The "Global Time" Myth
Googling "best time to post on TikTok" gives you generic advice like "Tuesday at 9 AM." But that's an average of everyone. If your audience is gamers, they might be awake at 2 AM. If they are moms, they might be busy at 9 AM.
The only way to know your best time is to analyze your data.
In this guide, we'll build a Peak Hour Analyzer that:
- Scrapes your last 50-100 videos.
- Extracts the exact upload timestamp.
- Correlates "Hour of Day" with "View Count" to find your personal sweet spot.
The Tech Stack
We'll use the SociaVault API to fetch video metadata.
Prerequisites
- Node.js installed
- A SociaVault API Key
axiosfor API requests
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Step 1: Fetching Video History
We need a significant sample size. Let's fetch the last 50 videos using the paginated endpoint.
const axios = require('axios');
const API_KEY = 'YOUR_SOCIAVAULT_API_KEY';
const BASE_URL = 'https://api.sociavault.com/v1/scrape/tiktok';
async function getUserVideos(handle) {
try {
console.log(`Fetching videos for @${handle}...`);
const response = await axios.get(`${BASE_URL}/videos-paginated`, {
params: {
handle,
amount: 50 // Get a good sample size
},
headers: { 'x-api-key': API_KEY }
});
return response.data.data.videos || [];
} catch (error) {
console.error('Error fetching videos:', error.response?.data || error.message);
return [];
}
}
Step 2: The Time Analysis Logic
TikTok timestamps are usually Unix timestamps. We need to convert them to the user's local hour (0-23) and then calculate the average views for each hour.
function analyzePeakHours(videos) {
const hourStats = {};
videos.forEach(video => {
// Convert timestamp to Date object
// Note: Check if API returns seconds or milliseconds. Usually seconds for TikTok.
const date = new Date(video.createTime * 1000);
const hour = date.getHours(); // 0-23
if (!hourStats[hour]) {
hourStats[hour] = { totalViews: 0, count: 0 };
}
hourStats[hour].totalViews += video.stats.playCount;
hourStats[hour].count += 1;
});
// Calculate Average
const results = Object.keys(hourStats).map(hour => {
const stats = hourStats[hour];
return {
hour: parseInt(hour),
avgViews: Math.round(stats.totalViews / stats.count),
videosPosted: stats.count
};
});
return results.sort((a, b) => b.avgViews - a.avgViews);
}
Step 3: The Report Generator
Let's run it and print a clean report.
async function findBestTime(handle) {
const videos = await getUserVideos(handle);
if (videos.length === 0) {
console.log("No videos found.");
return;
}
const bestTimes = analyzePeakHours(videos);
console.log(`\nš Best Times to Post for @${handle}`);
console.log(`----------------------------------------`);
// Show Top 3 Slots
bestTimes.slice(0, 3).forEach((slot, index) => {
// Format hour to AM/PM
const timeString = new Date(0, 0, 0, slot.hour).toLocaleTimeString('en-US', {
hour: 'numeric',
hour12: true
});
console.log(`#${index + 1}: ${timeString}`);
console.log(` š Avg Views: ${slot.avgViews.toLocaleString()}`);
console.log(` š„ Sample Size: ${slot.videosPosted} videos`);
console.log(`---`);
});
}
// Run the analysis
findBestTime('khaby.lame');
Why This Matters in 2025
TikTok's algorithm in 2025 is faster than ever. The "golden window" for engagement is the first 2 hours. If you post when your audience is asleep, you miss that initial velocity spike, and the algorithm assumes your content is boring.
By posting exactly when your specific followers are scrolling, you maximize that initial velocity.
Next Steps
Stop guessing. Start measuring.
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