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TikTok Reportedly Has a Secret Feature to Make Anyone Go Viral

The social media giant calls the practice “heating,” former employees said and records show.

Going viral on TikTok isn’t entirely up to the algorithm, apparently: The social media giant reportedly has a secret button that can make any video appear on millions of “for you” pages in an instant. The practice is called “heating,” former employees told Forbes, and it’s often used to court influencers and brands by offering to supercharge certain videos in exchange for partnerships. The magazine reports that the process to boost a video is simple—TikTok staffers enter a desired amount of views for a clip and the system ensures that number is reached. Internal docs revealed that about one to two percent of videos seen on TikTok each day were boosted through heating. While the practice of a social media company inflating views to particular posts isn’t unprecedented, TikTok has done so for years without disclosing the practice to the public.