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TikTok’s greatest asset isn’t its algorithm, it’s your phone

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Re: TikTok’s greatest asset isn’t its algorithm, it’s your phone

#101

Post by jquery »

nagonago wrote: post #89

After hearing so much about TikTok's addictiveness, I decided to give it a whirl. I spent a good few hours trying to get a feed that was interesting to me by searching for various keywords. I was mostly looking for weird, abstract, absurdist videos, but also anything else that interested me. Unfortunately it was quite difficult to find anything I actually liked. Most of "weird tiktok" seemed to be a teenager's idea o…

I had the same experience. I've given TikTok several chances, each time it ends with me deleting the app after "the algo" and I disagree about what I actually want to watch. Yes, I paused for longer on the weird videos, but that doesn't mean I liked them. Yet the algo took this as strong signal to give me more of them.

Re: TikTok’s greatest asset isn’t its algorithm, it’s your phone

#102

Post by MichaelCollins »

nemothekid wrote: post #92
jojobas wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem to imply that those who have used TikTok know for a fact it's harmless. It's not, on many levels. At the very least, it encourages harmful behaviours both while using the app (aka mindlessly hollow crap TV couldn't dream of) and off-app (by showing you stupid shit that gets promoted to the top, therefore implicitly approved by society). Curiously, the kind of activities that the "TikTok algorithm" promotes i…

> it encourages harmful behaviours both while using the app (aka mindlessly hollow crap TV couldn't dream of) and off-app (by showing you stupid shit that gets promoted to the top, therefore implicitly approved by society). I don't see how TikTok is any different than YouTube, Twitter and Instagram in this regard. The Cinnamon Challenge is almost 10 years old at this point. > he kind of activities that the "TikTok al…

Most of the content on youtube is trash, but some of it isn't. On youtube you can find lectures and talks, historic films, documentaries and instructional videos. Tiktok's short-video format does not support any of that. The videos purporting to be educational are vapid shallow trash, necessarily, because of the short-video format.

> Because the Chinese government has regulations against it.

The same government, convinced such content is harmful, happily allows Bytedance to export it. They view it as revenge for the Opium Wars; they're deliberately exporting poison.

Re: TikTok’s greatest asset isn’t its algorithm, it’s your phone

#103

Post by jquery »

TuringNYC wrote: post #100
therealdrag0 wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found my way into YouTube shorts since I already use YT a lot and it knew what I liked. Realizing it’s a TK ripoff, and seeing funny TKs shared, I figure TikTok must be way better, so I tried it. But I had the same experience as you: it didn’t click. Maybe if I had replicated my YouTube subscriptions (some are on both) it would have worked better, but I tried telling it my interests and hoping “the algorithm” would…

A bit of a tangent, but YouTube had sucked me into hours of economic doomscrolling a day. I even purchased the premium tier to avoid ads. Then suddenly two months ago they changed some algo and all the good videos are gone, along with most of my engagement. The lesson I learned: Even if I find magic, magic can quickly disappear with a new production release.

I'll agree here, the algo has changed, but maybe not for the worse. I am doomscrolling less, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It can't be healthy to constantly be doomscrolling.

Re: TikTok’s greatest asset isn’t its algorithm, it’s your phone

#105

Post by tluyben2 »

nagonago wrote: post #89

After hearing so much about TikTok's addictiveness, I decided to give it a whirl. I spent a good few hours trying to get a feed that was interesting to me by searching for various keywords. I was mostly looking for weird, abstract, absurdist videos, but also anything else that interested me. Unfortunately it was quite difficult to find anything I actually liked. Most of "weird tiktok" seemed to be a teenager's idea o…

Tried it over the past week. Even about the subjects that interest me, all the vids I could find were too shallow (as in old info, badly researched etc even for such a short video), sensationalist click bait, way too short etc.

I filled in my profile honestly and somehow it took me a lot of effort to teach the algo that I don't want to see videos of (mostly) naked teens dancing or doing (other) suggestive sex things (the first hour after installing, I got 4 young girls simulating taking a boob & vag pic and then looking at them with faked interest while giggling called pause game or something; is it supposed to be funny or?).

I followed 0 teens and because I didn't think I wouldn't find anything interesting about programming, I thought I would follow some true crime stuff; still got naked young girls mostly. After a while of following enough other stuff I got less of it.

I guess most guys (even old as myself) normally want to see this crap so the algo defaults to that? I don't know.

But the content I am supposed to like really sucks too; the 100k view video authors often don't even get the names of victims/perps right, many facts are just debunked rehashes of sensationalist takes etc. It's horrible so far. And the comments... the comments. Youtube comments are great compared and that's saying something. Maybe it'll improve?

Re: TikTok’s greatest asset isn’t its algorithm, it’s your phone

#106

Post by nemothekid »

MichaelCollins wrote: post #102
nemothekid wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it encourages harmful behaviours both while using the app (aka mindlessly hollow crap TV couldn't dream of) and off-app (by showing you stupid shit that gets promoted to the top, therefore implicitly approved by society). I don't see how TikTok is any different than YouTube, Twitter and Instagram in this regard. The Cinnamon Challenge is almost 10 years old at this point. > he kind of activities that the "TikTok al…

Most of the content on youtube is trash, but some of it isn't. On youtube you can find lectures and talks, historic films, documentaries and instructional videos. Tiktok's short-video format does not support any of that. The videos purporting to be educational are vapid shallow trash, necessarily, because of the short-video format. > Because the Chinese government has regulations against it. The same government, conv…

>lectures and talks, historic films, documentaries and instructional videos

Please point to such content on Instagram. Instagram has the same qualities you ascribe to TikTok but the only difference is you cannot point to a chinese boogeyman.

>happily allows Bytedance to export it.

This is nonsense. TikTok produced crap is produced locally. It's not Chinese influencers generating "vapid shallow trash"; and if Tiktok were banned Instagram would happily vacuum up those creators onto Reels. Revenge for the opium wars? My friend, we are doing this to ourselves. It's not the CCP's fault that America has resigned itself to algorithmic ad-driven content. We invented those algorithms.

Instagram is not going to be any less vapid just because it's run by Americans.

Re: TikTok’s greatest asset isn’t its algorithm, it’s your phone

#107

Post by therealdrag0 »

TuringNYC wrote: post #100
therealdrag0 wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found my way into YouTube shorts since I already use YT a lot and it knew what I liked. Realizing it’s a TK ripoff, and seeing funny TKs shared, I figure TikTok must be way better, so I tried it. But I had the same experience as you: it didn’t click. Maybe if I had replicated my YouTube subscriptions (some are on both) it would have worked better, but I tried telling it my interests and hoping “the algorithm” would…

A bit of a tangent, but YouTube had sucked me into hours of economic doomscrolling a day. I even purchased the premium tier to avoid ads. Then suddenly two months ago they changed some algo and all the good videos are gone, along with most of my engagement. The lesson I learned: Even if I find magic, magic can quickly disappear with a new production release.

Interesting. I haven’t experienced that. I have premium too. But mostly I have my subscriptions which the algorithm doesn’t impact; it just riffs on what’s already there: education/cooking/exercise/comedy.

Re: TikTok’s greatest asset isn’t its algorithm, it’s your phone

#108

Post by Spiritus »

nagonago wrote: post #89

After hearing so much about TikTok's addictiveness, I decided to give it a whirl. I spent a good few hours trying to get a feed that was interesting to me by searching for various keywords. I was mostly looking for weird, abstract, absurdist videos, but also anything else that interested me. Unfortunately it was quite difficult to find anything I actually liked. Most of "weird tiktok" seemed to be a teenager's idea o…

Unless you're looking for a specific video or trend, don't search. Just scroll.

Re: TikTok’s greatest asset isn’t its algorithm, it’s your phone

#109

Post by formerly_proven »

filoleg wrote: post #99
nagonago wrote: post #89

After hearing so much about TikTok's addictiveness, I decided to give it a whirl. I spent a good few hours trying to get a feed that was interesting to me by searching for various keywords. I was mostly looking for weird, abstract, absurdist videos, but also anything else that interested me. Unfortunately it was quite difficult to find anything I actually liked. Most of "weird tiktok" seemed to be a teenager's idea o…

> If anybody has any tips about how to get a better feed, I'm willing to give it another go. I do. Don't waste time by trying to find the stuff you want by explicitly searching for specific tags (aside from maybe for the purpose of the initial seeding, but that's not a must at all). That would indeed bring up just tons of kinda trashy content that seems like it is tailored to either teenagers or the lowest common den…

While you're at it, some tips for getting hooked on heroin?

Re: TikTok’s greatest asset isn’t its algorithm, it’s your phone

#110

Post by Kiro »

nagonago wrote: post #89

After hearing so much about TikTok's addictiveness, I decided to give it a whirl. I spent a good few hours trying to get a feed that was interesting to me by searching for various keywords. I was mostly looking for weird, abstract, absurdist videos, but also anything else that interested me. Unfortunately it was quite difficult to find anything I actually liked. Most of "weird tiktok" seemed to be a teenager's idea o…

Just keep scrolling naturally. Don't try to "teach" the algorithm. It never works.
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