4 ms·

I 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 t

I 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 ?

bpodgursky 5y ago
Your experience, while worth noting, is clearly atypical.
- BiteCode_dev 5y ago
  I understand that I probably have a niche taste, been a nerd and all, but still. Maybe I'm not the target? Do they have a lot of millennial users or is it mostly for the younger generation?
  - Merem 5y ago
    I think it's just broken in some cases for whatever reason. Like 9 months ago I mentioned trying out Tik Tok for some weeks and despite lots of "not interested", likes etc, I got swamped by 99% garbage, including videos I specifically said I don't want to see.
  - wongarsu 5y ago
    TikTok has lots of content for nerds (though I think they prefer the term neurodivergent). But there is certainly a trend that TikTok content is comparatively shallow. For example Hank [1] and John Green [2] have quite nerdy content, but it's much shorter less developed thoughts than their youtube channel [3]. Or NileRed: his most recent TikTok[4] (eating capsaicin) is in no way comparable to his most recent YouTube[5] (synthesizing cotton candy from cotton balls). In terms of nerdy content it probably shines more with life advice than with science facts, simply because of the short video format. Not sure about the age group, most of TikTok is probably targeted at ages 12-40. 1: https://www.tiktok.com/@hankgreen1?lang=en https://www.tiktok.com/@hankgreen1?lang=en 2: https://www.tiktok.com/@literallyjohngreen?lang=en https://www.tiktok.com/@literallyjohngreen?lang=en 3: https://www.youtube.com/c/vlogbrothers https://www.youtube.com/c/vlogbrothers 4: https://www.tiktok.com/@nilered/video/7063145462794145030 https://www.tiktok.com/@nilered/video/7063145462794145030 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHuFizITMdA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHuFizITMdA
  - turkeygizzard 5y ago
    I found that my initial foryou feed was pretty terrible and I ended up in political content pretty quickly. Once I nudged the algorithm by searching for my own hobbies, my foryou feed has been pretty great. I think probably every now and then it gets stuck in some local optimum, but it's pretty responsive to when you search for a specific niche going forward IME. Ultimately though like other commenters have mentioned, the content can be pretty shallow compared to other media
    - BiteCode_dev 5y ago
      > Ultimately though like other commenters have mentioned, the content can be pretty shallow compared to other media My one time experience felt like browsing the youtube trending page continuously. Which I know must be something a lot of people like, because the videos in there have hundred of millions of views. But this kind of content is the opposite of everything I enjoy. Does tik tok show a different face deep inside the algo tree?
  - dentemple 5y ago
    Speaking as a tiktok-using millennial nerd, it only took about a week or so for my feed to exclusively send me content on D&D, tech advice, science fiction skits, history lessons, and the occasional book review. The content is there, but sometimes you do have to help the algorithm a little by using the search feature and liking the sort of videos that you actually want to see.
ggus 5y ago
My experience exactly, and my friend's experience too. I'm inclined to think every "tiktok is soo great after you put time into it" comment I see is some form of Stockholm syndrome..
- notfromhere 5y ago
  The content you like might not be very available on tik tok. From personal experience, it’s able to hone down on niches you like pretty quickly. Most impressively, without having an account or liking specific videos, it can narrow down the information. Especially since they have to use some kind of algo to contextually understand videos without hashtags or subtitles.
  - el-salvador 5y ago
    > Most impressively, without having an account or liking specific videos, it can narrow down the information. Especially since they have to use some kind of algo to contextually understand videos without hashtags or subtitles. I think they use some kind of object recognition to sort videos . Like if you watch videos with one particular object, you are more likely to see videos with that object.
- dmingod666 5y ago
  You have to actively engage and be focused or you'll get lost..
dmingod666 5y ago
You have to actively like content you like and follow people you want to see more of. Have a motive and plan of what type of content you want to consume and you get that kind of stuff.. I like and followed people who are nearby and visit beautiful places close by... This is like 80% of my feed and I like it...

bpodgursky 5y ago

Your experience, while worth noting, is clearly atypical.

BiteCode_dev 5y ago
I understand that I probably have a niche taste, been a nerd and all, but still. Maybe I'm not the target? Do they have a lot of millennial users or is it mostly for the younger generation?
- Merem 5y ago
  I think it's just broken in some cases for whatever reason. Like 9 months ago I mentioned trying out Tik Tok for some weeks and despite lots of "not interested", likes etc, I got swamped by 99% garbage, including videos I specifically said I don't want to see.
- wongarsu 5y ago
  TikTok has lots of content for nerds (though I think they prefer the term neurodivergent). But there is certainly a trend that TikTok content is comparatively shallow. For example Hank [1] and John Green [2] have quite nerdy content, but it's much shorter less developed thoughts than their youtube channel [3]. Or NileRed: his most recent TikTok[4] (eating capsaicin) is in no way comparable to his most recent YouTube[5] (synthesizing cotton candy from cotton balls). In terms of nerdy content it probably shines more with life advice than with science facts, simply because of the short video format. Not sure about the age group, most of TikTok is probably targeted at ages 12-40. 1: https://www.tiktok.com/@hankgreen1?lang=en https://www.tiktok.com/@hankgreen1?lang=en 2: https://www.tiktok.com/@literallyjohngreen?lang=en https://www.tiktok.com/@literallyjohngreen?lang=en 3: https://www.youtube.com/c/vlogbrothers https://www.youtube.com/c/vlogbrothers 4: https://www.tiktok.com/@nilered/video/7063145462794145030 https://www.tiktok.com/@nilered/video/7063145462794145030 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHuFizITMdA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHuFizITMdA
- turkeygizzard 5y ago
  I found that my initial foryou feed was pretty terrible and I ended up in political content pretty quickly. Once I nudged the algorithm by searching for my own hobbies, my foryou feed has been pretty great. I think probably every now and then it gets stuck in some local optimum, but it's pretty responsive to when you search for a specific niche going forward IME. Ultimately though like other commenters have mentioned, the content can be pretty shallow compared to other media
  - BiteCode_dev 5y ago
    > Ultimately though like other commenters have mentioned, the content can be pretty shallow compared to other media My one time experience felt like browsing the youtube trending page continuously. Which I know must be something a lot of people like, because the videos in there have hundred of millions of views. But this kind of content is the opposite of everything I enjoy. Does tik tok show a different face deep inside the algo tree?
- dentemple 5y ago
  Speaking as a tiktok-using millennial nerd, it only took about a week or so for my feed to exclusively send me content on D&D, tech advice, science fiction skits, history lessons, and the occasional book review. The content is there, but sometimes you do have to help the algorithm a little by using the search feature and liking the sort of videos that you actually want to see.

ggus 5y ago

My experience exactly, and my friend's experience too. I'm inclined to think every "tiktok is soo great after you put time into it" comment I see is some form of Stockholm syndrome..

notfromhere 5y ago
The content you like might not be very available on tik tok. From personal experience, it’s able to hone down on niches you like pretty quickly. Most impressively, without having an account or liking specific videos, it can narrow down the information. Especially since they have to use some kind of algo to contextually understand videos without hashtags or subtitles.
- el-salvador 5y ago
  > Most impressively, without having an account or liking specific videos, it can narrow down the information. Especially since they have to use some kind of algo to contextually understand videos without hashtags or subtitles. I think they use some kind of object recognition to sort videos . Like if you watch videos with one particular object, you are more likely to see videos with that object.
dmingod666 5y ago
You have to actively engage and be focused or you'll get lost..

dmingod666 5y ago

You have to actively like content you like and follow people you want to see more of. Have a motive and plan of what type of content you want to consume and you get that kind of stuff.. I like and followed people who are nearby and visit beautiful places close by... This is like 80% of my feed and I like it...