TikTok has become one of the most popular social media platforms, with over 1 billion monthly active users as of 2022. The app allows users to create and share short videos, often set to music. One way TikTok users can interact with videos is by favoriting them.
When a user favorites a video on TikTok, they are saving it to a private list that they can access within the app. Favoriting is a way for users to bookmark videos they enjoy and want to be able to easily find again later. It’s similar to liking a video, but keeps it more private.
For video creators, favorites can be an important metric to track the engagement and popularity of their content. Seeing which videos get the most favorites can help creators understand what types of content resonates most with their audience.
Who Can Favorite a TikTok Video?
On TikTok, any user with an account can favorite a video by tapping the heart icon underneath it. This adds the video to the user’s private “Favorites” list that only they can view. Favoriting a video simply signifies that the user wants to save it for later – it doesn’t notify the video creator or make the favorite public in any way.
Importantly, you don’t need to have a TikTok account to watch and enjoy videos on the platform. Viewing favorites is limited to account holders, but anyone can browse and watch public TikTok videos without an account. So while only signed-in users can favorite videos, anyone can watch and engage with TikTok content.
How to Favorite a TikTok Video
Favoriting a video on TikTok is easy. Simply tap the heart icon on the bottom right corner of the video while it’s playing or from the video’s main page. This will add it to your “Favorites” section so you can easily find it later.
According to TikTok’s help article “how to add videos to your favorites with the new tiktok update”, the latest TikTok update changed the favoriting process slightly. Now instead of an “Add to Favorites” option, users just tap the heart icon to favorite a video.
Once you favorite a video, you’ll see a red heart icon on that video anytime you come across it while scrolling through TikTok. This makes it easy to identify videos you’ve already favorited.
Viewing Your Favorited TikTok Videos
If you want to see all of the videos you have favorited within your own TikTok account, it’s easy to find them. Here are the steps:
1. Open up your TikTok app and tap on your profile icon in the bottom right corner. This will open up your profile page.
2. On your profile page, tap on the heart icon near the top. This heart icon represents your “Favorites” within TikTok.
3. Tapping the heart icon will open up a page that displays all of the videos you have favorited so far. You can scroll through and watch any of these favorited videos again.
So if you ever want a quick way to access all of the videos you’ve enjoyed and favorited within TikTok, just open your profile and tap that heart icon. It provides an easy way to look back on videos you want to watch again or show friends later on.
Seeing Who Favorited Your Video
Unlike other social media platforms, there is no direct way to see exactly who has favorited or liked your videos on TikTok. The app does not have a feature that shows a list of users who have favorited your content.
When someone favorites your video, you will get a notification saying “User liked your video” but it does not specify their username. There is no complete list of people who have favorited your videos.
TikTok seems to have designed their platform this way intentionally, to protect user privacy and prevent targeted harassment based on likes/favorites. The app wants to encourage genuine interactions and engagement, without users worrying about who specifically is viewing or favoriting their content.
So while you can see aggregate stats on how many people total have favorited your video, there is no way to view the specific list of users who favorited a particular video.
Using Comments to See Who Favorited
Since TikTok doesn’t directly show you who favorited your video, one workaround is to ask viewers to leave a comment if they favorite your video. You can include this request in the caption of your video or as an on-screen text prompt in the video itself.
For example, your caption could say “If you favorite this video, leave a comment below so I know you enjoyed it!” Or you can add a text overlay in your video that says “Comment if you favorite!” This encourages viewers to self-identify if they favorite your content.
Then when you get a notification about a new comment, you can cross-reference that user with your list of favorites on the video. This will give you a good idea of who is favoriting even if TikTok doesn’t directly show you.
According to TikTok experts, this is one of the simplest ways to get a sense for who is favoriting your videos if that metric matters to you as a creator. Just drive viewers to comment if they favorite, then check who leaves comments against your favorite list.
Source: https://www.tiktok.com/discover/how-to-add-comment-to-favorites
Analyzing Favorites with TikTok Analytics
TikTok provides creators with robust analytics tools to track the performance of their videos. Within TikTok Analytics, creators can view detailed data on favorites received for each video. According to TikTok’s analytics tutorial, the Favorites section shows the total number of favorites a video has received and breaks it down by day and geography.
With this data, creators can identify when their videos received the most favorites and which geographic regions favored their content the most. This helps creators understand what types of videos resonate best with their audience. As noted by Hootsuite, monitoring favorites over time also shows creators whether their content is continuing to attract engagement or falling off in popularity.
Overall, the favorites metrics in TikTok Analytics provide valuable insight that creators can use to fine-tune their content strategy and give their audience more of what they love.
Gaining Followers from Favorites
Favoriting a video can lead to gaining new followers on TikTok. When someone favorites your video, they are essentially bookmarking it to refer back to later. This shows they enjoyed your content enough to save it. Favoriting is a stronger sign of interest than just liking a video.
TikTok will sometimes notify a user when someone favorites their video. This prompts the user to check out the profile of the person who favorited. If they like the content on that profile, they may decide to follow.
Additionally, favorited videos appear on a user’s Favorites tab on their profile. Other users who visit their profile can browse these favorited videos. If your video shows up here, you have a chance of gaining new followers who see your content through someone else’s Favorites.
While not a guarantee, favoriting provides another potential avenue for your content to be discovered. Focus on creating quality videos that resonate with viewers. The more engagement your videos drive through likes, comments, shares and favorites, the more chances for new followers.
Why Favorites Matter
Favorites on TikTok indicate that a video really resonated with viewers. When someone adds your video to their Favorites, it means they want to save it to watch again later. According to TikTok, this shows a “meaningful connection” with your content (source). Favorites are a strong signal that a viewer truly enjoyed your video.
Having lots of Favorites is a good sign that your content is hitting the mark. TikTok may show your videos to more people if they are getting Favorited frequently. While TikTok has not confirmed this, it’s likely that Favorites positively impact the algorithm (source). Videos that get Favorited a lot are clearly popular with viewers.
In summary, Favorites indicate your video made a strong connection. TikTok may recommend it more if it’s getting Favorited. This metric shows your content is appealing to viewers.
Summary
Being able to see who has favorited your TikTok videos can be very useful as a content creator. Favoriting is a sign that someone genuinely enjoyed and appreciated your video. When someone favorites your content, they are saving it to view again later and showing support for your work.
While TikTok doesn’t have a direct way to see everyone who has favorited a particular video, there are some methods you can use to get an idea of who has favorite your content. Looking at your notifications and comments on a video can reveal some of the people who have favorited it. You can also use TikTok Analytics to get aggregate data on favorites for your videos.
Gaining new followers and fans from favorites on your videos is a great way to grow your audience organically on TikTok. When people favorite your content, it means they want to see more from you. Creating content people enjoy enough to favorite is key to success as a TikTok creator.
