TikTok's "Ineligible for Recommendation" Flag Makes It Hard for Users to Reach Wide Audiences

There was once a time when all you had to do to get more visibility with other users on TikTok was to make content and get followers. Now, however, possibly in an attempt to weed out the bot accounts, the app makes it a little harder to get that much-needed reach. Some users are even getting a notice that says "ineligible for recommendation" when they post content. But what does this mean on TikTok, and is there any way to make it go away?

Recommended posts or users might come up in your feed from time to time. These accounts are what the algorithm believes you might like, based on other videos you have interacted with. But when your own account isn't being recommended to other users, and your goal is to create content rather than watch it, TikTok has inadvertently created a pretty big problem for you.

If your account has a notice at the top of your profile that says "ineligible for recommendation," it could mean that TikTok thinks your account is bot-run or otherwise not legitimate. Another reason, per TikTok Support, is that TikTok might find your content not suitable for most users, so to make sure users don't organically come across your account, they slap that limitation on it so it isn't visible on other users' "for you page."

If your account falls into this category, you can submit an appeal. In order to do that, you can go to your inbox on the TikTok app. From there, head to your inbox, where you likely have the notification that your account is now ineligible for recommendation. Click on "view more," and you will be taken to a screen where you can actually see the ineligible videos that were flagged on your account. From there, tap on "appeal."

In some cases, this notice happens because the TikTok algorithm doesn't trust you, for whatever reason. In other instances, it's the nature of your content.

However, as one user put it on X (formerly Twitter), "It took them like two seconds to mark my account as 'not recommended' for no recognizable reason and 12 hours later the appeal is still unanswered. Meanwhile on my fyp I just watched a dude break his leg with almost no content warning."

According to another user on X, TikTok may not trust your account if it's new and you have yet to prove you aren't a bot. How do you prove that to an app that is, in a way, a bot itself? One way is to make sure you don't post a ton of the same content as soon as you make a new account. Another is to make sure you are actually engaging with posts on the app.

As silly as it sounds, if you are a new user and you are getting the 'ineligible for recommendation' notice on your account, you have to build trust with the app. You can also apply for an appeal if your account is flagged, but there is no guarantee that the "ineligible for recommendation" tag will be removed immediately, or at all.