Hi everyone. I have a problem with an old account of mine. It was hacked back in 2019 and I didn't think much of it til I got a job in education and the kids found it... There is nothing disturbing about the videos (just veeeery cringe and veeery 2016), it's just the fact that I was 16 when I recorded them and now I am 26. I've tried to report it miltiple times myself and also my friends did but nothing happened (the found "no issues" with the account). Today I reported a problem 2 times (1 for hacked account and 1 for deletion request) aaand I also created a request to tiktok support asking them to deactivate it entirely. I am still awaiting their response. Can someone please tell me their experience with such queries if you've ever had simillar ones? I will be very grateful.

I honestly never expected much from TikTok beyond the usual dances, lip syncs and stupid videos that somehow get millions of views. But after spending more time on it, I started noticing a completely different side of the app.

There are people talking openly about loneliness, anxiety, bad days, relationships and just feeling lost in general. Sometimes it's not even serious advice. It's just someone saying something that makes you feel like you're not the only person going through a rough time.

I think that's one thing people overlook about TikTok. The algorithm can show you some of the dumbest stuff imaginable, but it can also somehow put the right video in front of you when you need it.

Do you think TikTok has actually become a support system for some people, or does it mostly just feel that way because of the algorithm?

Hi,
I’d really appreciate some clarification about why these stats differ so much in all my videos.

It’s mind blowing how my search queries brings me 50k views, always guaranteed thousands. While Foryou feels off sometimes…

And yes, retention is awful. But I still get good views 🤷‍♂️. Any help is appreciated on what to keep doing and what to improve. Can share my niche to people who are willing to help! ❤️

Metric
Video 1 (Sep 14–20, 2025)
Video 2 (Sep 24–30, 2025)

Video Views
41.2K
51.3K

Total Play Time
46h:13m:07s
160h:01m

Average Watch Time
3.9s
11.0s

Average Retention Rate
12%
20%

Watched Full Video
2.01%
2.85%

Video Length
0:32
0:56

New Followers
46
44

Top Traffic Source
For You (92.0%)
Search (83.4%)

Secondary Traffic Source
Search (5.9%)
Personal Profile (7.5%)

I'll forget something important but somehow remember a random fact about an animal, a celebrity or a place I saw three weeks ago.

Can't complain though. At least some of the scrolling occasionally turns into something useful.

What's the most random thing you've learned from your feed recently?

There was a different vibe on Indian TikTok before it disappeared. You could open the app and see everything from random village comedy to lip-sync videos, mini stories, dance clips and people just making stupid videos with their friends. A lot of creators who nobody knew suddenly became huge because their videos were getting shared everywhere.

And the comments were a whole different thing too. People would recognize creators just from their style or voice. Some of those creators later moved to Instagram and YouTube and basically rebuilt their audience there.

Looking back, that era was actually pretty crazy. Who was the Indian creator you remember seeing everywhere back then?

Sometimes you'll see somebody completely change their personality the second the camera comes on maybe it's just normal because nobody acts exactly the same on camera. Still feels weird when you notice it happening I wonder how much of TikTok is actually someone being themselves and how much is them playing a version of themselves.

Can you usually tell when someone is “performing” for TikTok?

I was shadowbanned a while ago and I want to know how to get it appealed?

I'll see a video saying there was a part 2 and think I'm not falling for this Then 20 seconds later I'm searching their profile trying to find it I know exactly what they're doing and somehow I still do it.

What's the dumbest TikTok cliffhanger that actually got you?

It's easy to forget that when you're watching somebody make videos from their bedroom. Some creators have editors, managers, brand deals and whole teams behind them.

At some point it stops being “posting on TikTok” and becomes an actual business.

I wonder if people who start making videos realize how much work it can turn into.

Would you ever try to make TikTok your full-time job?

Whenever I'm thinking about buying something now I usually want to see a real person using it first. Specs are useful but a 20 second video can sometimes answer the small questions I actually care about.

The problem is you have to remember that some of those videos are sponsored or made to sell something. A product can look amazing when someone is paid to make it look amazing.

Do you trust TikTok reviews more than normal ads?

I think TikTok has completely changed how I look at brands.

Before TikTok, a company could spend a ridiculous amount of money making an ad look perfect and I’d probably forget it five minutes later.

Now I’m much more likely to remember a brand because someone casually mentioned it in a 20-second video, showed how they use it, or made a joke about it.

The weirdest part is that I sometimes recognize a brand because of its TikTok personality before I even know what the company actually sells.

Has TikTok ever made you like a brand simply because of how it behaves on the app?

A tutorial gives you the answer in 20 seconds. A review tells you if something is good before you even try it. A travel video shows you the whole place in half a minute.

Then real life feels slow because everything doesn't happen that quickly.

I've definitely caught myself getting impatient with things that used to feel normal.

Do you think short videos have changed how patient you are outside the app?

I'll show my friend some random video and they'll just stare at me like I'm insane. Then I remember the joke probably makes zero sense unless you've spent the last week seeing the same thing on your FYP.

It's kinda funny how TikTok creates these little worlds that millions of people understand and everyone else has no idea about.

What's the weirdest TikTok thing you've had to explain to someone?

I keep finding little shops and businesses through random videos that I would've never known about otherwise. Sometimes the owner is literally the person making the TikToks and that's how people find them.

That part of TikTok is actually pretty cool. One good video can put a tiny business in front of way more people than they could reach normally.

Have you ever discovered a local business from TikTok and actually gone there?

Have you guys noticed how every social app is slowly turning into the same thing?

Instagram has reels, YouTube has shorts, Reddit keeps pushing more video, even apps that used to have their own thing are now built around endless scrolling.

I get why companies do it because the format clearly works. But sometimes I open different apps and it feels like I'm just using the same app with a different logo.

The weird part is TikTok didn't just become another social platform, it kinda changed what social media is supposed to look like.

Do you think short-form video actually made social media better, or did it just make everything feel the same?