Launched worldwide in 2017 and was facing boycott in 2019 when it entered Indonesia, today, TikTok is an emerging popular social media because of its short video innovation and unique algorithm. TikTok’s timeline, called For You Page, is curated by its algorithm for each and every user. Each user’s For You Page is unique and different, offering customized videos based on users’ interests, determined by users’ online activities. Users 'online activities which appear in forms of engagement (number of likes, comments, and shares), are raw data that can be beneficial for monetary purposes for TikTok and the creators - social media influencers as one of the biggest contributors in the application. This research aims to figure out what video category is being offered to TikTok users the most on For You Page, to LSPR videtermine which video category is the hook used by the application to generate audience stickiness, and how TikTok creators of that category monetize their audience. Thus, grounded theory will be applied to lead the researcher in this research. Supported by mixed-methods research, by applying content analysis and in-depth interviews. Findings of this research are as TikTok users use the application to obtain entertainment gratification, entertainment videos is the most popular category to be offered to users. Further, TikTok Creators of entertainment videos implement several strategies to monetize their audience, which are carried out through a behavioral surplus model. Audience monetization is done by analyzing users' online behavior, improving quality of videos following users’ preferences, and accepting offers to work with advertisers in producing promotional videos.

Keywords: TikTok, TikTok Creators, Audience Monetization