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TikTok is very good at recommending new content based on what you engage with (watch, like, comment, etc), if your feed is full of girls dancing, it's because y

by angio 5y ago

TikTok is very good at recommending new content based on what you engage with (watch, like, comment, etc), if your feed is full of girls dancing, it's because you spend time actually watching it instead of just moving to the next video. My feed is full of people (for some reason mostly eastern european or from central asia) working at their construction jobs.

freshhawk 5y ago
My Tiktok has a lot of videos of people complaining about exactly this and being responded to by pointing out they are telling on themselves in a hilarious way. Gotta hand it to the algorithm, it is always funny to me.
- Graffur 5y ago
  > they are telling on themselves in a hilarious way. It's no secret how the algorithm tailors itself to what you watch. The hilarious thing is people thinking they're getting a 'win' when someone complains about any content. The app presents things to you and tries to grab your interest in any way. A lot of teenagers will, naturally, linger on that content for longer and then it becomes a cycle. That doesn't mean that is what they are aiming to get out of the app.
  - freshhawk 5y ago
    This isn't teenagers, it's adult men. It is situations where if they showed full understanding and said "I don't want it to show scantily clad teenagers to me as I have a lot of loud opinions about sex and sin but I can't stop looking at them so it keeps sending them" it would be just as funny. It's not the complaint, it's the moralizing combined with the complaint about self selected content. If they weren't moralizing then yeah, that's just a report of a bad experience with the algorithm. Those don't go viral.
dash2 5y ago
I don't think this invalidates GP's point. Sure, if you don't want the seedy content, you won't see it, but it's still there and that's still a large part of how they make money.
- defaultname 5y ago
  If a site has user contributed content there will usually be the "seedy" content. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit...if it gets big enough, a certain segment will monetize it. Usually as an advertising vehicle for their more overt content on adult sites. It's actually an interesting complaint because TikTok takes a lot of heat for taking down a lot of benign content. "that's still a large part of how they make money" You base this claim upon what? Gut feeling? The viral videos that everyone knows from TikTok contain approximately zero instances of "seedy" content. They are people doing everyday things. AFV style funny videos. Some guy drinking cranberry juice and riding a skateboard. Etc.
  - Graffur 5y ago
    > everyone knows That everyone using tik tok knows. That doesn't invalidate any of the criticism. It just tells you like the content that appeals to everybody.
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    I don’t have TikTok, but when I am sent a link to it, and watch the linked video in Safari with Wipr content blocker, after the linked video is finished, it immediately auto plays a video of a very young blonde girl/woman who claims she recently found pictures of her pre breast reduction pre meeting her husband and is going to show them to her husband or something. This happens after any linked video I am sent, all non sexual. Only reason I remember is because I thought that was a pretty transparent attempt at the type of audience they were aiming to attract.
    - defaultname 5y ago
      TikTok doesn't autoplay anything -- it repeats the video you watched. Do you mean you scrolled down? Further, obviously the seed video that you used is going to have an enormous influence on subsequent videos (as presumably would the sender -- shared links can contain details about the sender, and if they had a logical algorithm that can play a part as well). And of course surely we all know that sites don't just track by being logged in. Even if you clear all cookies. I just opened the TikTok homepage through a proxy in a clean instance of Firefox. First video was a woman who paints patterns on her face. Second was someone show a technique to clean stainless steel sinks. Third was a guy in Turkey showing his rugs. Then a dog bringing a leash back to its owner, someone using one of those pop-it distraction things, a guy with his cat in a box in front of a roller coaster video pretending the cat is on the roller coaster. Eh. I don't see how your anecdote is such strong evidence of the "type of audience they were aiming to attract" (especially when the site seems to overwhelmingly cater to adult women...)
Graffur 5y ago
I _knew_ this would be the reply. For your info, I don't have a TikTok account so try another argument.
- efdee 5y ago
  So exactly how do you know what TikTok is full of, then?
  - Graffur 5y ago
    I have had multiple accounts. I have researched how others use the platform. I have observed the content migrating from one platform to another. Are you arguing that tik tok is not full of girls in little clothing? Your argument is easily defeated.
    - user-the-name 5y ago
      Why does this bother you so much.
- user-the-name 5y ago
  TikTok will still learn your preferences and adjust what content it shows you even if you don't register.
  - Graffur 5y ago
    That is not relevant. I am not complaining about content shown to me personally.
matsemann 5y ago
It doesn't necessarily mean it's directly based on one's own engagement. I don't use tiktok, but on Instagram i mostly follow sports stuff related to what I enjoy (skiing, cycling, running). What content will instagram show me? The most viral content in those categories. What's the most viral content in those categories? A girl skiing in her bikini, a female cyclist with unzipped top, a runner in mini shorts stretching. But maybe tiktok is better in this regard, heard much praise about their algorithm.

by angio 5y ago

freshhawk 5y ago

My Tiktok has a lot of videos of people complaining about exactly this and being responded to by pointing out they are telling on themselves in a hilarious way. Gotta hand it to the algorithm, it is always funny to me.

Graffur 5y ago
> they are telling on themselves in a hilarious way. It's no secret how the algorithm tailors itself to what you watch. The hilarious thing is people thinking they're getting a 'win' when someone complains about any content. The app presents things to you and tries to grab your interest in any way. A lot of teenagers will, naturally, linger on that content for longer and then it becomes a cycle. That doesn't mean that is what they are aiming to get out of the app.
- freshhawk 5y ago
  This isn't teenagers, it's adult men. It is situations where if they showed full understanding and said "I don't want it to show scantily clad teenagers to me as I have a lot of loud opinions about sex and sin but I can't stop looking at them so it keeps sending them" it would be just as funny. It's not the complaint, it's the moralizing combined with the complaint about self selected content. If they weren't moralizing then yeah, that's just a report of a bad experience with the algorithm. Those don't go viral.

dash2 5y ago

I don't think this invalidates GP's point. Sure, if you don't want the seedy content, you won't see it, but it's still there and that's still a large part of how they make money.

defaultname 5y ago
If a site has user contributed content there will usually be the "seedy" content. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit...if it gets big enough, a certain segment will monetize it. Usually as an advertising vehicle for their more overt content on adult sites. It's actually an interesting complaint because TikTok takes a lot of heat for taking down a lot of benign content. "that's still a large part of how they make money" You base this claim upon what? Gut feeling? The viral videos that everyone knows from TikTok contain approximately zero instances of "seedy" content. They are people doing everyday things. AFV style funny videos. Some guy drinking cranberry juice and riding a skateboard. Etc.
- Graffur 5y ago
  > everyone knows That everyone using tik tok knows. That doesn't invalidate any of the criticism. It just tells you like the content that appeals to everybody.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  I don’t have TikTok, but when I am sent a link to it, and watch the linked video in Safari with Wipr content blocker, after the linked video is finished, it immediately auto plays a video of a very young blonde girl/woman who claims she recently found pictures of her pre breast reduction pre meeting her husband and is going to show them to her husband or something. This happens after any linked video I am sent, all non sexual. Only reason I remember is because I thought that was a pretty transparent attempt at the type of audience they were aiming to attract.
  - defaultname 5y ago
    TikTok doesn't autoplay anything -- it repeats the video you watched. Do you mean you scrolled down? Further, obviously the seed video that you used is going to have an enormous influence on subsequent videos (as presumably would the sender -- shared links can contain details about the sender, and if they had a logical algorithm that can play a part as well). And of course surely we all know that sites don't just track by being logged in. Even if you clear all cookies. I just opened the TikTok homepage through a proxy in a clean instance of Firefox. First video was a woman who paints patterns on her face. Second was someone show a technique to clean stainless steel sinks. Third was a guy in Turkey showing his rugs. Then a dog bringing a leash back to its owner, someone using one of those pop-it distraction things, a guy with his cat in a box in front of a roller coaster video pretending the cat is on the roller coaster. Eh. I don't see how your anecdote is such strong evidence of the "type of audience they were aiming to attract" (especially when the site seems to overwhelmingly cater to adult women...)

Graffur 5y ago

I _knew_ this would be the reply. For your info, I don't have a TikTok account so try another argument.

efdee 5y ago
So exactly how do you know what TikTok is full of, then?
- Graffur 5y ago
  I have had multiple accounts. I have researched how others use the platform. I have observed the content migrating from one platform to another. Are you arguing that tik tok is not full of girls in little clothing? Your argument is easily defeated.
  - user-the-name 5y ago
    Why does this bother you so much.
user-the-name 5y ago
TikTok will still learn your preferences and adjust what content it shows you even if you don't register.
- Graffur 5y ago
  That is not relevant. I am not complaining about content shown to me personally.

matsemann 5y ago

It doesn't necessarily mean it's directly based on one's own engagement. I don't use tiktok, but on Instagram i mostly follow sports stuff related to what I enjoy (skiing, cycling, running). What content will instagram show me? The most viral content in those categories. What's the most viral content in those categories? A girl skiing in her bikini, a female cyclist with unzipped top, a runner in mini shorts stretching. But maybe tiktok is better in this regard, heard much praise about their algorithm.