TikTok has become one of the most popular social media platforms, with over 1 billion monthly active users. With its fun videos, viral trends, and creative effects, it’s no wonder so many people are hooked.
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Connecting with Friends on TikTok
One great feature of TikTok is the ability to connect with your real-life friends and contacts. Here are some ways TikTok allows you to find and view friends from your contacts list:
Sync Phone Contacts
The easiest way is to sync your phone contacts with TikTok. Here’s how:
- Open the TikTok app and go to your profile page
- Tap the “Add Friends” icon in the top left (person silhouette with plus sign)
- Select the “Contacts” option
- Allow TikTok access when prompted
- TikTok will match your contacts to existing TikTok users
- You’ll then see a list of friends already on TikTok that you can follow
Pro Tip: Make sure TikTok has permission to access your contacts in your device settings first.
Connect Facebook Friends
You can also find TikTok friends by syncing your Facebook contacts:
- Go to your TikTok profile page
- Tap the “Add Friends” icon
- Choose the “Facebook Friends” option
- Log into Facebook and allow access
- View a list of friends with TikTok accounts
This makes it easy to see which of your Facebook friends are on TikTok.
Search by Username
If you already know your contact’s TikTok username, you can search for it directly:
- Tap the discover magnifying glass icon on the bottom toolbar
- Type your contact’s TikTok username into search
- View their profile and videos
You can then connect by following them or sliding into their DMs.
Viewing TikTok Contacts
Once connected to friends, TikTok makes it easy to keep up with their activity.
Contacts List
Your main contacts list shows all friends from synced phone/Facebook contacts. To view it:
- Go to your profile
- Tap the “Friends” tab on the bottom toolbar
- Scroll through the list of friends
From here you can quickly access their profiles and view recent videos.
Suggested Friends
The “For You” feed will also regularly show suggested friends from your contacts list. Even without syncing contacts, TikTok can suggest friends based on connections like:
- Mutual friends/followers
- Links shared between accounts
- Appearing together in videos
So you may still get suggested friends without manually syncing contacts.
Managing Contact Settings
While connecting with friends can be fun, you may prefer to keep your contacts private. Here’s how to manage settings:
Disable Contact Syncing
Don’t want TikTok accessing your contacts? Turn it off in settings:
- Go to your profile > Settings & privacy > Privacy
- Tap “Sync contacts and Facebook friends”
- Toggle off contact syncing options
This prevents any new matching of contacts on TikTok without removing existing connections.
Remove Previously Synced Contacts
To completely remove contacts data from TikTok:
- Go to Settings & privacy > Privacy > Sync contacts
- Tap “Remove previously synced contacts”
- Confirm removing contacts
This wipes any contacts data from TikTok, disconnecting current connections.
Suggest Your Profile to Others
You can also manage suggestions of your profile to various contacts and connections through settings. Disable options you’re uncomfortable with sharing access to your profile and activity.
Conclusion
Connecting with existing friends can make TikTok even more engaging. Use contact syncing or username search to easily find contacts. But manage settings appropriately by disabling contact access if desired and limiting profile suggestions. Balance privacy needs while still enjoying TikTok with friends!
