For You Page

TikTok knows I'm heartbroken. I tell myself it's the algorithm. It's not. It's me.

It started in June. I watched one video. A girl crying in her car, a sad song playing, the caption "POV: you see him with someone new." I watched it twice. Then a third time. Then I made the mistake of liking it.

Within a week, my entire feed changed. Every video was a breakup. Girls lip-syncing to voice notes. Boys writing apology letters. A guy in a hoodie saying, "If your ex left, it's not you." I cried at my desk at lunch. I sent them to friends. "This is literally me."

His name was Zack. We lasted two years. He broke up with me on FaceTime, with his camera angled strangely, like he was in a hurry.

Last night, 2 AM, I opened the app and watched forty videos in a row. Every one about missing someone. I felt seen. And then, scared.

I checked my watch history. Out of curiosity. And I saw something I'd never noticed.

Under "Most rewatched." A video of a couple dancing in a kitchen. Watched 112 times. A girl hugging her boyfriend from behind, both laughing, flour on their noses.

It wasn't about him. It wasn't even about us. But I'd watched it a hundred times, because for fifteen seconds, I could pretend it was.

TikTok doesn't know my heart.

I just trained it.