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TikTok’s algorithm keeps pushing suicide to vulnerable kids

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Re: TikTok’s algorithm keeps pushing suicide to vulnerable kids

#51

Post by owisd »

BrianGragg wrote: post #24
rvz wrote: post #2

They still haven't learned their lesson and its algorithm is just as bad as the rest of the other social networks, if not the worst. Perhaps they should be fined in the millions like the rest of the other social network companies like Facebook, Instagram, etc. Repeat offences should be increased into the billions if possible.

Personally the algorithm works just fine for me. If you interact with what you find is trash / comment / like it will show you more of that content. If you don't want to see it dont' watch it or comment on it. You'll stop seeing it and the items you WANT to see you need to interact with and you will continue to get more of that. If you watch / comment on suicide videos thats exactly what you will get in your feed.

Why are they pushing suicide videos to find out which kids are interested in them in the first place?

Re: TikTok’s algorithm keeps pushing suicide to vulnerable kids

#52

Post by [deleted] »

maxehmookau wrote: post #31

I still don't get how TikTok (and other "feed"-based social media) isn't regulated more strongly. We don't allow 12 year olds to buy cigarettes because they're harmful and addictive. These apps are no different, they just don't cause obvious physical diseases like lung cancer. It's clearly designed to entrap users in to addiction, but as a society we're still cool with it and it blows my mind.

[deleted]

Re: TikTok’s algorithm keeps pushing suicide to vulnerable kids

#53

Post by augment002 »

Spivak wrote: post #43
vlunkr wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm a completely leftist liberal I'm confused. Do you think the CPP is liberal? It's very authoritarian.

There's a difference between recognizing that China has a political structure I don't like and the "everything China bad" red scare bullshit that is going on. The US is plenty authoritarian and China becoming a democracy wouldn't actually change any of the things that people are paranoid about. The state mucking around in private industry to achieve political and national security goals and wage information warefare…

> The state mucking around in private industry to achieve political and national security goals and wage information warefare is as American as hamburgers.

Ludicrous false equivalency.

The USA doesn’t have laws preventing its citizens from criticizing the government, nor are its corporations required by law to participate in policing speech.

This is the reason why criticism of China is so muted.

Re: TikTok’s algorithm keeps pushing suicide to vulnerable kids

#54

Post by 4gotunameagain »

Jochim wrote: post #11
4gotunameagain wrote: post #7

I don't know how true it is, but allegedly[1] the algorithm of tiktok in china is tuned to promote achievements and education, while in the western world it promotes debauchery and stupidity. Doesn't take a huge leap to think it could be intentional.. [1] https://www.opindia.com/2022/07/tiktok-china-engineering-oth...

It's not true you can see for yourself: https://douyin.com/ On TikTok you largely just get more of what you've already engaged with. If you're using the platform for porn you're going to get a lot of it. If you like and engage with scientific/political content you'll rarely, if ever, see a video of someone dancing. edit: It's anecdotal but having taken a look at TikTok's web feed: https://www.tiktok.com/foryou . The…

Unless I go to china, download the app on a chinese phone and use it, I cannot see for myself.

Re: TikTok’s algorithm keeps pushing suicide to vulnerable kids

#55

Post by fasterik »

4gotunameagain wrote: post #7

I don't know how true it is, but allegedly[1] the algorithm of tiktok in china is tuned to promote achievements and education, while in the western world it promotes debauchery and stupidity. Doesn't take a huge leap to think it could be intentional.. [1] https://www.opindia.com/2022/07/tiktok-china-engineering-oth...

From Wikipedia: "OpIndia is an Indian right-wing news website that frequently publishes misinformation."

To me, it seems much more likely that China is just censoring TikTok like they censor every other platform, while the rest of the world sees a standard recommendation algorithm. "Debauchery and stupidity" is a subjective, sanctimonious phrase that doesn't really mean anything.

Re: TikTok’s algorithm keeps pushing suicide to vulnerable kids

#56

Post by noufalibrahim »

4gotunameagain wrote: post #20
MuffinFlavored wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> while in the western world it promotes debauchery and stupidity. Isn't the narrative "that's what the western world consumers more of/wants" versus "China values achievements and education more than debauchery and stupidity"?

We are talking about kids. They will want what you teach them to want. With parents working insane hours in the US and outsourcing the socialisation and education of kids to electronics and corporations with perverse incentives, with local communities practically gone in an urban lifestyle, we are raising generations of porn addicted dopamine junkies. The west is fucked.

This is true. Tiktok is the current problem but there's going to be a lot of stuff like this that the world is going to throw at kids.

It's the parents responsibility to curate the world the their kids are exposed to and build up their defences for all the crap that they're going to finally encounter.

Re: TikTok’s algorithm keeps pushing suicide to vulnerable kids

#57

Post by BaculumMeumEst »

4gotunameagain wrote: post #20
MuffinFlavored wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> while in the western world it promotes debauchery and stupidity. Isn't the narrative "that's what the western world consumers more of/wants" versus "China values achievements and education more than debauchery and stupidity"?

We are talking about kids. They will want what you teach them to want. With parents working insane hours in the US and outsourcing the socialisation and education of kids to electronics and corporations with perverse incentives, with local communities practically gone in an urban lifestyle, we are raising generations of porn addicted dopamine junkies. The west is fucked.

> we are raising generations of porn addicted dopamine junkies. The west is fucked.

Agreed on the first point, disagree on the second. I think it’s a fixable problem. Addicts can recover and further damage can be avoided.

Re: TikTok’s algorithm keeps pushing suicide to vulnerable kids

#58

Post by DubiousPusher »

GordonS wrote: post #33
vlunkr wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm a completely leftist liberal I'm confused. Do you think the CPP is liberal? It's very authoritarian.

I'm not the OP, but I read that qualification as meaning "I'm not some right-wing nutter that's paranoid about Red Danger, and I don't believe everything mainstream media tells me".

I blame the broken ass left/right political spectrum that's so popular in the U.S.

Liberal != Leftist

And neither a leftist nor a liberal has to answer for Communist China. Nor do you gain any special "objectivity" about China by being either one.

Re: TikTok’s algorithm keeps pushing suicide to vulnerable kids

#59

Post by paganel »

4gotunameagain wrote: post #7

I don't know how true it is, but allegedly[1] the algorithm of tiktok in china is tuned to promote achievements and education, while in the western world it promotes debauchery and stupidity. Doesn't take a huge leap to think it could be intentional.. [1] https://www.opindia.com/2022/07/tiktok-china-engineering-oth...

Anti-intellectualism is ingrained in the American societal psyche and was seen as a thing to be proud of many times in the past. Hofstadter‘s Anti-intellectualism in American Life is one of the best explanations of this process.

As such, apps like TikTok are just following the target population’s specs.

Re: TikTok’s algorithm keeps pushing suicide to vulnerable kids

#60

Post by Jochim »

4gotunameagain wrote: post #54
Jochim wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not true you can see for yourself: https://douyin.com/ On TikTok you largely just get more of what you've already engaged with. If you're using the platform for porn you're going to get a lot of it. If you like and engage with scientific/political content you'll rarely, if ever, see a video of someone dancing. edit: It's anecdotal but having taken a look at TikTok's web feed: https://www.tiktok.com/foryou . The…

Unless I go to china, download the app on a chinese phone and use it, I cannot see for myself.

You could easily see for yourself by visiting the link in the previous comment.

For what it's worth. Four out of the first five videos I saw on Douyin were sexualised in some way, the first was of a train driver. I scrolled through 20 or 30 of the videos on TikTok's website and didn't find anything close.

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