TikTok is a popular short-form video app that allows users to create and share 15 second to 3 minute videos. One feature of TikTok is the ability to see who has viewed your profile. Profile views allow TikTok users to see a list of accounts that have visited their profile page recently.
The profile views feature was introduced by TikTok in early 2020. It gives users insight into who is interacting with their account. For popular creators and influencers, profile views can be an important metric to measure reach and engagement.
What are Profile Views?
Profile views on TikTok allow users to see who has viewed their profile in the last 30 days. It shows a list of the usernames of those who have visited your profile page. According to Mashable, profile views provide insight into who is interested in or engaging with your content.
Seeing profile views can be important for TikTok creators and brands. It allows them to identify new potential followers, understand what type of users their content attracts, and analyze how their audience changes over time. For individuals, profile views may provide a sense of popularity on the platform. Overall, profile views give useful metrics to TikTok users about their reach and engagement.
When Did TikTok Introduce Profile Views?
TikTok first introduced the profile views feature in late 2019, allowing users to see who had viewed their profile in the past 30 days https://inflownetwork.com/tiktoks-new-feature-profile-view-history/. This was part of TikTok’s efforts to provide more transparency and analytics to creators on the platform. According to reports, the feature was available until early 2021 before being temporarily removed by TikTok for unknown reasons.
The profile views feature then reappeared in January 2022, with some adjustments. Now profile views only show the last 7 days instead of 30 days. The feature allows influencers and brands to better understand their audience and track their growth over time. It also lets ordinary users see who has viewed their profile recently. Overall, profile views have become an expected feature on TikTok that many users hope is here to stay.
Rumors of Removal in March 2022
In March 2022, a rumor started circulating on social media that TikTok had removed the ability to see profile views. Many users reported that their view counts had disappeared and that they could no longer see who had viewed their profiles (https://www.alphr.com/how-to-turn-off-profile-views-in-tiktok/).
The rumors gained traction on platforms like Twitter and Reddit, with many influencers and brands expressing concern. Some users speculated that TikTok was removing profile views to protect minors from unwanted attention or stalking (https://rehack.com/culture/apps/how-to-turn-on-profile-views-on-tiktok-guide/). Others worried it would impact their ability to analyze their audience and track content performance.
However, TikTok did not acknowledge removing the feature. The rumors were unconfirmed, leading many to wonder if it was a widespread glitch or experiment instead.
TikTok’s Response
In March 2022, many TikTok users noticed that profile view counts were missing from their accounts. This led to speculation that TikTok had removed the ability to see profile views.
However, TikTok responded saying that profile views were not actually removed. According to a statement posted on Reddit, the missing view counts were due to a display issue, not a decision to remove the feature.
“Due to a technical bug, some accounts are currently seeing that their profile view count has disappeared,” TikTok wrote. “This is a display issue only and we’re working on a fix to restore the count.”
TikTok emphasized that all profile view data remained intact and would be restored once the bugs were fixed. The company said the problems affected a limited number of users, mainly on iOS devices.
Ongoing Display Problems
While TikTok has denied removing the profile view count, many users continue to report issues seeing this metric. Problems seem to persist across both iOS and Android devices. Some users note that profile views seem to randomly appear and disappear from their accounts.
Several threads on Reddit (such as this one) document the problem, with commenters confirming the erratic behavior of profile views. On Twitter, users have posted screenshots showing profile view counts stuck at 0.
The display problems seem to affect both personal accounts and creator/business accounts. While some assume it’s a glitch, others worry TikTok is A/B testing removal of the metric. Without any official word from TikTok, it’s unclear what is causing the ongoing issues.
Why Would TikTok Remove Profile Views?
There is speculation as to why TikTok may want to remove the profile views metric. Some possible reasons include:
To reduce social pressure and comparisons between creators. View counts can cause creators anxiety and stress over their perceived popularity or lack thereof [1]. Removing public view counts could help create a more positive experience.
To emphasize video performance over creator popularity. Views, likes, comments, etc. on each video may be seen as more important metrics than profile views [1].
To incentivize more video creation. Creators may spend less time worrying about their stats and more time creating if profile views are not shown.
To reduce privacy concerns. Some users may prefer their viewing habits to be more private.
To streamline the user experience. The profile view count may be considered clutter by some.
While TikTok has not confirmed if or why they would remove profile views, these are some potential reasons that have been speculated.
Impact on Influencers and Brands
The removal of profile views would significantly impact influencers and brands who rely on TikTok metrics to quantify their success. Profile views have been an important indicator for content creators to identify their top performing videos and track audience interest.
Without profile view counts, influencers lose out on valuable insight into which of their videos are resonating most with viewers. This metric helped them tailor content accordingly and gave them leverage when negotiating brand sponsorships.
For brands using influencer marketing, profile views helped assess an influencer’s reach and engagement. It provided a standard metric for determining rates and calculating potential impressions. Without it, brands lose an impartial data point to quantify campaign impact.
Overall, the lack of profile views data takes away crucial analytics that were being used by both individual creators and brands. It makes it harder to track performance over time and evaluate content strategies (1). While other metrics like views, likes and comments remain, profile views offered unique value that is now gone.
Alternatives for Tracking Views
With the potential removal of profile views on TikTok, influencers and brands need to find alternative ways to track the performance of their accounts. Rather than relying solely on profile views, there are other metrics that can provide insight into how well content is resonating with viewers.
The primary metric to focus on is video views. TikTok’s analytics provide detailed data on views for individual videos as well as overall account performance. Paying attention to trends in video views over time can reveal which types of content are most popular. Increased video views may indicate growing account awareness even without profile views.
Another simple but effective metric is hearts. The number of hearts a video receives signals how much viewers enjoyed it. Monitoring hearts per video allows influencers to hone in on the kinds of content that best engages their audience. An uptick in hearts can show improving account performance.
While profile views have been an easy way to gauge TikTok account growth, their removal just means content creators need to rely more heavily on metrics like views and engagement. With the right analytics tools, influencers can continue tracking their performance without profile views.
Conclusion
In summary, while there were rumors in March 2022 that TikTok was removing profile views, this does not appear to have actually happened. TikTok denied removing the metric, though some users still reported issues seeing profile views around that time. The problems seem to stem from display bugs rather than an intentional removal.
It’s unlikely TikTok would fully eliminate profile views, given their importance for creators and brands to track engagement. However, TikTok may be testing ways to emphasize video views over profile views in its ongoing evolution. If TikTok did remove public profile views, it would significantly impact influencer marketing and analytics on the platform.
For now, profile views remain available for users to track on TikTok, despite periodic display issues. Creators should look to supplemental analytics tools as well for a more complete picture of their overall viewership and reach. The future of the profile views metric remains unclear, but TikTok will likely continue experimenting with engagement formats as it tries to optimize the user experience.
