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Instagram gets worse with dark patterns lifted from TikTok

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Re: Instagram gets worse with dark patterns lifted from TikTok

#11

Post by deanCommie »

Instagram didn't out-innovate Snapchat, but they did destroy them. Turns out "Photo stories" wasn't a moat - it was a feature trivial to copy and deliver at a higher quality.

And while Snapchat's AR filters were (and still are) state-of-the-art, those are only short-term distractions and don't have long-term stickiness.

They'll have a much harder time with TikTok. Tiktok's secret juice isn't the Slightly-Longer-Vines. It's the recommendation algorithm. It's INCREDIBLY addictive.

It's also (today) wildly incompatible with Instagram's bread and butter, which is celebrity influencers peddling masked branded content.

Tiktok's very brilliance is that it's egalitarian - every video gets 100 views. And if you're a heavy user (say 1 hour a day) you will almost every day discover some amazing new creator or video BEFORE they go viral. (or as viral as they might in this app where you get 15 seconds of fame not 15 minutes)

I predict that Instagram will fail to beat Tiktok here, but TikTok will be trying hard to be one of the big boys, and ruin what makes it amazing by attracting and embracing celebrities and brands (already starting to happen).

If Instagram can hold on to their celebrities long enough (and i think they will), they'll win out in the end when people get bored of TikTok after they self-sabotage their recommendation algorithm.

Re: Instagram gets worse with dark patterns lifted from TikTok

#12

Post by gruez »

nemothekid wrote: post #9
gsatic wrote: post #2

Is the Tucker Carlson story few days back, about the tiktok algo promoting edu and wholesome content within China, but twerking and gender transition in the west true?

Certain types of content is banned on Douyin but the idea that tiktok promotes "edu and wholesome content within China" is a myth spread by Andrew Tate a couple months ago. TikTok promotes the content that you respond to, no different than the recommendation algos we've gotten from our homegrown social media companies. Their biggest differentiator is that the signals they use are way better. If you see alot of gender…

>>the tiktok algo promoting edu and wholesome content within China, but twerking and gender transition in the west true?

>Certain types of content is banned on Douyin but the idea that tiktok promotes "edu and wholesome content within China" is a myth spread

These two comments aren't really contradictory. Tiktok might technically not be "promoting edu and wholesome content" in china, but they might have banned the content that the parent poster thinks is repugnant (ie. "twerking and gender transition"). Indeed, depending on how much stuff is banned and what you consider as "wholesome", it's very possible that the chinese censors banned everything that you don't consider wholesome.

Re: Instagram gets worse with dark patterns lifted from TikTok

#13

Post by jondwillis »

TikTok and Facebook’s antics (existence?) have me seriously considering quitting tech. I feel like no matter what I do, I am feeding one of these societal cancers by implementing tracking for whoever is paying me currently, lifting dark patterns, etc, using the API of Google… I tried to avoid doing these things for awhile but nobody pays me to be ethical.

My only marketable skill is software development and I pretty much hate what it has become. 16 years down the drain.

Re: Instagram gets worse with dark patterns lifted from TikTok

#14

Post by bigDinosaur »

jondwillis wrote: post #13

TikTok and Facebook’s antics (existence?) have me seriously considering quitting tech. I feel like no matter what I do, I am feeding one of these societal cancers by implementing tracking for whoever is paying me currently, lifting dark patterns, etc, using the API of Google… I tried to avoid doing these things for awhile but nobody pays me to be ethical. My only marketable skill is software development and I pretty…

There are plenty of jobs that don't require you to implement tracking/evil things. There's very possibly a pay cut in doing so..

Re: Instagram gets worse with dark patterns lifted from TikTok

#15

Post by vorpalhex »

jondwillis wrote: post #13

TikTok and Facebook’s antics (existence?) have me seriously considering quitting tech. I feel like no matter what I do, I am feeding one of these societal cancers by implementing tracking for whoever is paying me currently, lifting dark patterns, etc, using the API of Google… I tried to avoid doing these things for awhile but nobody pays me to be ethical. My only marketable skill is software development and I pretty…

Good, user respectful software exists in many forms. IRC is still around, gemini is pleasant, I like Matrix too.

I don't think you'll get the huge audience of these other platforms. That may be a feature.

Re: Instagram gets worse with dark patterns lifted from TikTok

#16

Post by grishka »

jondwillis wrote: post #13

TikTok and Facebook’s antics (existence?) have me seriously considering quitting tech. I feel like no matter what I do, I am feeding one of these societal cancers by implementing tracking for whoever is paying me currently, lifting dark patterns, etc, using the API of Google… I tried to avoid doing these things for awhile but nobody pays me to be ethical. My only marketable skill is software development and I pretty…

You may be interested in the fediverse in particular and in open-source nonprofits in general.

Re: Instagram gets worse with dark patterns lifted from TikTok

#17

Post by jondwillis »

bigDinosaur wrote: post #14
jondwillis wrote: post #13

TikTok and Facebook’s antics (existence?) have me seriously considering quitting tech. I feel like no matter what I do, I am feeding one of these societal cancers by implementing tracking for whoever is paying me currently, lifting dark patterns, etc, using the API of Google… I tried to avoid doing these things for awhile but nobody pays me to be ethical. My only marketable skill is software development and I pretty…

There are plenty of jobs that don't require you to implement tracking/evil things. There's very possibly a pay cut in doing so..

I should specify that I am an iOS engineer.

Re: Instagram gets worse with dark patterns lifted from TikTok

#18

Post by jacobn »

jondwillis wrote: post #17
bigDinosaur wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of jobs that don't require you to implement tracking/evil things. There's very possibly a pay cut in doing so..

I should specify that I am an iOS engineer.

Let the lifelong learning continue? ;)

Re: Instagram gets worse with dark patterns lifted from TikTok

#19

Post by musicale »

jondwillis wrote: post #17
bigDinosaur wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of jobs that don't require you to implement tracking/evil things. There's very possibly a pay cut in doing so..

I should specify that I am an iOS engineer.

I like iOS apps that aren't full of tracking nonsense (and the nutrition labels might help.)

But dark patterns abound, and mobile gaming is largely a hell of monetization and slot-machine mechanics.

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