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

thenexus.media

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

#151

Post by nadermx »

dcchambers wrote: post #16

> TikTok won. Now everything is 60 seconds. It's true and it's devastating. I intentionally never signed up for TikTok because of the dangers of hyper-addictive short form content. Ultra-processed, junk food content. But my Instagram became TikTok - so now I don't use Instagram. My YouTube is becoming TikTok - so now I don't use YouTube. Everything is implementing autoplaying short form content. X/Twitter. Reddit. et…

I mean if you must, you can always save things off tiktok by removing the "ok" from the URL, ending up at https://tikt.com, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44283876

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

#153

Post by ryandrake »

famahar wrote: post #27
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…

Watch the film Sátántangó in one sitting with no distraction. If you can do that, you are healed. I imagine a chronic tiktok user would find the film a form of torture.

Almost any film from the mid-70s and earlier, go online and read recent reviews, and they're all full of complaints about the pacing. "Too boring!" "Too slow!" "Fell asleep while watching!"

I mean, first of all, who falls asleep during a movie? Even stuff I've seen 30 times already, is still engaging and holds my attention from start to finish. Yet, then again, we've had to cancel "friends movie night" in our house because people would come over, sit down to watch the movie, and after 10 minutes they're all scrolling their phones and bored with the movie. Unless it's got frantic action every second, you're going to lose people. Something is really wrong with our attention spans.

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

#155

Post by [deleted] »

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…

[deleted]

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

#156

Post by lm28469 »

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…

That's how they get kids too now, look at patpatrol and the other slop they ship, you don't get more than 1 second without a cut. These kids are fucked forever, setup for failure from birth

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

#157

Post by echelon »

Yokolos wrote: post #147
echelon wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate this bifurcation. I almost never want 2-hour documentary style videos, yet 1-minute teasers leave me even more dissatisfied. I want 5-minute to 15-minute videos. They can be either overviews or summaries that cover broad stretches or super focused essays that go deeply in depth on just a singular hyper-focused point. Long-form typically means opinionated and written for a lay audience. Filled with unnecessary…

You say this like their viewers don't want long videos. They do. I am one of them. So if they started doing what you suggest, I'd stop watching them. There is no sweet spot. Different people have different preferences. Not every Youtuber needs to make 10 minute videos. Not every Youtuber needs to make hour long videos. It depends on their audience. If you don't like hour long videos, that's fine. You're not the inten…

The problem is few creators do cater to this.

Maybe we'll get AI summarizers for video soon.

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

#159

Post by m0llusk »

moduspol wrote: post #84
zoba wrote: post #7

So strange to think about how Vine could’ve won this and an American company could’ve been the leader here.

And remember Quibi [1]? Short-form video in vertical format specifically for mobile devices? They didn't have every aspect nailed, but they were definitely trailblazers on that front. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quibi

Didn't have every aspect nailed? Definitely trailblazers? Quibi is a prime example of an absolute business wipeout. They got a bunch of investor money together, showed no interest in what viewers actually want, and then went down in flames immediately upon public release of the product. The whole thing was a disaster that didn't accomplish anything beyond putting a bunch of capital in the pockets of C grade C suite players.

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

#160

Post by mid-kid »

quxbar wrote: post #20
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…

I won't even look at a youtube video essay about an obscure vintage RPG (my preferred form of guilty pleasure viewing) if it's under 20 minutes long.

Most of the 20+ minute long videos are bound to be filled to the brim with filler and bullshit. I'm not asking for much, but please stop pretending your video game review is worth an hour of introductions, personal anecdotes, comedy sketches and 3 sponsor ads.
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