• by Colin Kirkland , February 11, 2026

TikTok has announced “Local Feeds” -- a location-based discovery experience for users 18 and older, and the social media company’s first new feature for its U.S. audience following ownership changes in the region.

Identical to TikTok’s recently launched “Nearby Feeds” feature in the U.K. and Europe, Local Feeds invites users in the U.S. to “live like a local” by opting into a home screen designed to feature local content related to travel, events, restaurants and shopping, “as well as posts from small businesses and local creators,” per the company’s announcement.

“Posts in the Local Feed are shown to people based on location, the topic of the content, and when the content was posted,” TikTok’s statement continues.

TikTok’s announcement highlights the platform’s history in the U.S. as a supporter of small businesses – an argument originally formed by ByteDance to justify the app’s worth in the U.S. economic market following the passage of a bill that had the power to ban TikTok in the region.

According to a 2025 Oxford Economics report, there are 7.5 million businesses on TikTok in the U.S. which employ over 28 million workers.

In the days following the national takeover of TikTok USDS -- a consortium of investors including tech giant Oracle -- concerns plagued the app for U.S. users, especially regarding minor updates made to the platform’s privacy and tracking policies.

TikTok USDS’s statement explains that the Local Feeds feature will be turned off by default for all users and unavailable to those under 18 years old, with the feature’s precise location tracking enacted only when the app is in use.