Why is my account private on TikTok?

What Does Having A Private Account On TikTok Mean?

Having a private account on TikTok means that only approved followers can view your content. Videos, likes, comments, and other activity will be hidden from everyone except followers you approve. According to TikTok’s support page, “Only the people you’ve approved as followers can see your videos, LIVE videos, bio, likes and following lists when your account is set to private.” https://support.tiktok.com/en/account-and-privacy/account-privacy-settings/making-your-account-public-or-private

A private account gives you more control over who can view and interact with your content. It keeps your account more secure and private compared to a public profile. With a private account, random people won’t be able to find and follow you unless you approve them as followers first.

Why Make Your TikTok Account Private?

There are several reasons why TikTok users may want to make their account private:

First, a private account can help avoid unwanted attention from strangers. Public TikTok accounts are visible to anyone on the platform. By making your profile private, only approved followers can view your content. This prevents random users from commenting on or interacting with your videos.

Second, a private account better protects your privacy and personal information. Public profiles display your username, bio, followers count, likes, and videos to the world. Private accounts limit access to this data. Strangers can’t learn as much about you or your life if they can’t freely view your profile.

Finally, a private account can prevent bullying or harassment from unknown users. Unfortunately, some TikTok users leave mean or abusive comments. If your videos are only visible to vetted followers, you reduce the chance of harassment from strangers.

In summary, TikTok users make their accounts private to avoid unwanted attention, protect their privacy, and prevent potential bullying from random users on the platform.

How To Make Your TikTok Account Private

Making your TikTok account private is easy to do through the TikTok app or desktop site. Here is a step-by-step guide:

Using the TikTok app:

1. Open the TikTok app and go to your profile page.
2. Tap the three-dot menu icon in the top right corner.
3. Select “Settings and privacy”.
4. Tap “Privacy”.
5. Toggle the switch next to “Private account” to enable it.

Using TikTok on desktop:

1. Go to https://www.tiktok.com and log into your account.
2. Click on your profile icon in the top right and select “Settings”.
3. On the left sidebar, click “Privacy”.
4. Under “Account privacy”, toggle the switch next to “Private account” to enable it.
5. Click “Confirm” to make your account private.

Once you toggle your account to private, your profile and videos will only be visible to your approved followers. You can easily switch back to a public account at any time by repeating the steps above.

Who Can See Your Videos If Private?

When you make your TikTok account private, only approved followers can see your videos and interact with your account. Other TikTok users will still be able to see your profile photo, username, and bio, but they will not have access to view any of your videos unless they send a follow request that you approve.

TikTok explains that “Only your approved followers can see your videos. Other users can see your photo, username and bio.” https://support.tiktok.com/en/account-and-privacy/account-privacy-settings/making-your-account-public-or-private

So making your account private limits your videos to just your approved followers. It gives you control over who can view and interact with the content you post. Those who aren’t approved followers essentially just see a “preview” of your profile without being able to access any of your actual videos.

Can You Comment on Private Accounts?

One key aspect of having a private TikTok account is that only approved followers can comment on your videos. When your account is set to private, random users who come across your videos will not see the option to leave a comment.

This gives you much more control over the comments that appear under your videos. You don’t have to worry about inappropriate or spam comments from strangers. The only people commenting will be those you’ve accepted as followers.

However, even if your account is private, your comments on other users’ public videos will still be visible to anyone who views that video source. So while your own account is protected, what you say on public content can be seen.

Overall, limiting comments to approved followers is a major reason many TikTok users decide to go private. It allows you to create a safer, higher-quality community and avoids random visitors derailing your comment sections.

Finding and Following Private Accounts

One way to find private accounts to follow on TikTok is by using the search bar. You can search for relevant keywords, hashtags, or sounds to discover accounts that may be private. For example, searching for “#cooking” or “cooking sounds” could surface private cooking accounts.

According to https://www.guru99.com/how-to-view-private-tiktok-accounts.html, some private accounts will approve auto-follow requests from people who find their profile. So you can search for accounts in your areas of interest and tap “Follow.” If the account accepts your request, you’ll then be able to view their private content. This can be an effective way to find and access private accounts with relevant content.

However, there’s no guarantee that private accounts will accept your follow request. It depends on their settings and preferences. But using search is a good starting point for discovering and requesting to follow private TikTok accounts that match your interests.

Private Account vs. Private Video Settings

TikTok allows you to set privacy controls at both the account level and the individual video level. Having a private account means your entire account is private – all your videos and profile information will only be visible to your approved followers.

However, you can also set videos to private on a public account. This means that while your account is public, specific videos will only be viewable by your followers. So private videos can still be seen by all your followers, even if your account itself is public.

The key difference is that a private account makes everything private by default. With a public account, you have to manually set individual videos to private if you want them limited to followers only. So a private account gives you blanket privacy, while a public account with private videos gives you more granularity.

Understanding these two different privacy levels can help you more precisely control who sees your content on TikTok.

https://support.tiktok.com/en/account-and-privacy/account-privacy-settings/video-visibility

Making Your Account Public Again

If you decide you want to switch your TikTok account back to public, the process is very easy:

1. Open the TikTok app and go to your profile page.

2. Tap on the three dot menu icon in the upper right corner.

3. Select “Settings and privacy” from the menu.

4. Tap on “Privacy”

5. Toggle the “Private account” setting to off/disabled.

Once you toggle your account to public, all of your followers will be able to view your videos again. Any video views, likes, comments etc. that happened while your account was private will now be visible to the public.

Switching back to a public account can help content creators and influencers regain visibility and reach for their videos. It also allows friends/family to see your content again if that is preferable.

Pros and Cons of a Private Account

There are advantages and disadvantages to having a private account on TikTok. Here are some of the main pros and cons to consider:

Pros:

• More privacy – Your videos, likes, comments, and other account activity is hidden from people who don’t follow you. This allows more control over who sees your content.
• Avoid harassment – Keeping your account private prevents random users from finding and interacting with your account, reducing the chance of harassment or bullying from strangers.

According to TikTok (https://support.tiktok.com/en/account-and-privacy/account-privacy-settings/making-your-account-public-or-private), private accounts give you “the most control over your TikTok experience.”

Cons:

• Harder to gain followers – With a private account, it’s more difficult to organically gain new followers since your account won’t show up in searches or recommendations.

Overall, the increased privacy and control over your account may be worth the tradeoff in visibility and follower growth. The choice between a private or public account depends on your priorities and comfort level.

Private Accounts for Businesses/Influencers

Even though having a public account can help businesses and influencers reach a wider audience, there are some benefits to having a private account on TikTok as well:

Businesses may choose to keep their main TikTok account public to reach the broadest audience possible, but create private accounts specifically for employees or certain teams. This allows them to share content and ideas internally without making everything public.

Influencers can use a private account to build a sense of exclusivity and encourage fans to follow their public account. Sharing exclusive content or sneak peeks on the private account gives followers incentive to stay engaged. According to Social Media Today, this type of VIP access helps influencers make deeper connections with their most loyal fans¹.

However, businesses and influencers should weigh the pros and cons when deciding if a private account makes sense for their goals. While it may help build exclusivity, they also want to ensure they are still reaching a wide enough public audience to grow their brand and platform.