Secrets of TikTok: Four Ways How to Find Information
Essential tips and tricks on how to conduct an effective investigation on the video-sharing platform
TikTok is the most popular video platform at the moment and can be a great source of intelligence. While some users can share fun videos of everyday life, others carry out scams, share misinformation, and leak details of military operations. This social media is not easy to investigate from the data standpoint, but there are a few ways to extract information without social engineering.
An important disclaimer about TikTok is that its web browser version is different and more limited than the app. Only the app will allow investigators to see if a user has other social media accounts linked to their profile, as well as playlists, user followers, following lists, and search filters. Using both versions is important for more comprehensive results.
User Search
Both app and web browser versions allow investigators to search for users using their names or usernames. It’s possible to find a profile photo, a username, a name, a biography, additional links, and sometimes a location in the profile description. There is also a third-party TikTok search that allows one to search for a username, a hashtag, a full name, or a keyword.
It might be useful to know how to search for TikTok users in Google. Social media is well-indexed by search engines and it can provide great results with Boolean operators. For example, a query site:tiktok.com “{first + last name}” OR “{username}” helps to find a person by a full name or a username.
Wayback Machine is a great tool for checking changes in the bio, usernames, and recent videos. The uncovered images can be used for reverse image search.
Username Analysis
If a username is known, it’s possible to just add it to the TikTok domain in the search bar using the link https://www.tiktok.com/@username or search on TikTok directly. Each TikTok video has a username watermark in the upper right lower corner. Paying attention to changes in the username can help with understanding previous names used by the user. Many people reuse their usernames on other websites and social media. Username Search tools can do a web-wide search and find where it was used before.
Examples of username search tools available online:
Videos Search and Analysis
TikTok is a video platform and what people upload there has a special interest for investigators. We can search for keywords, hashtags, locations, and similar information. It’s even possible to find videos made in combination with other users. TikTok allows “duet” and “stitch” formats that are connected to the original video. Duet is for videos recorded alongside the original video and Stitch combines another video with a new recording. Searching for a username and hashtags “#stitch” or “#duet” will bring all combined videos in these formats.
It's possible to find a date of the upload in the video info or use a special tool, developed by Bellingcat, a prominent open-source investigation group.
Often investigators need to download videos and photos to preserve them. A TikTok video can be easily downloaded directly or found through “Inspect Element” in a browser (search for “video src”, the link following it will contain a downloadable video). There are also a multitude of websites and apps that allow you to download TikTok videos with watermarks or without (example). It’s also possible to download a user’s picture, through a right click or “Inspect Element” in a browser (search for “img src=” or “‘img class” and a link that follows after will lead to the user’s photo).
Google Search
Google indexes TikTok regularly, and usage of the search engine for the data analysis can be successful. It’s easy to find specific keywords and hashtags through a query site:http://tiktok.com intext:”keyword” or site:tiktok.com/tag keyword.
Sometimes investigators have an idea of how a username could be looking based on the name but have no certainty. A query inurl:https://m.tiktok.com/h5/share/usr filetype:html username is used to find all variations of the username. To find if the target was mentioned by other users, there is a query site:tiktok.com intext:@username -intitle:”username” or site:tiktok.com intext:@username -intitle:"username" inurl:video.
There is a way to find if the user was mentioned on other social media through a query -site:tiktok.com “{first + last name}” OR “{username}” “tiktok.com”. To search specifically on Youtube and Instagram use a query site:youtube.com OR site:instagram.com "username" OR "first and last name" "TikTok" OR intext:tiktok.com/@username. In general, using a search bar on other social media with keywords and tiktok.com or m.tiktok.com or vm.tiktok.com brings videos uploaded from TikTok as well.
A general recommendation for investigators is to keep their search private by checking the privacy settings of the app and switching off categories “Suggest Your Account to Phone Contacts”, “People Who Open or Send Links to You”, “Facebook Friends Sync” and “Profile View History” and similar options.
Let me know in the comments if I missed something or if you have better ways to investigate on TikTok.