The future is online. The internet’s shining stars—platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube—are taking over. These sites are quickly becoming main hubs of conversation, change, and growth with an incredible amount of users.
Currently, the fastest-growing platform is TikTok, the short-form video-sharing app everyone is talking about. However, as more users sign up, it’s becoming harder to stand out. Without a hefty following and plenty of potentially viral content, most users flounder in the background of the mega-popular platform.
So how can you, an unknown, get more followers? The internet promises plenty of paths to free TikTok followers, but you can’t trust everything—or most things, for that matter—that you find online.
Can you get free TikTok followers?
First, let’s tackle the most important question. Is it even possible to get free followers on TikTok?
A slew of shady sites litter the web, promising free TikTok followers through “fan generators” and other questionable methods. Since using these sites is akin to having unprotected sex with the internet, I highly recommend not going this route. A quick attempt to use one such site raised immediate red flags and strongly indicated that malware would come part and parcel with any “free fans.”
Instead of risking a potentially crippling virus, consider using a few clever workarounds to gain free TikTok followers, rather than going the “easy” route. While there doesn’t appear to be a (safe) way to download free fans, there are a few tips and tricks to quickly gain TikTok followers.
Sites that promise free TikTok followers
Searching through Google for tips and tricks to gain TikTok fame will almost certainly yield results for “free fan generators.” Several popular sites, such as TikTok Famous Club and Coolhack Site, might seem legit: They have the TikTok colors and logos and swear that users can obtain up to 30,000 free followers if they only participate in a few surveys or download an app or two.
Again, I cannot emphasize enough how dangerous sites like these can be. There are plenty of ways to obtain followers without potentially damaging your computer. Avoid sites that offer free TikTok followers, as there is little chance you’ll get anything but a virus out of them.
How to get free TikTok followers—without getting a virus
Follow popular accounts
There are a number of massively popular accounts on TikTok. Loren Gray, TikTok’s most prominent user, has a staggering 35 million followers. Finding pages like Gray’s—or any of TikTok’s other mega-popular accounts—is a good first step to gaining free TikTok followers of your own.
By going to these pages and following TikTok’s most popular users, you can attempt to gain their attention. Following and unfollowing multiple times is a recommended method to spark their interest, which will hopefully result in a follow back. Plus, thanks to their massive fan bases, TikTok’s top account holders will almost assuredly bring some of their own followers with them. Assuming they enjoy the content on your account enough to follow it, many of their fans will likely agree.
Commenting on popular videos can also help you gain free TikTok followers. Quippy, on-point comments are likely to get the attention of other users on the platform, as well as the poster of the video.
Maintain your profile
A carefully honed profile is an easy way to draw people in. There are a number of ways to make your TikTok profile stand out from the rest.
A relatively short, easy-to-remember username is much better than one that is longer and more complicated. Maintaining similar usernames across social media profiles will help as well, as it will encourage users to find your other accounts.
In addition, finding your niche and sticking with it will help establish your unique brand. Early on, imitating other videos and following trends will help you get noticed, but the more you develop your individual style the more genuine TikTok followers you’ll gain.
You also want to try to make authentic, relatable content. People love to see themselves in their favorite creators, so make sure to let your personality shine. However, you don’t want to stick with a single formula. TikTok is practically made for people with short attention spans, so tired, recycled content won’t keep you on anyone’s radar for long. Make sure to switch it up consistently and try new things. You won’t always succeed, but it will be worth it when you do.
Spread your reach
TikTok doesn’t currently have a direct route to monetization, so anyone hoping to make money off their content will need to go another direction. This can also help with gaining followers, particularly from massively populated sites like Instagram and YouTube. Rather than sticking exclusively to TikTok, make sure to spread your reach to other popular social media sites.
Sharing your content on other sites will help pull in followers that aren’t consistent TikTok users. Gaining subscribers on YouTube helps build your brand and can help you gain name recognition. Again, keeping the same username across accounts will help with this. As people start to recognize your content, having your fingers in multiple pies will lead to more likes, shares, and, ultimately, follows.
Viral challenges
Participating in viral challenges is one of the best ways to reach internet stardom. Hashtags and trending pages often surface viral challenges, even if the accounts have lower follower counts. In creating a popular video for a viral challenge, you can potentially end up on the front page of TikTok or as part of a trending Twitter hashtag.
When participating in a viral challenge, you can also use trending hashtags and phrases to pull in more viewers. Take advantage of that search volume, as people look for the best memes, goofs, and challenges to come from TikTok.
Collaborate with others
A good duet is a sure-fire path to virality, particularly if you can pull off a duet with an existing popular TikTok account. Even if you are collaborating with another unknown, however, videos with friends and family are often TikTok’s most popular uploads.
You can combine skills to create any number of popular videos. Lip-sync with your dad to make a charming, family-infused video. Dancing with a sibling, joking with friends, and recording a normal day in your life are all paths to an increased TikTok follower count. Viewers love to feel like they are really getting to know creators, so lean into that. Show them who you really are and share the people you love with them. Your followers will appreciate it.
Find a unique style
Apart from selecting and cementing a niche, there are several ways to make your content stand out. Unique video edits, in particular, can help push your uploads to the forefront. The TikTok app comes with a variety of tools to change and enhance your videos, but skilled Tokers can use additional software to give their videos a real boost.
You also want to post videos at high-volume times to increase the chance of your content being noticed. Daylight hours are always the best for posting new content, though you’ll want to keep in mind time changes, depending on where your target audience lives. TikTok’s “golden hours” are between 11 and 5, when the majority of users are active. You’ll also want to post videos with trackable consistency—at least twice a day. This gives you basic exposure and keeps your name on people’s pages.
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