Live data from Hacker News

Inside TikTok’s Algorithm [video]

wsj.com

31–40 of 85 posts

Re: Inside TikTok’s Algorithm [video]

#31

I doubt TikTok's algorithm is really so awesome. It's a legend they promote to hype up their brand. I know I'm not their target demographic as I'm in my 30s, but it fails completely to show me interesting stuff. Instead, it shows what it thinks I could like. I get a lot of odd videos that start of sexualized and then turn into a prank (its a TikTok genre apparently). Or videos of woodworking. Or asian cooks. It is ve…

The only place I've ever heard about the TT algorithm is in news pieces attempting to explain why it took off the way it did. For years we were hearing that social media startups were DOA due to FB and IG domination.

And then BAM, TT swooped in sometime in 2018 and became huge.

I'm in the same age group as you and TT is also not of interest to me. It's possible that I just don't get it for the same reason I didn't get the concept of 'subscribe to this Youtuber'. That kind of amateur video style where you're staring into a camera from your bedroom or your car is just not for me.

Re: Inside TikTok’s Algorithm [video]

#32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference between pretty and stunning is a lot of work with makeup, lighting, dressing and so on. I dated a model briefly, she could change from and 8 to a 10 depending on how much effort and time she wanted to put in. This is true for guys too.

Tik Tok also automatically edits your appearance with default filters.

And front-facing cameras now come with face-smoothing features right out of the box. I have a Galaxy A51 (2020 phone) and even with the default settings, the FFC photos are much more generous in smoothing out your skin, than the regular rear camera.

Re: Inside TikTok’s Algorithm [video]

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is a huge problem for many people born in the past 30 years. We see all these amazing people on (social) media and compare ourselves to them if they're the same sex, or feel attracted to them. I can only imagine what it does to the body image of 14yo girls. In a somewhat similar vein, boys in puberty masturbate to porn that sets completely unrealistic expectations with regards to their partners and exper…

Its not just tech companies fault. There are a lot of fathers that dont teach their sons about sex and relationships. Often they just hope for the best. That is not how you raise a son to be effective in the dating world.

[deleted]

Re: Inside TikTok’s Algorithm [video]

#34

For me tiktok is so depressing. I am single 25+ guy and seeing all those beautiful girls my age or younger makes me so sad. Than I can go to Tinder and match with pretty but not stunning girls and feel like I am getting robbed. And according to my friends I am easily in top 20% of attractiveness. Feel bad for rest of guys I guess this is life in 21 century. Governed by algorithms and feeling empty inside

Created throwaway account just to provide some insight. In terms of attractiveness, what you see on the internet is usually the top 1% of females, as there's strong effects of "winner takes all" when it comes to attention from the opposite sex. Now, highly ranking females on the internet are getting hit on by hundreds or even thousands of possible male suitors, and the ones with blue ticks, fame/money/clout are the o…

My humble advice to you: start with reflecting on why you refer to women as “females”.

Re: Inside TikTok’s Algorithm [video]

#35
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These responses get boring pretty quick. None of this is the real world. Start participating in the world off-screen. Start something new, drop bad habits and eventually you will fill that emptiness inside you. It's the same for everything people get hooked on, it changes you perception but in reality it's all in your mind.

Yeah it is not always simple, we need empathy when dealing with this kind of problem, not brushing off people that may be having difficult times.

It's not "brushing off" to suggest that someone use their phone less. If picking up the phone is an automatic behaviour to fill moments of dullness, then that's a problem.

All the empathy in the world won't save anyone here. On one side of that screen is you, alone. On the other side are an army of designers, developers and behavioural experts whose job it is to keep you looking at the screen for as long as possible.

Re: Inside TikTok’s Algorithm [video]

#36
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tik Tok also automatically edits your appearance with default filters.

And front-facing cameras now come with face-smoothing features right out of the box. I have a Galaxy A51 (2020 phone) and even with the default settings, the FFC photos are much more generous in smoothing out your skin, than the regular rear camera.

Wait what, is this for real? Do phones automatically beautify photos taken with the selfie cam? Why is this legal?! Isn't this a surefire recipe to create a generation of adolescents with insecurity/body issues?

Every time you take a selfie it subtly confronts you with what could be better about you. It's like a fridge that whispers "you're a fatty" every time you open it.

Re: Inside TikTok’s Algorithm [video]

#37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is a huge problem for many people born in the past 30 years. We see all these amazing people on (social) media and compare ourselves to them if they're the same sex, or feel attracted to them. I can only imagine what it does to the body image of 14yo girls. In a somewhat similar vein, boys in puberty masturbate to porn that sets completely unrealistic expectations with regards to their partners and exper…

Its not just tech companies fault. There are a lot of fathers that dont teach their sons about sex and relationships. Often they just hope for the best. That is not how you raise a son to be effective in the dating world.

If the fathers are bad at sex and relationships maybe doing nothing and hoping for the best is the right idea?

Re: Inside TikTok’s Algorithm [video]

#38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Created throwaway account just to provide some insight. In terms of attractiveness, what you see on the internet is usually the top 1% of females, as there's strong effects of "winner takes all" when it comes to attention from the opposite sex. Now, highly ranking females on the internet are getting hit on by hundreds or even thousands of possible male suitors, and the ones with blue ticks, fame/money/clout are the o…

My humble advice to you: start with reflecting on why you refer to women as “females”.

What's the difference? Some people make a big deal out of males/females vs men/women and I don't get it.

Re: Inside TikTok’s Algorithm [video]

#39

I doubt TikTok's algorithm is really so awesome. It's a legend they promote to hype up their brand. I know I'm not their target demographic as I'm in my 30s, but it fails completely to show me interesting stuff. Instead, it shows what it thinks I could like. I get a lot of odd videos that start of sexualized and then turn into a prank (its a TikTok genre apparently). Or videos of woodworking. Or asian cooks. It is ve…

I wanted to provide a quick counter point here. For my use, the TikTok algorithm feels much better than anything I have used on other social media. I feel like I have to train it like a pet. You have so few, but useful feedback mechanisms that whenever you see something you don't like if you scoll (or long press "not interested") It seems to make a really big impact on the content. I get some funny stuff but most of…

In the beginning I felt the same, like TikTok was able to figure out what kind of content I wanted from the signals I was giving it.

But lately I’m getting bored with it. I feel like TikTok has put me into too narrow of a type of interests. And now for every fun or interesting video that I see, there is like five or ten videos that are too much of the same as what I’ve seen a million times already.

Idk, maybe I’ve just been spending too much time on TikTok lately and it was bound to happen regardless. Maybe even it’s not TikTok maybe it’s just me. That I am tired of watching videos in general, except for the ones that I can use for something. I’m gonna take a break from TikTok.

Re: Inside TikTok’s Algorithm [video]

#40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its not just tech companies fault. There are a lot of fathers that dont teach their sons about sex and relationships. Often they just hope for the best. That is not how you raise a son to be effective in the dating world.

If the fathers are bad at sex and relationships maybe doing nothing and hoping for the best is the right idea?

Evolutionarily, can you consider them a failure though? They've procreated. That checks the box for being "successful" but it doesn't mean your offspring will be.
Post reply on HN