reintroduce favoriting in the future if there is enough demand for the feature. However, TikTok’s product roadmap is not public, so there is no official confirmation if or when this might happen.
For now, TikTok seems committed to optimizing the app around its central video experience. The “likes” feature allows users to still show appreciation for videos they enjoy. While not a perfect replacement for favoriting, likes provide a similar function of bookmarking and highlighting your favorite content.
Unless TikTok indicates plans to reinstate favoriting, users should not expect the feature to return and should adapt their behavior accordingly. Relying solely on likes and other tools like comment bookmarking may become the new normal for bookmarking favorites on TikTok going forward.
Tips for TikTok Without Favoriting
Here are some tips for TikTok users now that the favoriting option is gone:
1. Use playlists to save and organize videos you like. You can create playlists around topics, genres, creators you like, or whatever categories make sense for you. This lets you easily find and rewatch videos without favoriting.
2. Tap the share button and send videos to friends or share to other platforms. This mimics the effect of favoriting by ensuring you can find videos again if you need to.
3. Follow hashtags and sounds of interest so you can scroll through and rediscover videos with themes you like. The “For You” page will suggest relevant content.
4. Tap “Not Interested” on videos you don’t want recommended. This tunes the algorithm over time to better suggest videos tailored to your interests.
5. Leave comments on videos you want to save for later. You can click your profile icon and find comments history to rediscover videos.
6. Screen record videos you love watching to easily replay later. Just be mindful of copyright issues if you plan to reupload.
While the removal of favoriting takes some adjusting, utilizing playlists, sharing, hashtags, comments and more can recreate a similar experience.
Conclusion
From this summary, we can conclude a few things. Firstly, TikTok did remove the favoriting feature in March 2022. This removes the ability for users to like videos privately, instead only allowing public liking that appears on profiles. The removal was likely done to simplify the user interface and experience. While users miss favoriting, TikTok seems focused on enhancing discoverability and analytics. Alternatives like bookmarking or using a separate “Favorites” account provide some workarounds.
It’s unclear if favoriting will return. TikTok has not provided much transparency. For now, users will need to adapt to only having public likes. The core functionality of enjoying content remains, just without the privacy of favoriting. Users can still curate content through hashtags, bookmarks, and recommendations. Overall, the removal of favoriting, while controversial, may help TikTok continue to refine its platform.
