I don't know. I'm practically a Luddite when it comes to social networks, and I've started consuming tiktok content quite a bit lately.
I think the best way to describe it is in relation to twitter, which I use heavy for 2-3 days in a row once every few months. Twitter exposes my to lots of interesting things, but ultimately is depressing because of how everyone is so shrill and unwilling to give the benefit of a doubt, and interactions feel hollow.
Tiktok is just pure entertainment, and rarely do I not come way in a better mood. It's like they took r/videos and r/gifs and distilled them into their core components and deliver them through a fire hose.
Will they be gone in a few years? Maybe, but I doubt it. Whatever they're doing it's working and makes me feel better and happier when I use it, so that's a win.
I’ve tried Tiktok on 3 separate occasions. No matter what interests I select when getting started, 95% of the posts it shows me are nearly naked women.
The whole platform seems to be just a means of getting kids hooked on porn. Not once did any post show up based on my interests.
Maybe I’m just too old to figure it out but I couldn’t find any way to get out of endless posts like that.
It took 2-3 days (probably about an hour of browsing) before it started giving me consistently interesting things. Tiktok has been getting a lot of press lately for how good their algorithm is, and specifically how good it is compared to other social networks, presumably because they have so many more interactions to go on. The trick is that it's not entirely (or even mostly? not sure) driven by likes, it's driven by viewing time. If you don't like something, flick it away and on to the next thing.
> The whole platform seems to be just a means of getting kids hooked on porn.
I don't see anything like that anymore. You know what I see? Science teachers doing cool experiments with physics and chemicals. Makers making cool things in a montage. That guy that does animal facts in funny ways. Dog and cat videos. Comedy.
Apparently commenting on a post will indicate interest too? I know I've seen a comment that said "commenting so I end up on $something-tok", because there's a bunch of sub-tiktoks that people end up on because they've been identified as liking that type of content. It's not exactly something that's easily manually indicated from what I've seen, but it seems to happen well organically.
> Maybe I’m just too old to figure it out but I couldn’t find any way to get out of endless posts like that.
Just bypass them as soon as you identify them as something you aren't interested in. Soon enough you should see things that are more to your liking.
I had the same complaint, supposedly it curated that out quickly when you don't engage with it. I assume that is the biggest common interest new users have.
My biggest problem with TikTok is that it make you feel better when you come away even when you got nothing of value from it. I rarely remember what I saw 5 videos ago even if it's something that I thought was great.
I think the best way to describe it is in relation to twitter, which I use heavy for 2-3 days in a row once every few months. Twitter exposes my to lots of interesting things, but ultimately is depressing because of how everyone is so shrill and unwilling to give the benefit of a doubt, and interactions feel hollow.
Tiktok is just pure entertainment, and rarely do I not come way in a better mood. It's like they took r/videos and r/gifs and distilled them into their core components and deliver them through a fire hose.
Will they be gone in a few years? Maybe, but I doubt it. Whatever they're doing it's working and makes me feel better and happier when I use it, so that's a win.