TikTok Glossary: 36 Terms to Know
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Examples that will be referenced in this post
One of the most fun (and let’s be honest, sometimes challenging) parts of working in social media is that the industry is constantly changing. New apps take off and there’s always more to learn. A few years ago, I wrote a social media glossary that explained 50 different terms. With TikTok continuing to dominate the social media landscape lately, I thought it was high time to explain 36 TikTok terms, from basic tools within the platform to unusual abbreviations and slang you may encounter on TikTok.
Basic TikTok Terms
1) Algorithm – As with all social media platforms, the algorithm is a subject of much discourse. TikTok’s algorithm determines what content lands on your For You Page, based on what types of videos you interact with most frequently and how you interact with it (likes, comments, saves, shares, rewatching it, etc). Many people speculate about things that may impact how your video performs, believing specific words make your video perform worse, but the algorithm remains a black box and no one is entirely sure how it works.
2) Auto-Sync – This button allows you to match the video clips you’ve uploaded to the audio you’ve selected.
3) Captions – It’s a best practice to add captions to your videos to make them more accessible. TikTok’s captions are pretty good, but be sure to review and edit them for accuracy before posting.
4) Commercial Sounds – If you have a business account, many popular songs will not be available to you due to copyright regulations. TikTok has a decent royalty-free commercial music library, and some of them do trend. Explore and get creative!
5) Completion Rate – This number represents the percentage of the video that gets watched. If users scroll away too quickly, your video won’t perform as well in the algorithm. The longer viewers stick around for, the better!
6) Creators – TikTok made a smart, strategic choice in dubbing people who use their platform ‘creators’ rather than users. Creators are simply users who produce unique, short videos on TikTok. Anyone can be a creator!
7) Duet – This is one way of reacting to someone else’s video on TikTok. When you Duet someone, your video plays alongside the original. This can be great for amplifying someone else’s message, reacting with shock, or other creative approaches.
8) Effects – TikTok offers many effects that you can turn on for a portion of your video or the full video. Effects can be more dramatic, whereas filters are more subtle.
9) Filters – There are tons of filters to choose in TikTok. You can even try out having freckles or red hair! It can be fun for your brand to hop on a trending filter. For example, in early 2022, ‘Shrek in the sky’ was trending, where you could make a dancing Shrek pop up behind you.
10) FYP – The FYP is your For You Page, or your homepage when you open the app. TikTok’s unique algorithm curates an FYP where you’ll see content that feels eerily well tailored to your interests.
11) Green Screen – This is a common effect to use in videos. You can utilize green screen to speak in front of something, whether it’s a photo of a place you went on vacation, an article you want to discuss, or something else!
12) Hook – Some TikTokkers believe that a hook is essential to getting your video to go viral. Sometimes creators will position the video as controversial to get more views–like “hot take but…” or “X kind of people stop scrolling.” I don’t use hooks often in my videos, but they’re worth experimenting with!
13) Live – Like most other social media platforms, TikTok now offers you the ability to go live with your followers. You must have at least 1,000 followers and be at least 16 years old to go live.
14) Mutuals – When you follow someone and they follow you back.
15) Now – TikTok Now is a knockoff of BeReal. Once a day, you’ll receive a notification to take a candid photo from both your front and back-facing cameras and you have a limited window of time to post it. It’s meant to cultivate authenticity. I participated for awhile but quickly fell off of it, from a mixture of privacy concerns and lack of interest in it.
16) Original Sound – An original sound is created by a TikTok user. It may simply be them talking, a dog snoring, a remix they made, an ASMR, or anything, really! Other TikTokkers can then use this original sound in their own videos if they like it. If you’re trying to get your own original sounds to take off, be sure to rename them so it’s memorable and clear who created it.
17) Pinned Video – Just like on Instagram, you can now pin a handful of TikToks to the top of your profile. This is helpful for viewers who have just found your profile, so they can get a taste for the type of content you post. I used to pin my most viral videos, but I gradually moved away from that. Now I pin the videos I’m most proud of and are representative of the type of content I post. My 266k view video is not pinned, but an 8k view video I worked hard on is!
18) Ratio – Like on other platforms, a ratio indicates the creator’s take may have been problematic. This means there are more comments than likes on a video (or within the comments section, that a particular comment has more replies than likes).
19) Stitch – When you Stitch a video, typically the original creator has created a prompt beginning with “Stitch this.” These often go viral as folks are so eager to share their stories in response to the prompt. One popular example from 2022 was a girl who prompted folks to answer, “What’s a scam that’s become so normalized we don’t even realize it’s a scam anymore?”
20) Story – TikTok launched a Stories feature to copy the ephemeral Instagram and Snapchat Stories. These videos are only up for 24 hours and then disappear. Useful for more casual, quick videos. I don’t consider them essential from a marketing standpoint (unlike on Instagram currently). They tend to be used more by individuals than brands.
21) Text-to-Speech – This feature allows you to add text over a video and select a robotic voice to read it aloud. This is helpful for times when you don’t have enough content for a voiceover or simply don’t feel like recording one. Depending on the voice you select, it can also add some humor!
22) Transitions – When using multiple video clips, you can set up transitions to make the switch between clips more engaging.
23) Trending Audio – A trending audio can be a popular song or an original sound created by a user–either way, it’s an audio clip that you’re likely hearing all over your FYP. If you catch an audio early, it can help your video perform better! Something in the 3-5k range that seems to be growing rapidly is definitely an audio worth using.
24) View Time – The total amount of time a video has been watched since you posted it.
25) Voice Over – Voice overs can be recorded right in TikTok, replacing the video’s original sound. These work well for explaining a project you did, talking about your workday over a timelapse of you working, and many other uses.
Popular Abbreviations
26) CW / TW – Content warning or trigger warning. It’s a good idea to include a content warning on a video if you’re going to be discussing something that may be upsetting to viewers.
27) POV – This is used to indicate when you should be watching the video from a specific perspective. Many people misuse POV, so it can get confusing!
28) UGC – User-generated content. UGC exists on other platforms as well, but lately TikTok is full of UGC content creators sharing about their work–individuals who create photo and video content for brands on a freelance basis.
29) OOTD – Outfit of the day, used to show off your look on any given day.
30) GRWM – I was stumped by this for awhile! It’s Get Ready With Me–a video that shows someone getting dressed and ready for the day.
Common TikTok Slang
31) Bye-oh – As I mentioned earlier, some TikTokkers fear that using certain words will make the algorithm censor or ‘shadow-ban’ their content. Allegedly, TikTok doesn’t like when you leave the app, so saying ‘link in bio’ is a no no. Instead, people will say “bye-oh” and change their captions accordingly.
32) Blink / Schlink / Clink / 🔗 – To match “bye-oh,” folks will say something like “blink” or “schlink” or “clink” instead of “link.”
33) Unalive – Again, due to fear of algorithm censorship, people will say “unalive” instead of “die” or “kill” or “murder.” If talking about suicide, they will say “sewer slide.”
34) Tea –This has become common IRL, too! Tea simply refers to gossip.
35) Corn – Another ‘avoiding the algorithm’ game, corn actually refers to porn. This was especially confusing when the ‘it’s corn’ song trended last fall.
36) Seggs – Again, sneakily hiding from the algorithm, “sex” became “seggs.”
There are many more slang terms I could have included, but since they often surge in popularity for a brief time only, I figured it would become outdated quickly. If you’re curious, though, I’m happy to write a post with more! Just let me know via email or DM.
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