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TikTok and the Fall of the Social-Media Giants

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Re: TikTok and the Fall of the Social-Media Giants

#21

Post by cinntaile »

madrox wrote: post #12
behnamoh wrote: post #2

I have mixed feelings about this. For all their fault, social media websites (e.g., fb) reflected our reality, but amplified the controversial parts to increase "engagement". TikTok, OTOH, is shaping our reality by literally altering our culture. I'm not that old, but even 10 years ago, the concept of dancing in front of a camera on the street was odd, but now almost every teenager and college student does that. What…

I think you may not be old enough to realize how social media shaped our reality when it came on the scene. Before that, it was the media giants that controlled the airwaves. It's been happening for forever. Welcome to the circus.

Are we being shaped by social media to a greater extent than before or not (and by how much) is probably the question we should be asking?

Re: TikTok and the Fall of the Social-Media Giants

#23

Post by wvenable »

root_axis wrote: post #11
behnamoh wrote: post #2

I have mixed feelings about this. For all their fault, social media websites (e.g., fb) reflected our reality, but amplified the controversial parts to increase "engagement". TikTok, OTOH, is shaping our reality by literally altering our culture. I'm not that old, but even 10 years ago, the concept of dancing in front of a camera on the street was odd, but now almost every teenager and college student does that. What…

Social media prior to TikTok has MASSIVELY shaped our culture, to suggest otherwise is incomprehensible to me.

Media prior to social media MASSIVELY shaped our culture.

Re: TikTok and the Fall of the Social-Media Giants

#24

Post by [deleted] »

Barrin92 wrote: post #8
behnamoh wrote: post #2

I have mixed feelings about this. For all their fault, social media websites (e.g., fb) reflected our reality, but amplified the controversial parts to increase "engagement". TikTok, OTOH, is shaping our reality by literally altering our culture. I'm not that old, but even 10 years ago, the concept of dancing in front of a camera on the street was odd, but now almost every teenager and college student does that. What…

>TikTok, OTOH, is shaping our reality by literally altering our culture that's in the nature of every technology. 20 years ago nobody took selfies, a hundred years ago nobody took pictures (probably, idk when people got cameras) Honestly it's quite a leap from kids doing fortnite dances for likes to assume they fall off the wagon and attain no real life skills. I think that's just called getting old.

[deleted]

Re: TikTok and the Fall of the Social-Media Giants

#25

Post by fragmede »

onphonenow wrote: post #15

TikTok is pretty diverse. I get zero view / like videos. Facebook got tiring all anyone did was call out / be offended / be outraged. Nothing fun anymore . TikTok has a surprising amount of fun stuff.

TikTok has its share of enraging material if you go looking for it. The genius of their presentation is it effectively doesn't exist unless the algorithm decides to show you that content. When presented with that content, if you scroll away fast enough, it won't be presented again.

Re: TikTok and the Fall of the Social-Media Giants

#26

Post by akmittal »

oars wrote: post #17

The Tiktok algorithm we have rewards repetitive dancing in front of the camera, pulling ("fake") pranks and random snippets from movies edited together with dramatic music added. In China (their app is called Douyin), the algorithm rewards things they want their youth to be doing. Content which involves maths, engineering, medicine, etc are rewarded. I'm certain that there is some strategic motive from China to push…

Is there any reference for this? Haven't heard this before

Re: TikTok and the Fall of the Social-Media Giants

#27

Post by thematrixturtle »

oars wrote: post #17

The Tiktok algorithm we have rewards repetitive dancing in front of the camera, pulling ("fake") pranks and random snippets from movies edited together with dramatic music added. In China (their app is called Douyin), the algorithm rewards things they want their youth to be doing. Content which involves maths, engineering, medicine, etc are rewarded. I'm certain that there is some strategic motive from China to push…

Got source? The social media market in China is fiercely competitive and TikTok (Douyin) got to be king of the hill by delivering exactly what its users want, not what the CCP wishes they wanted.

Re: TikTok and the Fall of the Social-Media Giants

#28

Post by mkaic »

notyourwork wrote: post #18
onphonenow wrote: post #15

TikTok is pretty diverse. I get zero view / like videos. Facebook got tiring all anyone did was call out / be offended / be outraged. Nothing fun anymore . TikTok has a surprising amount of fun stuff.

Their algo is super reactive at times with the right threshold of tuning for expanding/exploring new content. It’s also great at leaning back into familiar stuff. Overall it’s a really well done ML model.

I actually worked briefly with an engineer who claimed to have seen the inner workings of the TikTok algorithm when she was consulting for them (she was a software engineer and mathematician), and I was very surprised to hear her say that there was no ML involved in the algorithm! Of course, I'm not sure I believe her, but it definitely raises the question of whether an algorithm of TikTok's caliber is even possible without ML.

Re: TikTok and the Fall of the Social-Media Giants

#29

Post by disgu »

timeimp wrote: post #19

I've heard (anecdotally) that the attention span of all the younger users has taken a dramatic shift south. Educators and employers are noticing they cannot keep students / new employees engaged. Makes me wonder what damage is happening, long-term, with all these short bursts of dopamine that TikTok gives it users.

Was there ever a time in recorded history where this was not claimed?

Re: TikTok and the Fall of the Social-Media Giants

#30

Post by Foobar8568 »

oars wrote: post #17

The Tiktok algorithm we have rewards repetitive dancing in front of the camera, pulling ("fake") pranks and random snippets from movies edited together with dramatic music added. In China (their app is called Douyin), the algorithm rewards things they want their youth to be doing. Content which involves maths, engineering, medicine, etc are rewarded. I'm certain that there is some strategic motive from China to push…

It's not the big eaters that are all rage in Asia, including China?
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