An empirical investigation of personalization factors on TikTok
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Re: An empirical investigation of personalization factors on TikTok
#2I was searching some information on what are the principles behind the TikTok algorithm/recommendation engine and I found this very recent preprint. I wanted to have some opinions on its validity.
Re: An empirical investigation of personalization factors on TikTok
#3I think TikTok essentially throws a lot of videos at you and then they observe what sticks and what not sticks. Basically lather, rinse and repeat Shampoo algorithm[0] strategy.
[0] https://courses.cs.duke.edu/summer04/cps001/lectures/Lecture...
Re: An empirical investigation of personalization factors on TikTok
#4> Through this approach we were able to test and analyse the affect of the language and location used to access TikTok, follow- and like feature, as well as how the recommended content changes as a user watches certain posts longer than others. Our results revealed that all tested factors have an effect on the way TikTok’s RS recommends content to its users. We have also shown that the follow-feature influences the recommendation algorithm the strongest, followed by the video view rate and like feature; besides, we found that the location is a stronger influential factor than the language that is used to access TikTok. Of course, this analysis is not exhaustive and includes only the most explicit factors, while the algorithm without a doubt can be influenced by many other aspects such as, for instance, users’ commenting or sharing actions
Subjectively that follows my experience on TikTok: everything you do feeds back into the recommendation algorithm, including how long you watch a video; but the explicit signals (like and follow) have enough weight to make it feel like you have control over where the current takes you.
I assume being able to get at the very least an implicit like/dislike signal out of every view is key to TikTok's Exploration/Exploitation tradeoff, which is what makes the platform feel much less stale than e.g. YouTube (which seems to only recommend things it's very sure about).
Re: An empirical investigation of personalization factors on TikTok
#5I wonder if the recommendation engines are different per country. For example in the US, you usually can't be recommended videos from accounts outside the US. Even with a VPN, spoofed geo location, system language, added video language you will be served only mostly videos based on your IMEI.
Re: An empirical investigation of personalization factors on TikTok
#6> Through this approach we were able to test and analyse the affect of the language and location used to access TikTok, follow- and like feature, as well as how the recommended content changes as a user watches certain posts longer than others. Our results revealed that all tested factors have an effect on the way TikTok’s RS recommends content to its users. We have also shown that the follow-feature influences the r…
I wonder if there is a multi-arm bandit hidden in there somewhere.
I guess the short form video and the "skip past it" culture lowers the risk of exploration -- it's kinda the opposite of that notorious Netflix optimization challenge.
Re: An empirical investigation of personalization factors on TikTok
#7I was searching some information on what are the principles behind the TikTok algorithm/recommendation engine and I found this very recent preprint. I wanted to have some opinions on its validity.
It's probably valid but on a quick reading I don't see a lot of depth or a clear understanding of "what the magic is".
Re: An empirical investigation of personalization factors on TikTok
#8For the longest time I didn't download it cause of its reputation. It's pretty good, no cruft of YouTube. 'youre watching this, that.. like subscribe.. word from of sponsers' none of that nonsense - pure content. Both FB and YouTube are copying the features button for button. IMO, Not bad
Re: An empirical investigation of personalization factors on TikTok
#9> Through this approach we were able to test and analyse the affect of the language and location used to access TikTok, follow- and like feature, as well as how the recommended content changes as a user watches certain posts longer than others. Our results revealed that all tested factors have an effect on the way TikTok’s RS recommends content to its users. We have also shown that the follow-feature influences the r…
Shorter duration videos = more samples to train the recommender.
Re: An empirical investigation of personalization factors on TikTok
#10I don't understand how it works for people.
I tried for what felt an eternity, and it kept showing me terrible content.
So I removed it.
Is there something that is not made to turn your brain into a sponge on tik tok ?