What is the Find Friends feature on TikTok?
The Find Friends feature on TikTok allows you to find and follow people you may know on the platform based on your contacts and other connections. According to TikTok’s support article, the app can suggest accounts to follow in the Find Friends tab that may include:
- Contacts from your phone
- Friends of your friends on TikTok
- TikTok users with similar interests or who have liked similar content
- Facebook friends with TikTok accounts
The Find Friends feature allows you to connect your contacts and social circles to find relevant accounts to follow. It aims to help users discover new content and make connections with people they know or share common interests with.
Why turn off Find Friends on TikTok?
There are a few key reasons you may want to turn off the Find Friends feature on TikTok:
Protect privacy by preventing connections with unwanted contacts
The Find Friends tool allows TikTok to suggest accounts to follow based on your contacts and online connections. This means total strangers who have your phone number or are connected to you on Facebook may be recommended to follow you on TikTok without your consent. Turning off Find Friends prevents these unwanted connections.
Avoid spam follow requests from strangers
With Find Friends enabled, random accounts you have no relationship with are likely to follow you on TikTok. This can lead to spam follow requests from people you don’t know. By disabling Find Friends, you avoid these spam follow requests.
Control how you connect with others on the platform
The Find Friends feature takes away your control over who can follow and connect with you on TikTok. By turning it off, you get to dictate who sees your profile and content. This allows you to grow your following more organically with people you know and trust.
Overall, disabling Find Friends gives you greater privacy and control over your TikTok account. You get to choose who can access your profile rather than having random contacts and strangers follow you without consent. If you value your privacy, disabling this feature is highly recommended.
How to turn off Find Friends on TikTok
Here are step-by-step instructions with screenshots for turning off the Find Friends feature on TikTok for both iOS and Android:
On iPhone or iPad
1. Open the TikTok app and tap on your profile icon in the bottom right corner.
2. Tap on the three horizontal lines icon in the top right corner to open the menu.
3. Select “Settings and privacy” from the menu.
4. Tap “Privacy and safety” under the “Privacy” section.
5. Toggle off the “Find friends” setting by tapping the switch next to it so it turns gray. The setting will now be disabled.
On Android
1. Open the TikTok app and tap on your profile icon in the bottom right corner.
2. Tap on the three horizontal lines icon in the top right corner to open the menu.
3. Select “Settings and privacy.”
4. Tap “Privacy and safety” under the “Privacy” section.
5. Toggle off the “Find friends” setting by tapping the switch next to it so it turns gray. The setting will now be disabled.
On the web version of TikTok, you can find the Find Friends setting under “Privacy and safety” in your account settings. Simply toggle it off to disable the feature.
Turning off Find Friends prevents TikTok from suggesting accounts to you based on contacts, friends, and profiles you may know. This gives you greater control over your privacy on the platform.
Limiting profile visibility
One of the best ways to turn off Find Friends on TikTok is to make your account private. According to TikTok’s support page, when your account is set to private, only people who you approve as followers can see your videos, likes, and followers. This prevents people from finding you or accessing your profile through the Find Friends feature.
To make your TikTok account private, open your profile and tap the menu icon in the top right. Select “Settings and privacy” then “Privacy”. Toggle the “Private account” setting to on. This will instantly make your profile private and inaccessible through Find Friends. You can also limit your visibility by restricting your account if you are under 18 years old.
Additionally, you can limit findability by removing personal information like your phone number, email address, birthday, and more from your TikTok profile. According to TikTok’s own blog post, removing personal details can prevent strangers from locating your account through Find Friends or contacts syncing. Just go to your profile, open settings, select “Privacy”, and limit the personal info you share.
By making your account private and removing personal details from your profile, you can effectively turn off the Find Friends feature and control who sees your TikTok presence.
Blocking Followers and Accounts
One way to control who can view and interact with your TikTok profile is by blocking specific followers or accounts. This is especially useful if someone found you through the Find Friends feature and you want to prevent them from seeing your content.
To block a follower:
- Go to your profile and tap “Followers”
- Find the follower you want to block and tap the three dots next to their name
- Select “Block” to confirm blocking them
Once blocked, that user will no longer be able to view your profile or videos. They will also be automatically unfollowed if they were previously following you. Blocking is mutual, so you will no longer see their content either.
You can also proactively block accounts you don’t want finding you through Find Friends. Go to the account’s profile, tap the three dots, and select “Block.” This prevents them from viewing your profile even if you appear as a suggestion through Find Friends.
Blocking unwanted followers is an effective way to curate your audience and protect your privacy on TikTok after turning off Find Friends.
Source: https://support.tiktok.com/en/using-tiktok/followers-and-following/blocking-the-users
Other TikTok Privacy Settings
In addition to controlling Find Friends and profile visibility, TikTok has several other privacy settings to review:
- Comments – Choose who can comment on your videos. Options include everyone, friends, or turn commenting off.
- Duets & Stitch – Select who can use your videos to make duet or stitch videos.
- Downloads – Prevent others from downloading your videos.
- Direct Messages – Limit who can message you directly in the app.
For a comprehensive overview of all TikTok privacy and safety settings, visit their full account privacy guide.
Adjusting these additional controls can help you shape your ideal TikTok experience and online presence.
Risks of Find Friends
The Find Friends feature on TikTok can present some risks that users should be aware of before enabling it. The main risks include:
Stalkers, bullies, or unwanted contacts finding you. By allowing TikTok to connect you with contacts from your device and other social platforms, you may inadvertently allow unwanted people to locate and follow you on TikTok if they also use the app. This could lead to bullying, harassment, or stalking in some cases (1).
Spam follow requests. Opening up your profile to contacts in your address book could lead to a flood of follow requests, some of which may be unwelcome or from accounts that simply want to spam you. This could clutter up your notifications and timeline (1).
Losing control of account connections. By enabling Find Friends, you allow TikTok to access and share your contacts without your ongoing approval. This means contacts could potentially find you even after you disable the feature if TikTok retains that data. It reduces your control over who can connect with you (2).
Overall, while Find Friends may help you connect with people you know, it also carries privacy and security risks. Users should weigh these considerations before enabling the feature.
Benefits of Find Friends
One of the key benefits of the Find Friends feature on TikTok is connecting with people you already know who are also using the app. TikTok can match your contacts and Facebook friends to suggest accounts to follow from your real-life social network (1). This makes it easy to find and connect with friends, family members, classmates, coworkers and others you know who are on TikTok.
Another benefit is discovering new accounts that align with your interests and that are used by people in your extended network. The Suggested Accounts section shows you accounts followed by your connections, helping you find creators and accounts to follow based on what your friends like (2). This allows you to organically grow your feed and community on TikTok.
Using Find Friends can also help grow your own audience and followers on TikTok. When people you know discover you have an account via Suggested Accounts, they are more likely to follow you and engage with your content since there is already a real-life connection. Building your network on TikTok through Find Friends makes it easier to get more eyes on your videos.
Overall, Find Friends provides a simple way to leverage your existing connections to find accounts you care about and to gain more exposure for your own TikTok presence.
Sources:
(1) https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-friends-contacts-people-you-may-know/
(2) https://support.tiktok.com/en/account-and-privacy/account-privacy-settings/suggested-accounts
Who can see your profile with Find Friends off?
With the Find Friends feature disabled, only people who directly know your username can find and view your TikTok profile. Strangers and people in your contacts or on Facebook who don’t follow you yet will not see you suggested on TikTok.
This differs from having a private account, where only your existing followers can view your content. With Find Friends off, your profile and videos are still public, just not suggested to new contacts. People can still find you if they search for your exact username.
In summary, the following groups will not see your profile suggested with Find Friends disabled:1
- Contacts who don’t already follow you
- Facebook friends who don’t already follow you
- People with mutual connections who don’t already follow you
Your TikTok account remains public and searchable – the difference is it won’t automatically appear for acquaintances. Only your existing followers will see your content on their feed.
Key Takeaways
The Find Friends feature on TikTok allows other users to search for and connect with you based on your profile information and posts. While this can help you grow your audience, it also opens up your profile to strangers and potentially unwanted attention or harassment.
To disable Find Friends, go to your TikTok profile, tap the three-dot menu icon in the top right, choose “Privacy and Settings”, then toggle “Find Friends” off. You can also adjust other settings like making your account private, limiting comments, and restricting duets/stitches to protect your privacy.
Controlling who can interact with you on TikTok is crucial for a positive experience. Turning off Find Friends gives you greater control over who can follow you and limits random connections. While you may get fewer followers initially, focusing on quality connections versus quantity is preferable for most users. Prioritize your comfort and safety when deciding on privacy settings.
