This couldn’t be in reaction to the recent outcry over its privacy policy update, could it?
Today, TikTok USDS JV has announced that it’s bringing TikTok’s Local feed option to U.S. users, providing a means to hone in your search and engagement to local creators and businesses in the app.
As explained by TikTok US: “The local feed is a new tab on the TikTok home screen designed to help people stay connected to their community and discover what’s going on nearby. It features local content related to travel, events, restaurants and shopping, as well as posts from small businesses and local creators.”
Which is not exactly new to TikTok, as such.
TikTok has been testing variations of its Local feed in several regions since as far back as 2022, when its Nearby feed was launched in South East Asian markets. It announced a full launch of the Local feed option in Europe last year, and now, U.S. users will also get access as well, which could help to promote local creators and businesses in the app.
“Posts in the Local Feed are shown to people based on location, the topic of the content, and when the content was posted, making it easier to discover what’s going on locally.”
This is probably the key point, because amid the recent controversy around TikTok’s Privacy Policy update, in the wake of its American business being split out and sold into U.S. ownership, a key point of contention was the mention of enhanced usage of location data.
Some users took that to mean that TikTok would now be tracking more personal information, which could, theoretically, see it used as a surveillance tool by its U.S. government-aligned ownership, if it so chose.
That prompted many people to delete their TikTok accounts (or at least announce that they would delete their info), which then prompted an expanded explanation of the changes from TikTok US.
That explanation pointed to this new option, giving TikTok US users more capacity to view local content, and get recommendations based on such.
So the updated policy provision isn’t about data tracking. Nothing to see here, and look, here’s the new feature to back it up.
I mean, presumably, TikTok was always going to launch this in the U.S., but I suspect that it’s been pushed up in response to concerns.
Either way, it could be a good way to help local creators and businesses get more attention in the app, depending on how many people use it.
