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Like most things, I think there's a sweet spot. I learned a ton from video games and youtube. All the same, I could see how easy it would be to "fall into" th
by robswc 4y ago
Like most things, I think there's a sweet spot. I learned a ton from video games and youtube. All the same, I could see how easy it would be to "fall into" the trap of just binging nonsense all day.
I remember having a playful argument with my wife and her siblings. They were tiktok users (not obsessed but they did watch _a lot_). They said it was good because it gave you interesting stuff based off of your algorithm. I took the phone and held it up saying "ok, let's see what's interesting." We went through 10 clips before something moderately interesting came up. That's been my experience watching too. You get 10 useless things before 1 potentially interesting piece of content shows up. Not to mention blatant ads, misinformation and downright lies. (I saw someone who must have been 19 giving "tax advice" that was just incorrect)
Now, lots of people point to boomers being couch potatoes themselves... but it's nothing like sitting down moving your thumb around to find a few seconds of dopamine between nonsense... and people will do that for _hours_ not minutes.
- arbitrage 4y agoSo your 'test' of tiktok was mostly invalid. It takes a few days for "The Algorithm" to become astonishingly good at finding things for you to watch. TikTok also seems to 'run out' of new material to show you easily. This makes sense, mathematically -- there just isn't enough new content to avoid repeats and quality drop if you view it for hours at a time. You will get more interesting content that appeals to you if you interact with the app honestly, instead of grabbing someone else's phone for a few minutes and then trying to prove whatever point you're on about here.
- skeeter2020 4y ago>> "The Algorithm" to become astonishingly good at finding things for you to watch. You mean learns how to keep you engaged and shovels more of same down your throat? I have yet to find any algorithm other than human curation that can give you a variety of content while maintaining a set of deeper values and conceptual integrity. Recommendation engines peaked with pre-Amazon CD*Now
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- robswc 4y agoMy bad, I should have said I picked up my wife’s phone who is on tik tok a lot, for years now. I know “interest” is subjective and a case could be made that any video is interesting… but eh. Imo, it’s mostly forgettable nonsense.