TikTok debuted its BeReal clone, TikTok Now, as a separate mobile app over the weekend in worldwide areas other than the United States. iOS was the primary platform for this release. The TikTok Now experience, which was revealed to be coming to the TikTok app in the United States last week, is very similar to the feature set that is offered by this app. However, since it is a separate mobile app, users may opt in to get the push notifications specifically for these social check-ins even if they have their TikTok alerts muted. This is possible even though the app integrates with TikTok.

At the time of the announcement made on September 15, 2022, the firm had not yet released the TikTok Now experience as its own mobile app, despite the fact that it had previously said that the TikTok Now experience will be made available in select areas as a standalone mobile app. It was also unclear whether markets would have access to the functionality inside TikTok itself or as a separate app, as well as when the software would be made available to users. According to information provided by the mobile intelligence company Sensor Tower, the TikTok Now app became available to users all around the world late on September 18, 2022. At the time this article was written, the TikTok Now app has not yet achieved a position in any of the Top Overall iPhone app charts worldwide, despite the fact that it is a brand new big product from one of the applications that is now the most popular in the world.

Despite this, it has been able to break into the top 100 iPhone Social Networking applications in five different markets, including Madagascar, Mozambique, Kenya, Malta, and Singapore. Additionally, it is listed in the top 500 iPhone Social Networking apps in 38 different countries. The following countries are included: Myanmar, Bulgaria, Pakistan, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Germany, Qatar, Poland, Belgium, New Zealand, Guatemala, Austria, Bahrain, South Africa, Finland, Ghana, Czech Republic, Vietnam, Greece, Ireland, Azerbaijan, Israel, Nigeria, Spain, Netherlands, Switzerland, Algeria, Malaysia, Sweden, Italy, Morocco, Lebanon, Mexico, Denmark, Egypt, Dominican Republic, and Romania.

Bermuda is the only market in which the Android version of the app is currently available; it does not rank in any of the other markets.

This worldwide release is a statement about TikTok’s goals with this new experience, which is an unabashed rip-off of the leading smartphone app BeReal. TikTok Now, much like BeReal, will randomly choose users and give them a push notification every day, urging them to capture a picture or video using both the front-facing and rear-facing cameras on their mobile device at the same time. In order to participate, users have a window of time of three minutes to take images or films that are up to ten minutes long. Friends may then see each other’s images in the app’s Friends feed or they can read posts from others in an Explore feed. Additionally, friends can view posts from others in a feed called Explore. It would seem that TikTok is of the opinion that it may be able to achieve some level of success with this social format in areas where BeReal has not yet managed to dominate. However, this may prove to be challenging given that BeReal is now ranked first in at least nine different markets and is in the top five overall iPhone applications in close to 40 different nations. According to the statistics provided by Sensor Tower, the United States, France (the company’s home market), and the United Kingdom are the company’s three most important markets. Because of this, a significant portion of the world is wide open for business. (Also, we feel the need to stress out that it is not difficult to rip off a format as fundamental as this one.)

TikTok failed to define its approach regarding TikTok Now, particularly why it has opted to make TikTok Now a feature in the United States, but its own app practically everywhere else. TikTok Now was introduced in December 2018. Instead, the firm has simply said that it is “experimenting” with the experience and that it intends to improve TikTok Now as it learns how its community reacts to the new format.

If you take a snapshot of one of the creators’ TikToks, the creator will not be alerted. Because of this, if you submit a video to TikTok, you won’t be able to see whether somebody screenshots your videos. This means that it is important to keep this in mind whenever you post anything on the app.

You have the ability to disable the feature that saves your videos, but this will not prevent someone from taking a screenshot of the post or storing it using some other method, despite the fact that you have disabled the function.

You are going to be completely in the dark about everything that is going on, which is why it is termed a shadowban. TikTok’s elite moderation team won’t send you a notification to let you know that your account has been temporarily suspended or permanently banned.

There is, without a doubt, a possibility that the quality of your work has been declining (and, jokes aside, this is a legitimate point of consideration). If you believe that you have been subjected to a shadowban, there are a few things you should keep an eye out for, including the following:

• The numbers continue to plummet. If you have been seeing an increasing number of likes, views, and shares on the material that you have uploaded, and then all of a sudden that trend stops, you may have been subjected to the dreaded shadowban.

• We’ve lowered the upload speed. There’s a chance it’s not your wifi. You could have the problem if your videos have a message that says “under review” or “processing” for an unusually long length of time.

• No longer For You. TikTok’s “For You” page may be thought of as its beating heart. It is also the location where your content ought to appear if everything is going according to plan. Have a buddy who normally sees your postings on their FYP cross-reference check to see if they have vanished and let you know if they have.

A user is said to have been subjected to a shadowban when their account on a social media site (or forum) is temporarily muted or disabled without any warning.

Unofficially, when TikTok briefly limits an account’s visibility, this action is referred to as a “shadowban,” and the term is used interchangeably with the official one. When this occurs, a user’s movies will no longer be shown on the “For You” tab of TikTok (sometimes abbreviated as #FYP). Their material will also be removed from the hashtags area of the app, where it previously was shown.

When someone is subject to a shadowban, several users have noted that it is more difficult to locate their previous contributions to the site. In addition to this, they claim that they are no longer getting likes and comments on postings that would have been successful in the past. Even if there are some wild conspiracy theories floating around the internet, there is no disputing that something is, in fact, taking place.

TikTok, much like its contemporary social media competitors, does not really use the phrase “shadowban” anywhere in any of its official material. In addition, they have never completely confessed that they are involved in the practise. They have, however, provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate that they do block access to specific users at certain times.

The information provided on TikTok’s official website is probably as near as we’ll get to a declaration about shadowbans:

“Accounts and/or users who are engaged in serious or recurrent breaches [of our Community Guidelines] on the platform will be banned, either temporarily or permanently,” the Community Guidelines state.

A TikTok account is considered to be in violation of the terms of service when it receives five or more complaints from other TikTok accounts.

Nevertheless, the reports do not provide an assurance that the account will be deleted.

When you report an account, you are informing the customer support staff about a problem that you encountered while using the account that is being reported.

After receiving five or six complaints, the customer service staff of the platform conducts a thorough investigation into the problem and determines whether or not the account in question has to be removed.

You might think of shadowbanning as a more gentle kind of banning since it prevents your video from appearing on the For You page of the audience you’re trying to attract or from showing up under relevant tags. The immediate effect of this is a sharp decline in the amount of audience interaction with your content, as measured by the number of views, comments, and likes.

It is possible that you have been subjected to a shadow ban if you have seen that viewers of your videos are paying somewhat less attention to them than they once did. Hashtag stuffing, breaking a community policy, uploading material with any kind of quality issue, or using questionable methods to garner followers or viewer traction are all examples of behaviours that might result in a shadowban.

You will be subject to an instant shadowban if TikTok discovers that you have been utilising third-party applications or outlets in order to obtain phoney followers or bot interactions. The use of virtual private networks (VPNs) is another practise that the developers of TikTok take a dim view of, which results in the application of temporary bans or shadowbans.

Depending on the severity of the accusation that was placed against you, a shadowban might last anywhere from a few days to up to two weeks. In order to remove shadowbans, you may utilise the “Report a problem” option found in the “Account settings” section of TikTok to access the Support Tickets feature and get in touch with the TikTok help desk – stay tuned for an upcoming breakdown of the processes involved in this process!

TikTok will not hesitate to temporarily ban your account if you violate its community guidelines in a manner that is considered to be relatively severe or on multiple occasions. During this time, you will not be able to use your account for significant engagement, such as posting new content on the platform. Additionally, a notice will be sent to your Inbox telling you that the temporary suspension of your account has been implemented.

If this is your first infraction, you may be able to get away with 24-48 hour limits or a suspension of your account to a view-only condition for up to 72 hours (during this time, you won’t be able to submit videos, leave likes or comments, or interact with other users’ content). The severity of your violation and the frequency with which you break community rules will determine the kind and degree of punishment that you get.

Finally, if you want to put TikTok’s zero-tolerance policies to the test, you should know that if you do so, you will have to deal with the aftermath of losing your account because TikTok doesn’t waste any time and will immediately impose a permanent ban on any account that disregards its caveats to abstain from any of the prohibited activities, such as promoting or engaging in activities related to terrorism, ammunition or arms, human or drug trafficking, pornography

If you are under 13 years old and TikTok finds out about it, then there is another cause for TikTok to permanently delete your account. Sometimes, TikTok may prevent you from making new accounts on a particular device by placing a ban on the device itself. This will prevent you from using that device to create new accounts.

If you don’t want your account to be banned permanently from TikTok, there are some boundaries you shouldn’t test on the platform.

The steps you need to do to prevent your TikTok account from being suspended or deleted are not very complicated. If you adhere to the community standards of the app and don’t break them more than once, you shouldn’t have any problems.

However, the programme does not tolerate substantial violations, and users who commit these infractions risk having their accounts deleted. Take a look at the following behaviours that might get you permanently banned from using TikTok.

The Distribution of Sexually Explicit Material

If you post anything on TikTok that portrays or encourages sexual exploitation, or nudity in general, you run the risk of having your account suspended or deleted.

TikTok’s community standards prohibit users from posting content that promotes grooming and other sorts of potentially dangerous actions involving kids. Violating these guidelines may result in the cancellation of your account.

Sharing Content That Is Dangerous To The Public Safety

If you want to use the TikTok, you are required to abstain from sharing any material that advocates for or encourages any kind of violent behaviour on the platform. TikTok users risk having their accounts suspended or deleted if they advocate for, direct, or encourage the commission of acts of violence by other users.

Repeatedly publishing material that advocates for acts of violence or terrorism will eventually result in a suspension.

The Distribution of Graphic or Violent Content

TikTok restricts the publishing or streaming of anything that is “gratuitously upsetting” or “glorifies severe violence or suffering.” If you are a fan of horror movie clips, you may not enjoy this, since it is possible that this will not be to your liking. This includes publishing graphic recordings of accidents and injuries online, which might be considered gore.

This is quite comprehensible given the high number of underage users that make frequent use of the site.

The removal of material that portrays damage being inflicted on people or animals, as well as the eventual permanent banning of users who repeatedly publish violent content, takes place on this platform.

Publishing anything that glorifies self-injury or depicts acts of self-harm

TikTok prohibits the uploading of anything that glorifies or encourages any sort of self-inflicted injury. If you post anything that encourages harmful behaviours such as suicide, self-harm, or eating disorders, you risk being banned from the network.

In the same spirit, violating TikTok’s community standards by uploading material that “encourages taking part in dangerous actions in a non-professional environment” is also a violation of these principles. You may be banned from TikTok if you consistently publish anything that encourages others to participate in dangerous or risky activities, such as amateur stunts or other games that might result in harm.

Blackmailing or Threatening to Blackmail

Another one of the many ways to have your TikTok account banned is to threaten to hack or dox someone in order to blackmail them.

If you share content on TikTok that poses a risk of disclosing the personal information of another user, such as their residential address, private email address, private phone number, bank statements, social security number, or passport number, then you run the risk of being banned from the platform.

Putting up something that encourages people to engage in illegal behaviour

If you post or stream videos on TikTok that encourage unlawful behaviour, you risk being banned from the platform. This includes entries that show acts of physical injury, human exploitation, illicit trading of animals, or breaching the law in any manner. Also included in this category are posts that include explicit language.

It is also against the rules for you to post any material that teaches other individuals how to engage in unlawful actions.

If you repeatedly share anything that encourages the use of illegal substances, guns, alcoholic beverages, or cigarettes, TikTok may permanently remove your account.

Messages that impersonate other people and spread false information

Your TikTok account is at danger of being suspended or deleted if you indulge in any sort of spamming or fraudulent interaction. Sharing anything that encourages false engagement, such as purchasing or selling views, likes, followers, shares, or comments, is prohibited under TikTok’s community standards. Other types of fake engagement include selling shares or comments.
Impersonation, or creating a TikTok account using the information of another person with the goal of fooling other users, is another way to be kicked off the platform.

Last but not least, you run the risk of being banned from TikTok if you spread false information that has the ability to hurt either a person or an entire community.

There are a few different explanations as to why your TikTok video gets no views. There is a good chance that you have changed the settings of your video to make it private by mistake. It’s also possible that the problem is related to the network, either on your end or TikTok’s. The following are some additional possibilities:

1. The content is currently being evaluated.
2. The quality of the video is really low.
3. The Video is duplicated 
4. It has been published on a device that is not allowed.
5. It makes use of terms, keywords or phrases that are banned.

Aside from that, if the material that you submitted violates the criteria that TikTok has established for its community, you will be shadowbanned, and as a consequence, the visibility of the content that you publish will be greatly diminished.

Another rational explanation may be that the audience did not find the video to be engaging enough. The percentage of video that are seen all the way through is the primary factor that TikTok considers when determining the relative quality of each video. It indicates what proportion of the video has been seen. The longer one watches the video, the more beneficial this ratio becomes.

During the test phase, the video will only be shown to a limited number of people if the completion rate is relatively low. It is important that the content of your video be original and engaging in order to maintain the attention of the audience and encourage them to see the video through to its conclusion.

There is no foolproof method for determining whether or not your appeal will be successful; nevertheless, if the content you uploaded does not violate the terms of service, there is a strong chance that TikTok will review your appeal in the near future and reinstate your video!

TikTok has the right to remove your video if it violates any of the community guidelines. Therefore, before you submit anything, make sure you’ve read the community guidelines!