Does TikTok distribute videos based on where you are located?

I recently started a TikTok account where I share my experience living abroad in my native language. I expected my videos to reach people in my home country who are curious about what life is like here. But most of the people watching and commenting seem to be people from my same country who already live here too. They comment things like “I felt the same when I moved here.” It feels like TikTok is mainly showing my videos to people in the country where I currently live rather than people back home. Does TikTok prioritize showing videos based on the creator’s location at first? Or will the algorithm eventually reach people in other countries who speak the language?

Comments

Podcast-Queen888•3 months ago•3

I don't think so.. I also created a TikTok account just last December and in the first month all of my followers are foreigners and not from the Philippines up until now, my account is 4 months old most of my followers are still foreigners.

DoctorDazza•3 months ago•2

If you don't have a following, your video will be shared first to those around you, and then once you have an account that TikTok understands, share based on interests. If the people around you don't like your videos though, it will likely not be shared more widely.

sharee_•3 months ago•1

Yeah it’s very local. Some people do mainly have international audience though, so I think over time you can train it with continually using hashtags, topic matter etc. always targeting at that country. Have you tried location tagging to the country you’re speaking to ?

Evening_Hawk_7470•3 months ago•1

TikTok defaults to local IP geofencing to establish a baseline for your content, so you have to force the algorithm to categorize your language and niche by ignoring your current location in your metadata and leaning into the specific cultural touchstones of your home country.

Secure_Assistance_79•3 months ago•1

yeah tiktok is super aggressive about location-based distribution at first, especially for new accounts. it basically assumes your target audience is wherever your SIM and IP are. so if you're in germany posting in spanish, it shows you to spanish speakers in germany, not spain

the workaround most people don't know about is that tiktok looks at more than just your IP. it factors in your SIM card's country code and device registration too. changing your IP alone doesn't fix it. you'd have to actually spoof the full stack (SIM country + IP + device settings) to reliably shift your distribution to a different country

some people in this situation just create a separate account "for" their home country and set location there. annoying but it works

chinsngbcharakhun•3 months ago•1

Yes, but it’s more nuanced than a simple yes/no. Creator location affects the initial distribution window, but the bigger variable is where your early engagement comes from. If your first viewers are from your current country because you’re posting in their timezone, TikTok treats that as a signal that your content belongs in that regional pool. The hashtag layer compounds it further — trending hashtags are almost entirely country-specific. We pulled top 10 trending lists from 11 countries this week and countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, and Japan had almost no overlap with US or European trending hashtags. Using regionally mismatched hashtags while posting from a different timezone stacks two negative signals against you.

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Vinaya_Ghimire•3 months ago•0

TikTok basically tracks your location and pushes your content to the local audience. However, you can also reach people outside your current geographical location. To do this you will have to build followers in your target location. One of the easiest ways to reach your target location is by running ads.

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