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TikTok Remix Culture

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Re: TikTok Remix Culture

#161

Post by defaultname »

Graffur wrote: post #119
buryat wrote: post #60

I have never seen so many to say "average" people on tiktok like on any other social platform, in a sense that I can relate to those people and don't feel like a celebrity is trying to feed me some content down my throat. There's so much of normalization of everything that I'm blown away by how normal Tiktok is, you can see teenagers struggling in a school, you can see people hating their 9-5 jobs, you can see crafts…

Tiktok is full of girls dancing with very little or very tight clothes on for likes and attention. It's really seedy. There's subreddits dedicated to posting about these accounts. On top of that it is designed to be addicting for the sake of addiction. It doesnt matter what the video is about once it will keep the user on the app. The algorithm will work out the perfect way for each person to be sucked in. We all kno…

To the "girls dancing" claim, I get approximately zero dancing girl videos. If you demonstrated to the app that such is the content you want, that's what you'll get. I get tonnes of birds, comedy, pets, weird animals, etc.

"On top of that it is designed to be addicting for the sake of addiction."

TikTok doesn't create content. People do. It happens to have content creation tools [the real genius of TikTok that many overlook] that allow a lot of funny, creative people to generate content that they previously couldn't.

Is that "designed to be addictive"? I guess, in the meaningless "it's designed to offer a rewarding experience" way.

EDIT: Some of the complaints in this discussion remind me of this classic Onion story - https://bit.ly/2Qm2w87

Re: TikTok Remix Culture

#162

Post by eumoria »

The endless praise for TikTok here is very confusing. I don't think it's in bad faith the account age of the commenters all seem normal and the like.

I don't have any strong hatred of TikTok myself but usually HN are a privacy concerned skeptical bunch and this is very weird.

Re: TikTok Remix Culture

#163

Post by defaultname »

dash2 wrote: post #130
angio wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TikTok is very good at recommending new content based on what you engage with (watch, like, comment, etc), if your feed is full of girls dancing, it's because you spend time actually watching it instead of just moving to the next video. My feed is full of people (for some reason mostly eastern european or from central asia) working at their construction jobs.

I don't think this invalidates GP's point. Sure, if you don't want the seedy content, you won't see it, but it's still there and that's still a large part of how they make money.

If a site has user contributed content there will usually be the "seedy" content. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit...if it gets big enough, a certain segment will monetize it. Usually as an advertising vehicle for their more overt content on adult sites. It's actually an interesting complaint because TikTok takes a lot of heat for taking down a lot of benign content.

"that's still a large part of how they make money"

You base this claim upon what? Gut feeling?

The viral videos that everyone knows from TikTok contain approximately zero instances of "seedy" content. They are people doing everyday things. AFV style funny videos. Some guy drinking cranberry juice and riding a skateboard. Etc.

Re: TikTok Remix Culture

#164

Post by KineticLensman »

Graffur wrote: post #119
buryat wrote: post #60

I have never seen so many to say "average" people on tiktok like on any other social platform, in a sense that I can relate to those people and don't feel like a celebrity is trying to feed me some content down my throat. There's so much of normalization of everything that I'm blown away by how normal Tiktok is, you can see teenagers struggling in a school, you can see people hating their 9-5 jobs, you can see crafts…

Tiktok is full of girls dancing with very little or very tight clothes on for likes and attention. It's really seedy. There's subreddits dedicated to posting about these accounts. On top of that it is designed to be addicting for the sake of addiction. It doesnt matter what the video is about once it will keep the user on the app. The algorithm will work out the perfect way for each person to be sucked in. We all kno…

> Tiktok is full of girls dancing with very little or very tight clothes on for likes and attention.

I started using TikTok recently specifically to improve my smartphone camera technique. I just swiped the dancing girl videos away and now it has stopped showing them to me.

I was impressed by the competence of many of the smartphone photography instructional tutorials. Getting points across in 15 seconds demonstrates how 'flabby' many YouTube tutorials are.

Re: TikTok Remix Culture

#165

Post by defaultname »

eumoria wrote: post #162

The endless praise for TikTok here is very confusing. I don't think it's in bad faith the account age of the commenters all seem normal and the like. I don't have any strong hatred of TikTok myself but usually HN are a privacy concerned skeptical bunch and this is very weird.

It's Vine 2.0 with great content creation tools and a surprisingly advanced set of filters. What's there to hate?

There is another comment somewhere down that claims that any positive opinion is "paid or smoking crack" and that is too common when people feel threatened by something.

Many of the things we do in life are simply a Waste Of Time (if we discount being entertained as a worthwhile pursuit). Commenting on HN is a waste of time. Reddit, Facebook, Chess, Gaming, Crosswords, Reading -- total waste of time. It's a bit strange when something comes along that people choose to entertain themselves with occasionally and invariably the "iT's AdDiCtInG!" arguments appear. Bizarre.

Re: TikTok Remix Culture

#166

Post by draw_down »

eumoria wrote: post #162

The endless praise for TikTok here is very confusing. I don't think it's in bad faith the account age of the commenters all seem normal and the like. I don't have any strong hatred of TikTok myself but usually HN are a privacy concerned skeptical bunch and this is very weird.

What are the privacy concerns exactly? It’s a firehose of video that shoves content down my gullet.

What is there to spy on — which videos I like or watch again? Doesn’t seem like particularly secretive data. Plus, who am I?

Besides which, something can be a good experience or nice to use even if it has other concerns. That does happen.

Nobody who is posting things like this is coming out and saying what they believe the actual problem to be. It’s all innuendo and implications, shady intimations about bots and privacy. Feel free to spit out what the actual problem is, guys!!

Re: TikTok Remix Culture

#167

Post by Graffur »

defaultname wrote: post #161
Graffur wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tiktok is full of girls dancing with very little or very tight clothes on for likes and attention. It's really seedy. There's subreddits dedicated to posting about these accounts. On top of that it is designed to be addicting for the sake of addiction. It doesnt matter what the video is about once it will keep the user on the app. The algorithm will work out the perfect way for each person to be sucked in. We all kno…

To the "girls dancing" claim, I get approximately zero dancing girl videos. If you demonstrated to the app that such is the content you want, that's what you'll get. I get tonnes of birds, comedy, pets, weird animals, etc. "On top of that it is designed to be addicting for the sake of addiction." TikTok doesn't create content. People do. It happens to have content creation tools [the real genius of TikTok that many o…

> To the "girls dancing" claim, I get approximately zero dancing girl videos. If you demonstrated to the app that such is the content you want, that's what you'll get. I get tonnes of birds, comedy, pets, weird animals, etc.

I am not complaining that I get the wrong recommendations. In fact, I don't have the app. My point is the app is full is seedy content.

It's literally designed to be addictive. If you don't understand that this conversation is over.

Re: TikTok Remix Culture

#168

Post by Graffur »

defaultname wrote: post #163
dash2 wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think this invalidates GP's point. Sure, if you don't want the seedy content, you won't see it, but it's still there and that's still a large part of how they make money.

If a site has user contributed content there will usually be the "seedy" content. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit...if it gets big enough, a certain segment will monetize it. Usually as an advertising vehicle for their more overt content on adult sites. It's actually an interesting complaint because TikTok takes a lot of heat for taking down a lot of benign content. "that's still a large part of how they make mo…

> everyone knows

That everyone using tik tok knows. That doesn't invalidate any of the criticism. It just tells you like the content that appeals to everybody.

Re: TikTok Remix Culture

#169

Post by defaultname »

Graffur wrote: post #167
defaultname wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To the "girls dancing" claim, I get approximately zero dancing girl videos. If you demonstrated to the app that such is the content you want, that's what you'll get. I get tonnes of birds, comedy, pets, weird animals, etc. "On top of that it is designed to be addicting for the sake of addiction." TikTok doesn't create content. People do. It happens to have content creation tools [the real genius of TikTok that many o…

> To the "girls dancing" claim, I get approximately zero dancing girl videos. If you demonstrated to the app that such is the content you want, that's what you'll get. I get tonnes of birds, comedy, pets, weird animals, etc. I am not complaining that I get the wrong recommendations. In fact, I don't have the app. My point is the app is full is seedy content. It's literally designed to be addictive. If you don't under…

You don't use it, yet you are also an authority on what it is "full of". So much so that you're an observer of subreddits dedicated to lascivious TikTok content.

I use Reddit and am blissfully unaware of such subs.

As to "designed to be addictive", you are literally using that as a lazy, pejorative surrogate for "designed to be rewarding/enjoyable".

Understand that almost every part of your life is "designed to be addictive" by that sloppy trope. HN is "designed to be addictive" by putting the most interesting stories on the front page. Netflix, Facebook, Starbucks, McDonalds, Movie Theaters, Parks, Conservation Areas -- Designed to Be Addictive. It is meaningless prattle, though it's usually leveraged to dismiss things Other People enjoy.

Re: TikTok Remix Culture

#170

Post by Graffur »

freshhawk wrote: post #126
angio wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TikTok is very good at recommending new content based on what you engage with (watch, like, comment, etc), if your feed is full of girls dancing, it's because you spend time actually watching it instead of just moving to the next video. My feed is full of people (for some reason mostly eastern european or from central asia) working at their construction jobs.

My Tiktok has a lot of videos of people complaining about exactly this and being responded to by pointing out they are telling on themselves in a hilarious way. Gotta hand it to the algorithm, it is always funny to me.

> they are telling on themselves in a hilarious way.

It's no secret how the algorithm tailors itself to what you watch. The hilarious thing is people thinking they're getting a 'win' when someone complains about any content. The app presents things to you and tries to grab your interest in any way. A lot of teenagers will, naturally, linger on that content for longer and then it becomes a cycle. That doesn't mean that is what they are aiming to get out of the app.

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