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TikTok generates a fully unique share URL for every person.

If you click that link and it opens in the TikTok app, it'll tell you exactly who shared it and asks you to follow them...

Thankfully you can fix that by following the share link yourself, which will redirect to a full URL to that video, which you can then strip the tracking parameter from.

Very annoying to have to remember to do that though.

That's so clever and a data analyst's dream

yeah also means you can't just delete a utm parameter to avoid being tracked. devilishly clever

Came here precisely to comment this. YouTube is hustling to catch-up to TikTok features is ways large ("Shorts") and small (unique share links).

So does Stack Overflow, although they tell you very clearly that your user ID is embedded in the link, right in the "share" box (and it's not obfuscated in any way).

SO goes so far as to give you little notifications and achievements whenever a certain number of unique visitors follow one of your shared links.

And Spotify.