Interest Graph
Category: Technical
What is Interest Graph?
A network mapping users to their interests rather than social connections, powering TikTok's content-first recommendation approach.
Interest Graph explained
An interest graph maps relationships between users and content topics rather than between users and other users (social graph). TikTok pioneered large-scale interest-graph recommendations for content distribution. The system clusters users by behavioral patterns - what they watch, like, share, and how long they engage - then recommends content popular within similar clusters. For creators, this means content reaches audiences based on predicted interest regardless of social connection. Musicians benefit because their content can reach music lovers anywhere, not just followers. Building presence means creating content that strongly signals to specific interest clusters.
Why Interest Graph matters for independent artists
Understanding Interest Graph helps you make better promotion decisions on SoundCloud and other streaming platforms. On Reposter Network, artists apply concepts like this every day when they trade real plays, likes and reposts with other musicians instead of buying fake engagement.
Related terms
- TikTok Algorithm: TikTok's recommendation system that distributes content based on interest signals rather than follower counts, enabling viral discovery for unknown creators.
- For You Page (FYP): TikTok's main discovery feed showing algorithmically selected content based on individual user interests rather than following relationships.
- Recommendation System: AI-powered systems that suggest content to users based on their behavior, preferences, and similarity to other users.
Read more
Browse the full music marketing glossary or read the guide on SoundCloud repost networks.