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People also forget the thirst traps on Tiktok. The Tiktok dance trends encourage attractive young women to post borderline softcore porn, and Tiktok is much mor

People also forget the thirst traps on Tiktok. The Tiktok dance trends encourage attractive young women to post borderline softcore porn, and Tiktok is much more lenient about this type of content than any other platform. The average For You Page for teenage-young adults(males and females alike) from what I've seen consists of a mix of interesting/funny content and beautiful men/women. The ratio is just enough that there's the inherent sexual interest, without going too overboard and making the user feel like they're scrolling through something they shouldn't be on a regular basis.

8n4vidtmkvmk 4y ago
i think they've been cutting down on that. the softcore porn. at least I've been seeing less
- izacus 4y ago
  They didn't, your algorithm just adjusted because you skipped that content.
paganel 4y ago
> and Tiktok is much more lenient about this type of content than any other platform. Facebook (the social platform) is already a middle-age retreat, so no soft prOn on there that I know of, but Instagram has had its ascent based exactly on photos of good-looking women. I didn't see any leniency coming from Meta (the company)
silisili 4y ago
Eh, every time I open YouTube, it recommends me 'Shorts', which are nothing but young women in scant dress doing something called a shuffle dance, all with 10s of millions of views. Not sure if TikTok started this crap, but as an old married man, I would have thought Google would have known better. I'd rather watch someone shape and sand wood at this point.
- Dma54rhs 4y ago
  TikTok algo most certainly does give you that if you're willing to skip the dancing videos or softcore porn. It's creepy but very effective, at least for me.
- 411111111111111 4y ago
  I've not had a single YouTube short of that type despite using it way too much at times. It's mostly gaming related and meme videos in my feet, I've never found a way to significantly spice things up sadly so it's really quiet boring most of the time
  - LukeShu 4y ago
    On non-logged-in/no-history YouTube (e.g. a new private browsing window), there'll usually be 1-3 such shorts in the shelf on the homepage. Logged in, I think it's tried to show me such a video just once, after I'd been scrolling for way too long. I hit 'dislike' and it hasn't tried again.
  - candiodari 4y ago
    Ok, similar here. Normally I get crafts, programming/development and science stuff, and then I look at Youtube in incognito mode. It pushes shorts like crazy, and they're all young women/girls trying on outfits, shuffle dancing, or announcing their minutest feelings in a closeup of well uh, not just their faces, yet filmed very close ... And if you go to a mcdonalds, open safari (which I never use) and look, it's 10x worse. The girls (and some sports) is the default thing youtube shows.
  - moonchrome 4y ago
    Try it with incognito on a VPN - I forgot I was on it and went to YouTube (usually logged in because of premium) - literally video suggestions like 10 hottest pornstars from X, thirst traps, "are you smart enough to figure this out" and similar crap. Without VPN I get a bunch of regional crap music and stuff.
- jasonwatkinspdx 4y ago
  I've been watching shorts a bit because I'm curious about the algorithm and also I don't wanna install tiktok and some of those vids are legit quite amusing. Most of what it suggests is inline with my youtube subscriptions, but it does consistently push two things I'm totally disinterested in: Andrew Tate interview clips and some weird spam channel that's just videos of attractive female athletes. Nothing I do in the UX to say "stop showing me these" seems to matter.
nathias 4y ago
its weird that people don't see this as softcore porn, which is what most of it is
- neaden 4y ago
  Isn't soft core porn full nudity but no depictions of sex? I wouldn't classify these ad porn in the same way I wouldn't call the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue soft core porn, though the purpose of both is titillation.
  - philliphaydon 4y ago
    It depicts sex but there’s no visible penetration (and none occurs)
gadders 4y ago
They all have links to OF pages in their bios as well (sometimes via hosted link pages).
comfypotato 4y ago
There’s something to be said for giving said teenagers what they want without going “too overboard”. The posts on HN about the FBI saying TikTok is a security risk (and other general dislike here) has shifted me to Instagram reels (basically the same thing with a slightly less cutting-edge algorithm). My TikTok feed was 95% stand up comic bits and golden retrievers (with the occasional other cute dog breed). It’s really a marvel of the modern world how closely and relatively-wholesomely the algorithm matches you with what you want to see. It’s not like the people you’re mentioning are sheltered from NSFW subreddits and other less wholesome content on the internet. The dance trends and generally beautiful people are just what they want to see. That being said, I think the surface-level encouragement of cosmetic surgery that TikTok’s focus on beauty encourages is definitely a hugely negative influence on youth. Just a specific example of popular culture placing undue focus on beauty standards.
pjc50 4y ago
> borderline softcore porn This feels very .. Iranian morality police? It's just dancing, and people who do actually overstep into nudity get banned. Wherever you place the line for "unacceptably sexually suggestive", people are going to walk right up to it. It's way down on any sensible person's list of "content likely to cause harm".
- alpark3 4y ago
  Just dancing is fine, and there certainly are many Tiktoks, perhaps even the majority, where dancing is the primary focus. It's fun, and the movements look cool and make for good content. But some trends lead to Tiktoks that clearly focuses on the sexualization of whoever's on camera, minor or not, and that's also the content that sometimes "hits" on the algorithm and goes viral. I don't know enough or have enough data to suggest a concrete solution, but thinking about these angles for the popularity of the platform itself can reveal insights that people don't normally think about, in my opinion.
- class4behavior 4y ago
  At least in my view, this isn't a matter of demureness but the intent. Music videos have been doing the same for several decades. Sometimes there is artistic depth or purpose to it but more often than not, it's just "sex sells" - possibly at the cost of the artist's dignity.
- ghosty141 4y ago
  If it would be adults nobody would care but the problem is that a major part of the tiktok userbase is quite young, many under 16 yo. Children or teenagers shouldnt get incentivised to dance in a very sexualized way (twerking just for example).

8n4vidtmkvmk 4y ago

i think they've been cutting down on that. the softcore porn. at least I've been seeing less

izacus 4y ago
They didn't, your algorithm just adjusted because you skipped that content.

paganel 4y ago

> and Tiktok is much more lenient about this type of content than any other platform. Facebook (the social platform) is already a middle-age retreat, so no soft prOn on there that I know of, but Instagram has had its ascent based exactly on photos of good-looking women. I didn't see any leniency coming from Meta (the company)

silisili 4y ago

Eh, every time I open YouTube, it recommends me 'Shorts', which are nothing but young women in scant dress doing something called a shuffle dance, all with 10s of millions of views. Not sure if TikTok started this crap, but as an old married man, I would have thought Google would have known better. I'd rather watch someone shape and sand wood at this point.

Dma54rhs 4y ago
TikTok algo most certainly does give you that if you're willing to skip the dancing videos or softcore porn. It's creepy but very effective, at least for me.
411111111111111 4y ago
I've not had a single YouTube short of that type despite using it way too much at times. It's mostly gaming related and meme videos in my feet, I've never found a way to significantly spice things up sadly so it's really quiet boring most of the time
- LukeShu 4y ago
  On non-logged-in/no-history YouTube (e.g. a new private browsing window), there'll usually be 1-3 such shorts in the shelf on the homepage. Logged in, I think it's tried to show me such a video just once, after I'd been scrolling for way too long. I hit 'dislike' and it hasn't tried again.
- candiodari 4y ago
  Ok, similar here. Normally I get crafts, programming/development and science stuff, and then I look at Youtube in incognito mode. It pushes shorts like crazy, and they're all young women/girls trying on outfits, shuffle dancing, or announcing their minutest feelings in a closeup of well uh, not just their faces, yet filmed very close ... And if you go to a mcdonalds, open safari (which I never use) and look, it's 10x worse. The girls (and some sports) is the default thing youtube shows.
- moonchrome 4y ago
  Try it with incognito on a VPN - I forgot I was on it and went to YouTube (usually logged in because of premium) - literally video suggestions like 10 hottest pornstars from X, thirst traps, "are you smart enough to figure this out" and similar crap. Without VPN I get a bunch of regional crap music and stuff.
jasonwatkinspdx 4y ago
I've been watching shorts a bit because I'm curious about the algorithm and also I don't wanna install tiktok and some of those vids are legit quite amusing. Most of what it suggests is inline with my youtube subscriptions, but it does consistently push two things I'm totally disinterested in: Andrew Tate interview clips and some weird spam channel that's just videos of attractive female athletes. Nothing I do in the UX to say "stop showing me these" seems to matter.

nathias 4y ago

its weird that people don't see this as softcore porn, which is what most of it is

neaden 4y ago
Isn't soft core porn full nudity but no depictions of sex? I wouldn't classify these ad porn in the same way I wouldn't call the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue soft core porn, though the purpose of both is titillation.
- philliphaydon 4y ago
  It depicts sex but there’s no visible penetration (and none occurs)

gadders 4y ago

They all have links to OF pages in their bios as well (sometimes via hosted link pages).

comfypotato 4y ago

There’s something to be said for giving said teenagers what they want without going “too overboard”. The posts on HN about the FBI saying TikTok is a security risk (and other general dislike here) has shifted me to Instagram reels (basically the same thing with a slightly less cutting-edge algorithm). My TikTok feed was 95% stand up comic bits and golden retrievers (with the occasional other cute dog breed). It’s really a marvel of the modern world how closely and relatively-wholesomely the algorithm matches you with what you want to see. It’s not like the people you’re mentioning are sheltered from NSFW subreddits and other less wholesome content on the internet. The dance trends and generally beautiful people are just what they want to see. That being said, I think the surface-level encouragement of cosmetic surgery that TikTok’s focus on beauty encourages is definitely a hugely negative influence on youth. Just a specific example of popular culture placing undue focus on beauty standards.

pjc50 4y ago

> borderline softcore porn This feels very .. Iranian morality police? It's just dancing, and people who do actually overstep into nudity get banned. Wherever you place the line for "unacceptably sexually suggestive", people are going to walk right up to it. It's way down on any sensible person's list of "content likely to cause harm".

alpark3 4y ago
Just dancing is fine, and there certainly are many Tiktoks, perhaps even the majority, where dancing is the primary focus. It's fun, and the movements look cool and make for good content. But some trends lead to Tiktoks that clearly focuses on the sexualization of whoever's on camera, minor or not, and that's also the content that sometimes "hits" on the algorithm and goes viral. I don't know enough or have enough data to suggest a concrete solution, but thinking about these angles for the popularity of the platform itself can reveal insights that people don't normally think about, in my opinion.
class4behavior 4y ago
At least in my view, this isn't a matter of demureness but the intent. Music videos have been doing the same for several decades. Sometimes there is artistic depth or purpose to it but more often than not, it's just "sex sells" - possibly at the cost of the artist's dignity.
ghosty141 4y ago
If it would be adults nobody would care but the problem is that a major part of the tiktok userbase is quite young, many under 16 yo. Children or teenagers shouldnt get incentivised to dance in a very sexualized way (twerking just for example).