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What Does Following Mean on TikTok Analytics?

Cody Schneider•

TikTok analytics provide a treasure trove of data, but understanding what it all means can feel overwhelming. One of the most important sections is the "Following" tab, which goes far beyond just your total follower count. This guide will walk you through every metric in the "Following" tab, showing you how to turn that raw data into a real strategy for audience growth and engagement.

First Things First: How to Access Your TikTok Analytics

Before you can analyze your followers, you need to make sure you have access to your analytics dashboard. This feature isn't available for standard personal accounts, so you'll need to have a Business or Creator Account.

Making the switch is easy and free. If you haven't already, here’s how:

  1. Go to your profile page and tap the three horizontal lines (hamburger menu) in the top-right corner.

  2. Select "Settings and Privacy."

  3. Tap on "Account."

  4. Choose "Switch to Business Account" or find the option to join the Creator Next program. Follow the on-screen prompts.

Once you have a Creator or Business account, you can access your analytics:

  1. Go to your profile page.

  2. Tap the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner.

  3. Select "Creator Tools" or "Business Suite."

  4. Tap on "Analytics."

Now, let's look at the "Following" tab and decode its metrics.

Decoding the "Following" Tab: A Section-by-Section Breakdown

The "Following" tab is your control center for understanding audience growth and demographics. It breaks down who is following you, where they're from, and when they're most active. Let's walk through each component.

The Follower Count Graph

Right at the top of the tab, you'll see a line graph illustrating your follower count over a selected time period. You can typically toggle between 7, 28, and 60 days. This chart visualizes your growth trajectory - is it a steep climb, a plateau, or a gentle slope?

Don’t just glance at the line. Look for specific days with big jumps or dips. What did you post on that day? A significant spike probably means one of your videos performed exceptionally well, attracting a wave of new followers. A dip could be a normal fluctuation, but consistent decline might signal that your content isn't resonating as it used to.

Net Followers and New Followers: Your Growth Vitals

Below the graph, you’ll find two key growth metrics that are often confused: New Followers and Net Followers.

  • New Followers: This is a straightforward count of how many new people followed you in the selected period. If it says 1,500 for the last 7 days, that means 1,500 individual accounts hit the "follow" button on your profile.

  • Net Followers: This number gives you a more realistic picture of your growth. It's calculated by taking your New Followers and subtracting the number of people who unfollowed you during the same period. If you gained 1,500 followers but lost 200, your net follower count is +1,300. This is the single most important number for tracking actual growth. An account gaining 1,000 new followers but losing 900 isn't growing as fast as one that gains 200 and loses none.

Keeping an eye on your Net Followers helps you understand your audience retention. If your 'New Followers' count is high but your 'Net Followers' is low, it might be an indicator that your content is good at attracting people, but your overall profile isn't compelling enough to make them stay.

Follower Demographics: Who Is Watching?

This is where you move from numbers to people. Understanding your audience demographics is critical for creating content that hits the mark every time.

Gender

This simple pie chart shows the breakdown of your audience by gender. Why does this matter? Knowing this split can heavily influence your content direction, tone, and brand partnership opportunities. If your audience is predominantly female, content focused on topics traditionally geared towards women may perform exceptionally well. For brands, this data is incredibly valuable, a skincare brand for men would want to partner with a creator who has a large male following.

Top Areas

Here you get a list of the top countries and cities where your followers are located. This is hugely beneficial for several reasons:

  • Content Localization: You can reference culturally relevant topics, trends, or humor that resonate with your top locations. For example, if you have a large following in the UK, referencing a popular British TV show might land better than referencing an obscure American one.

  • Brand Deals: It gives you leverage with local or national brands. A creator with 70% of their audience in the United States is more valuable to a U.S.-based company than someone with a globally scattered audience.

  • Posting Times: Seeing that majority of your audience is in a specific time zone is the first clue in figuring out your ideal posting schedule. More on that next.

Follower Activity: The Key to Perfect Timing

This might be the most valuable section on the entire "Following" tab. The Follower Activity module shows you the exact hours and days your followers were most active on TikTok over the past week.

You’ll see two views:

  • Hours: A bar chart displaying activity levels throughout a 24-hour cycle. The higher the bar, the more of your followers were online at that time. Look for the peak times - these are your golden hours for posting.

  • Days: This shows which days of the week your audience is most active. You might find that your engagement is naturally higher on weekends than on a Tuesday afternoon.

How do you use this? Combine the data. If your audience's activity peaks on Saturdays at 8:00 PM, then posting around 7:00 or 8:00 PM on Saturday gives your content the best possible chance to be seen by the most people right as it goes live. This initial velocity can significantly impact whether the TikTok algorithm pushes your video to more 'For You' pages.

How to Use Follower Analytics to Fuel Your Growth

Understanding these metrics is one thing, using them is another. Here’s how to translate those numbers into actionable strategies that get real results.

1. Refine Your Content Angle Based on Demographics

Now that you know who your audience is and where they're from, evaluate your recent videos. Does your content align with them? If you discover your audience is 65% female and primarily located in Australia, but you’ve been making broad content about American football, you might be missing an opportunity.

Actionable Step: Brainstorm 3-5 new video ideas that are specifically tailored to your core demographic. Test them out and see if the engagement rate is higher than a more generic post.

2. Create a Data-Driven Posting Schedule

Stop guessing when to post. Use the Follower Activity graph as your guide. Identify your top 2-3 most active windows during the week.

Actionable Step: For one week, commit to posting one hour before or during your peak activity times. For instance, if your data shows that activity is highest from 7 PM to 10 PM, post your video at 7 PM. This gives the algorithm time to index it and start showing it to your followers as they begin to open the app. At the end of the week, compare the first 3 hours of views on these posts to videos posted at random times. You will likely see a significant improvement.

3. Analyze Growth Spikes to Find Your "Winning" Formula

The follower growth graph isn’t just a vanity chart - it’s a road map of what works. Go to your graph and identify the day with your biggest follower spike in the last month.

Actionable step:

  1. Navigate to the "Content" tab in your analytics and find the videos you posted on that spike day or the day prior.

  2. Analyze those videos mercilessly. What was the hook? What was the format (list, story, comedy sketch)? What sounds or text did you use? What was the topic?

  3. Try to recreate that video's success by applying its core elements - not the exact same content, but the format and energy - to a new topic. Winning formulas are repeatable.

When you align your content with who your followers are, and your posting times with when they are active, you create a powerful flywheel effect. More initial engagement from your existing followers signals to the TikTok algorithm that your video is good, which leads to wider distribution on the For You page, which in turn leads to more new followers.

Final Thoughts

The "Following" tab in TikTok Analytics is so much more than a number. It gives you a clear picture of who is connecting with your content, offering actionable clues you can use to optimize your posting schedule, refine your video topics, and ultimately accelerate your growth on the platform. Treat these metrics as direct feedback from your community to make smarter, more informed creative decisions.

While TikTok provides a great look into your on-platform performance, we noticed most creators and marketers have to manually connect the dots between their TikTok growth and other business goals, like website traffic or product sales. We built Graphed to solve this by connecting all your marketing and sales data in one place. You can simply ask questions in plain English - like "show me my Shopify sales and TikTok followers from last month" - and instantly get a clear, real-time dashboard showing how your efforts line up, without shuffling through a dozen different tabs.