The TikTok activity status indicates whether a user is actively using the app or not. An active status means the user has recently interacted with the app, while an inactive status signals a period of no engagement. Understanding TikTok activity statuses in 2023 can help influencers and brands identify their most engaged followers and potentially inactive accounts.
What Do the Different TikTok Activity Statuses Mean?
There are two main activity statuses on TikTok – Active Now and Inactive.
Active Now
An Active Now status means the user has been active on TikTok in the last 10 minutes. This status indicates a user who is currently engaged in the app and viewing or interacting with content.
The Active Now tag will only remain for 10 minutes after the user last interacted with the app. This provides a near real-time glimpse into who is presently active in your follower base.
Inactive
An Inactive status means the user has not interacted with TikTok for some time. An inactive account may not have logged in or engaged with any content for days, weeks, or even months.
The Inactive status is broad – it could mean the user was last seen a few hours ago or a few months ago. While Inactive users are not currently engaged, they may still receive notifications and remain valued followers.
Why Do TikTok Activity Statuses Matter?
Monitoring user activity statuses can provide TikTok creators and brands with useful insights. Here are some of the key reasons TikTok activity statuses matter:
Identify Your Most Engaged Followers
The Active Now status highlights which of your followers are regularly engaging with your content in real-time. Identifying and targeting these hyper-engaged users with specialized content and offers can help increase their activity.
Understand When Your Audience is Most Active
Paying attention to when certain users display an Active Now tag can reveal insights into when your overall audience is most engaged. This can inform the best times to post content and go live based on when your followers are most receptive.
Find Potentially Inactive Followers
An Inactive status may identify users who have lost interest or stopped using TikTok. While Inactive users still see your content in their feed, they have likely become less valuable as followers. Monitoring this metric can help identify potential dead accounts to be purged.
Gauge Interest Levels in Your Content
Users who actively engage with your videos are more likely to show an Active Now status after viewing your content. Tracking activity levels immediately after posting videos provides a benchmark for how interesting your followers found the content.
How Do You Check a User’s TikTok Activity Status?
Checking a user’s activity status on TikTok is easy. Simply follow these steps:
- Open the profile of the TikTok user you want to check.
- Look underneath their profile photo and username.
- Here you’ll see their follower count as well as their activity status displayed as either “Active Now” or “Inactive.”
Their activity status will update in real-time based on their interactions with the app. You can only see the activity statuses of users who follow you back.
What Are Some Best Practices for Using TikTok Activity Statuses?
Here are some tips on how creators and brands can best utilize TikTok activity statuses:
Engage With Active Followers
Like, comment on, or share videos posted by followers who display an Active Now status. This shows them added attention during periods of high activity.
Message Active Followers
Use the Active Now indicator to identify the best times to directly message engaged followers. This could be for contests, exclusive offers, or customer service needs.
Post When Your Niche is Active
Study activity levels in your niche audience to detect when they are most active on TikTok. Schedule high-value content to post during these peak activity periods.
Live Stream for Active Users
Go live when you notice certain target followers have an Active Now status. This increases the chances they will be notified and watch your broadcast.
Remove Continuously Inactive Followers
Consistently inactive followers that never engage with your account may be fake or dead accounts. Prune these periodically to ensure quality followers.
What Are Some Limitations of TikTok Activity Statuses?
While useful, there are some limitations to consider when evaluating TikTok activity statuses:
Status Only Updates Every 10 Minutes
Because Active Now only shows the last 10 minutes of activity, you may miss some user engagement between status updates.
Doesn’t Indicate Level of Engagement
Active Now doesn’t show how much the user interacted – they may have just opened the app or watched multiple videos.
Can’t See Statuses of Non-Followers
You can only view the activity statuses of users who also follow your account. This limits insights into your wider audience base.
Users Can Appear Inactive When They’re Not
If a user is logged in but just passively viewing content without liking or commenting, they may still show as Inactive despite being engaged.
Future Improvements to TikTok Activity Statuses
Here are some potential improvements TikTok could implement for activity statuses in the future:
More Granular Active Now Data
Displaying how long ago (in minutes) a user was active would provide more nuanced insights than the current binary Active/Inactive system.
Multiple Active Statuses
Adding gradations like Active in Last Hour/Active Today/Active Yesterday could reveal more about ongoing engagement levels.
Activity Levels for Non-Followers
Expanding activity status visibility to all users who view your content, not just followers, would provide a fuller picture of audience engagement.
Engagement Insights for Active Users
Showing that an Active Now user also liked 3 videos and shared 1 in their session would better quantify their activity.
The Bottom Line
Monitoring TikTok activity statuses provides a baseline indicator of follower engagement on the platform. While the Active Now and Inactive markers have some limitations, they remain a useful free tool for identifying your most active audience segments. Analyzing these activity levels, combined with more advanced audience analytics tools, can help TikTok creators and brands develop smarter content strategies and maximize their results.
