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Lots of positivity in this thread, and I don't think that's entirely a bad thing, but I think TikTok is the worst of the social media platforms in terms of addi

by jjice 5y ago

Lots of positivity in this thread, and I don't think that's entirely a bad thing, but I think TikTok is the worst of the social media platforms in terms of addictiveness, based on my peers. As a recent grad, so many of my friends are heavily invested in TikTok and have been since quarantine began, some of them for a bit before. The amount of time they spend there is absurd. Consuming 30 second content for three hours can't be good for concentration, right? It helps add to the 'always online' mindset that has grown more popular with social media and smart phones. Instead of going for a walk, some of my friends would opt to lie in bed and watch TikToks, creating empty, basically non-existent connections with people across the world. Connections with people across the world are awesome, and one of the best things about the internet, but TikTok connections are basically UDP. Most TikTok content I've been shown is shallow, the same way so much social media content is shallow. My having to get to the point immediately, we leave out key details and we want to catch your attention before you scroll away. Of course there is the other end of the spectrum with YouTube where a 2 minute tutorial takes 15 minutes. I try not to use much social media, and honestly, I probably should limit my time on HN more as well. Doom scrolling is a real thing, and TikTok is not immune to that. I've seen plenty of dread inducing content that comes from TikTok as well. TikTok keeps you logged on, as it's supposed it. I just don't think that's a good thing. If you can control and limit your usage to something that's healthy for you, then I don't think there's a problem. For me though, that healthy limit is 0, because I know myself and I have little self control with social media in the past.

Dah00n 5y ago
From what I've seen Tiktok is no worse than Instagram, Facebook or Snapchat. If anything there's less toxicity which in itself makes Tiktok better than the rest. With that said I don't use social media much (like maybe an hour a week? I have neither Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat accounts) and if I had to pick only one it would be Tiktok (even though I don't use it now) except if there were a curated HN page with all the toxicity filtered out (that would be awesome).
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 5y ago
  It's survival of the fittest. The replacement for Facebook and Instagram must have more frequent dopamine hits and less friction. TikTok is better at delivering those hits and worse for the human.
- argonaut 5y ago
  The comments on TikTok are just as toxic as Facebook and Instagram. I've also seen misinformation on TikTok as well.
twoquestions 5y ago
> As a recent grad, so many of my friends are heavily invested in TikTok and have been since quarantine began, some of them for a bit before. The amount of time they spend there is absurd. Consuming 30 second content for three hours can't be good for concentration, right? It helps add to the 'always online' mindset that has grown more popular with social media and smart phones. How do they keep on it for 3 hours?! I've doomscrolled FB quite a bit, but I find even the less doomy stuff on TikTok much more exhausting to watch, like one of those Japanese game shows or shouty YouTube video game meme channels. I can maybe do 10 minutes at most until I need to put the phone down. Maybe I'm just getting old.
- CyberFoxar 5y ago
  To be frank, I've experienced those "scroll for 3 hours through short-length content" on youtube, especially with shorts. You just kind of... zone out. Watch, click, watch, click, heart, watch... The action is repetitive, but the content isn't. I've definetly felt like I was on a Netflix binge, there's so little friction, time just flies.
rvz 5y ago
Well everything in this HN thread about TikTok is music to the ears of the investors who are almost certainly looking for a massive exit when ByteDance eventually IPOs. As for TikTok itself, all I see is another social network that is no different to Facebook or YouTube that tracks every single action, video and comment you make and watch which that feeds to the 'algorithm' to make you more even more addicted as possible. On top of that, Bytedance gets to control what is seen or unseen on the platform depending on what their guidelines are which can benefit some users over others. I do not know what is so positive about that. So given that TikTok has screwed up on their users in the past, the question is how long until they do it again?, but on the seriousness of a massive scandal; just like how other social networks have done already.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

by jjice 5y ago

Dah00n 5y ago

From what I've seen Tiktok is no worse than Instagram, Facebook or Snapchat. If anything there's less toxicity which in itself makes Tiktok better than the rest. With that said I don't use social media much (like maybe an hour a week? I have neither Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat accounts) and if I had to pick only one it would be Tiktok (even though I don't use it now) except if there were a curated HN page with all the toxicity filtered out (that would be awesome).

2OEH8eoCRo0 5y ago
It's survival of the fittest. The replacement for Facebook and Instagram must have more frequent dopamine hits and less friction. TikTok is better at delivering those hits and worse for the human.
argonaut 5y ago
The comments on TikTok are just as toxic as Facebook and Instagram. I've also seen misinformation on TikTok as well.

twoquestions 5y ago

> As a recent grad, so many of my friends are heavily invested in TikTok and have been since quarantine began, some of them for a bit before. The amount of time they spend there is absurd. Consuming 30 second content for three hours can't be good for concentration, right? It helps add to the 'always online' mindset that has grown more popular with social media and smart phones. How do they keep on it for 3 hours?! I've doomscrolled FB quite a bit, but I find even the less doomy stuff on TikTok much more exhausting to watch, like one of those Japanese game shows or shouty YouTube video game meme channels. I can maybe do 10 minutes at most until I need to put the phone down. Maybe I'm just getting old.

CyberFoxar 5y ago
To be frank, I've experienced those "scroll for 3 hours through short-length content" on youtube, especially with shorts. You just kind of... zone out. Watch, click, watch, click, heart, watch... The action is repetitive, but the content isn't. I've definetly felt like I was on a Netflix binge, there's so little friction, time just flies.

rvz 5y ago

Well everything in this HN thread about TikTok is music to the ears of the investors who are almost certainly looking for a massive exit when ByteDance eventually IPOs. As for TikTok itself, all I see is another social network that is no different to Facebook or YouTube that tracks every single action, video and comment you make and watch which that feeds to the 'algorithm' to make you more even more addicted as possible. On top of that, Bytedance gets to control what is seen or unseen on the platform depending on what their guidelines are which can benefit some users over others. I do not know what is so positive about that. So given that TikTok has screwed up on their users in the past, the question is how long until they do it again?, but on the seriousness of a massive scandal; just like how other social networks have done already.

deleted 5y ago

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