“Ratio” is a term that appears across several social-media platforms, including While a ratio may have a few different definitions, you should generally try to stay away from them.
What does ratio mean on TikTok? If you have been “ratioed” on TikTok, it usually means that your comment has more replies to it than it has likes. This suggests that more people are opposed to your comment than are in favor of it. Keep reading and find out more.
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What Does “Ratio” Mean on TikTok?
While reading the comments on a TikTok video, you’ve probably come across the term “ratio.” You’ll notice that it is only ever used in response to another comment, and this is because the respondent is typically attempting to make a point. Specifically, the fact that the majority of TikTokers reject the initial comment.
The pattern goes something like this: someone posts a comment, and someone else replies to that comment with “Ratio.” Then, the “ratio” comment either gets more likes than the comment they responded to, or it doesn’t. If they successfully “ratio,” others will reply with “W,” which is short for win or winner. If they fail, others might respond with “L,” which stands for loser or loss.
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Where Did “Ratios” Come From?
You might be thinking, “why do people do this? They cannot write their disagreement down.” Well, as with any human behavior, trends often follow the path of least resistance, and taping a like button is much easier than typing out a thoughtful response.
Additionally, “ratios” are primarily attributable to the lack of a dislike button on TikTok: The ratio between likes and dislikes would be displayed if there was a way to reject a video, like with YouTube. Unfortunately, Youtube has now hidden the number of dislikes from view.
Without a dislike button, the term “ratio” acts as a stand-in for a dislike option for other users to select. Ratios were created on Twitter using the same logic. In contrast to Twitter, where a tweet may receive hundreds of replies, comments on TikTok frequently only receive less than 50. So while Twitter ratios occur between the number of likes and replies, TikTok ratios are typically measured by likes.
How Can I Tell If I’ve Been Ratioed?
You can quickly spot the first kind of ratio on your TikTok by looking on the right side of the screen. The speech bubble (comments) and the heart (likes) are the two icons you want to contrast. Below the symbols will be the numbers for each. There is a ratio if there are more comments than likes.
To find the other type of ratio, tap the Comments icon and look for one with more likes than the original. A comment’s like count is displayed to the right of the comment’s text.
Is Receiving a Ratio Always Bad?
The first ratio (comments to likes), on the other hand, almost always indicates that most people disapprove or disagree with a TikTok, though the second ratio isn’t always bad either. Depending on what the comment says, maybe. For example, if you post a joke, and then someone replies with a joke that more people like, that’s not necessarily a loss for you.
Meanwhile, you might want to reevaluate your position if you post something serious, someone makes fun of you in the comments, and more people like the comment.
Generally speaking, however, social-media users consider a ratio to be a bad thing.
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FAQs
What Does Ratio L and W Mean on TikTok?
L and W stand for “Lose” or “Win” and typically indicate whether or not a ratio was successful.
What Does “l+ Ratio” Mean on TikTok?
Adding the plus sign to “ratio l” or “ratio w” means that the ratio attempt was especially good or bad. An l+ ratio, for instance, might get no likes, whereas a w+ receives many more likes than the original post or comment.
What Aspect Ratio is TikTok?
The length of Tik Tok videos is 9:16, which is the same as a typical smartphone screen. 1:1 is also possible, but it won’t take up the whole screen.
What Does W Mean on Tiktok?
When someone writes ‘W’ on its own in response to a video, it usually stands for ‘win’ or ‘winning. ‘ In other words, if someone wants to congratulate the person in the video for something they have achieved, they may use it to mean something like “winning at life.”