Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

TikTok has turned culture into a feedback loop of impulse and machine learning

thenexus.media

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 222 posts

Re: TikTok has turned culture into a feedback loop of impulse and machine learning

#131

Post by kulahan »

keiferski wrote: post #12

Too simple of a narrative. At the same time, YouTube videos are getting longer, and people are watching more YouTube videos on TVs than on mobile devices: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2025/02/12/launched-... So I think we're seeing more of a bifurcation: in-depth longform videos are becoming 30, 40, 60, even 90 minutes long, whereas anything shorter than 10 minutes is being compressed to 30-60 seconds. The…

Worth mentioning that literally any video under 60 seconds is forced to be a short, which is that stupid type of YouTube video where they remove a bunch of controls and make the overall experience miserable.

So maybe that’s pushing longer-form content as well. Some people making 30 second videos moves to 90 second ones to avoid the bad format, this crowds the format and pushes others up as well?

Totally talking out of my ass here.

Re: TikTok has turned culture into a feedback loop of impulse and machine learning

#132

Post by kulahan »

trinix912 wrote: post #68
keiferski wrote: post #12

Too simple of a narrative. At the same time, YouTube videos are getting longer, and people are watching more YouTube videos on TVs than on mobile devices: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2025/02/12/launched-... So I think we're seeing more of a bifurcation: in-depth longform videos are becoming 30, 40, 60, even 90 minutes long, whereas anything shorter than 10 minutes is being compressed to 30-60 seconds. The…

> So I think we're seeing more of a bifurcation: in-depth longform videos are becoming 30, 40, 60, even 90 minutes long, whereas anything shorter than 10 minutes is being compressed to 30-60 seconds. Could it be that the shorter videos that are now 30-60 seconds present the same information as they did when they were ~10min, just without all extra prologue, epilogue, and sponsor inserts? Wasn't one of the reasons the…

I think we saw 7 minute videos become 10 minutes, not a 20x increase in length for super short-form ones.

Re: TikTok has turned culture into a feedback loop of impulse and machine learning

#133

Post by Dilettante_ »

kelseyfrog wrote: post #122

Reading Debord's Society of the Spectacle in the age of TikTok is surreal. In some ways, it reads like prophecy. He mapped the inevitability of image-mediated life before we had the feeds to prove him right. In other ways, it feels trivial. Today's hyperreality makes the theory so obvious it barely registers as theory at all, more like a weather report. We don’t have to imagine the spectacle when we're already drowni…

Thank you for the reminder, dear imaginary person on my screen.

Re: TikTok has turned culture into a feedback loop of impulse and machine learning

#134

Post by nicce »

prophesi wrote: post #73
keiferski wrote: post #12

Too simple of a narrative. At the same time, YouTube videos are getting longer, and people are watching more YouTube videos on TVs than on mobile devices: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2025/02/12/launched-... So I think we're seeing more of a bifurcation: in-depth longform videos are becoming 30, 40, 60, even 90 minutes long, whereas anything shorter than 10 minutes is being compressed to 30-60 seconds. The…

If your Youtube video is 8 minutes or longer (and your channel is monetized), you're able to place midroll ads every minute or so to maximize ad revenue. Typically Youtube only serves a very small fraction of these midroll ads to each user; usually every 10 - 15 minutes. So 16min+ has been the sweet spot. It's this ad incentive that has made long-form videos more popular on Youtube.

Yeah, I have unsubscribed/stopped viewing many specific creators because of this.

They start cycling content and using innovative ways to make videos artificially longer. Some videos of have "what this video is about" and "Summary" sections which can be even half of the video length in total. Sponsored sections are getting longer. There are longer pauses and less editing. The list goes on.

Re: TikTok has turned culture into a feedback loop of impulse and machine learning

#135

Post by nicce »

Mistletoe wrote: post #108
linhns wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sadly, some of the best contents aer 5-10 minutes, I pick up some investing tips from those, although some longer ones can be 2x-ed or seeked to only view a chunk.

Can you share some of these YouTube investing tips?

More you share, less value they provide!

Re: TikTok has turned culture into a feedback loop of impulse and machine learning

#136

Post by OhMeadhbh »

bstsb wrote: post #121
OhMeadhbh wrote: post #116

To be fair, you can just ignore TicToc. Okay... maybe you can't. Maybe there are people in your life that won't let you forget it exists. Maybe your job is in communications and you have to get on TicToc (or YouTube or InstaGram or whatever.) 170 million people is about half the U.S. population. And I can't say this without sounding like an elitist pr*k, but it's always seemed like about half the population is below…

there are some amazing creators on tiktok. yes, the core user loop rewards fast-paced content, but that's led to some amazing educational creators using the short nature of the videos to their advantage. for example, etymologynerd makes really interesting videos on the origins and definition of newly spreading slang online, and goes really in-depth with his content. also not sure why you kept purposely misspelling Ti…

Lol. Yes. I honestly thought it was TicToc, which is funny because the title of the story we're commenting on clearly says "TikTok." Actually an honest mistake. Not an attempt at some snide linguistic side-eye.

That's cool to hear there's some wheat among the chaff. Seems like most technology comes with swings and roundabouts. My suspicion is it's simultaneously wonderful and horrible. That's how I remember the year I was on Twitter. I'm going out of my way to avoid installing the app cause I know my self-control isn't as strong as I often pretend it is. But I'll look for @etymologynerd on other platforms.

Re: TikTok has turned culture into a feedback loop of impulse and machine learning

#137

Post by xhrpost »

brokencode wrote: post #80
xhrpost wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I watched a 2 hour video on the history of computer RPGs, I think it was specific to DND, and found it captivating. Would also like to hear your recs.

What was it? I would also like a rec in this genre.

Think I found it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcGDQZjVfd4

Re: TikTok has turned culture into a feedback loop of impulse and machine learning

#139

Post by pier25 »

mtalantikite wrote: post #22
atlintots wrote: post #8

For me, the worst part is that it is so hard to go back to previous forms of media. I often delete these short form content apps in an effort to quit them, but it is now so difficult to get engaged with "slower" forms of media. The thing with Tiktok isn't the length of the media, it's just how fast-paced and "catchy" it is. I could watch an hour long fast paced video just fine, but watching a slow paced show, or read…

> I could watch an hour long fast paced video just fine, but watching a slow paced show, or reading a book is so much more difficult. Attention and concentration are skills that can be trained, so not all is lost. I was feeling like I was losing my focus about a decade ago and decided that every morning I'd wake up and read a novel for 30 minutes or so. Within a few weeks you'll notice the difference.

I was going to suggest exactly this. Start with easier to read novels. Maybe YA stuff.

Re: TikTok has turned culture into a feedback loop of impulse and machine learning

#140

Post by janalsncm »

mrtksn wrote: post #53

Yea, because it's a superior format. I love YouTube but my problem with the content of YouTube is that almost all videos are introducing you to everything every time. For example, there's this science video about this interesting property of fire right? They start with what's fire, when it was invented, what led to be studied this way and then they deliver the money shot. It is O.K. to be introduced to a topic once b…

This is called “fluff” which I feel is too nice a term for how annoying it is.

Start with a clickbait question, then give a complete history ripped off of Wikipedia, then by the end they don’t even fully answer the question. Very frustrating.

Post reply on HN