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TikTok Feeds Teens a Diet of Darkness
- Jimmc414 3y agohttps://archive.is/wQvnR https://archive.is/wQvnR
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- rvz 3y agoThis really is no different to Instagram, but is even worse. The solution is not to replace Instagram or TikTok with another social network as clearly that doesn't work, but the real solution it is to delete your accounts and get off of these apps. One does not stop and quit their alcohol addiction by drinking a different brand of alcohol. So the only solution is to delete your account and these apps. Very simple, and it has always been possible [0]. So what is your excuse? [0] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-40654983 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-40654983
- Xeoncross 3y agoKeep these apps off your phone if you can. Use them on a computer when you decide you need to do something on them, not when they (ping) and beckon you to come consume content.
- paulcole 3y agoI use my phone/iPad with no notifications on. I still ended up watching 2-3 hours of TikTok a day because the algorithm was so “good.” I ended up deciding it was taking too much time away from the things I really liked and deleted it off my devices. I’ll admit I still manually go to people’s profiles I like to see what they’re posting, but it’s at most once a day for 1 minute rather than hours of mindless scrolling.
- Calvin02 3y agoI'm old enough to remember that the same media that's complaining about Social Media's affects on Teens is the same media that was after video games, Hollywood, music videos. Moral panic has always sold newspapers. I'm not saying you're wrong but I think this perspective has helped me see things a bit differently.
- api 3y agoI thought those things were BS. Social media is different. It’s addictive to a degree that goes far beyond TV or video games and the content is shockingly mindless and toxic. The average content on social media (at least if you let yourself be led by algorithms) is easily as bad as the worst content on cable TV. Some of it is worse than almost anything on TV in a very specific way: it’s utterly mindless. I’m continuously shocked by the mindlessness of what trends on YouTube for instance. It lacks even basic plot or structure, just endless repetitive spectacle or people faking excited reactions while doing the most banal things. It barely qualifies as filler yet people eat it up. Then of course you have the political and cultural trash. Right, left, up, down, but no matter what it is it must be dumb and extreme and inflammatory. The most successful stuff in this category either serves to inflame hatred toward someone else or feed narcissism in the target audience. Absolute trash, it seems, is what maximizes engagement. I don’t like what it says about humanity.
- 52-6F-62 3y agoI think it says what the mystics were always saying: Most people are like they’re asleep. Great art works to break people out of that sleep—that includes pop music and TV and whatever else. The kind of garbage that gets elevated by these algorithms does the opposite—it buries peoples minds and numbs their senses. There’s a lot of money to be made off of people who are continuously preoccupied rather than present and feeling.
- 908087 3y agoVideo games, movies, and music weren't able to hit users with micro-targeted ads/propaganda/"content" meant to modify individual behavior in ways often harmful to them or society as a whole. Unfortunately even that has changed now that everyone uses streaming services and plays always-online games.
- captainkrtek 3y agoI quit all social media a couple years ago by simply deleting everything. It’s a bit different being in your late 20s and not on instagram, tiktok. I tried limiting measures but hated the compulsive aspects of needing to check in on social apps. Deleting everything has been great and no feeling of wanting to go back. Conversely, my partner has tried to use different apps, mechanisms, and so on to limit screentime, all with limited success. Social media usage is seriously addictive and compulsive. The number of times people just open their phone and compulsively check instagram is wild.. I think the limiting piece for people is the social aspects, and feeling of missing out. Or that they feel its the main way to connect with friends.
- q7xvh97o2pDhNrh 3y agoTBH, Reddit has been pretty addictive for me. Currently working on breaking that addiction.
- captainkrtek 3y agoTotally get it. I still visit sites like reddit (or HN) where you can browse and scroll interesting things. Think the bigger challenge for anyone who quits these sites is what to fill the time we spend scrolling with? We’ve all spent many years conditioned to simply open these apps to fill any time or moment of boredom, with low effort. Ive had to take up a number of interests, mostly physical, to keep busy and happy.
- jgilias 3y agoThere’s this book called “Deep Work” that some people (me included) like. From the things I’ve taken from it one is “embrace boredom”. Basically, being bored these days is a skill that takes development. And it really does wonders to having a clear mind, coming up with original ideas, etc. The biggest challenge when doing this is that I’m so accustomed to using the internet as part of my thought process that it’s really difficult to not use it to verify some idea. But yeah, try learning to be bored.
- andrewjl 3y agoThis seemingly reasonable argument also happens to benefit the pocketbooks of those who have ownership of these social media properties. Not to mention that putting the responsibility on individuals to solve systemic problems disproportionately impacts marginalized and underrepresented groups.
- laratied 3y agoDeleting social media was trivial for me as an old man. I don't really care that much what people are doing and if I missed out on party invites I doubt I would have went anyway. I haven't been on Facebook in 10 years and have never been on Tiktok or Instagram. It is a completely different story though if I think of myself at 16. Teenage years were tough enough without anyone having social media. To be one of the outcast without social media is inconceivable. This is a total failure by adults to have put kids in this position. The craziest thing to me is that we don't just put the same limits on children on Tiktok that they do in China. It is as if children were getting free, unlimited cookies sent to them in the mail and we do nothing because "cookies taste good". "What do you want me to do? Kids love cookies!"
- steve_adams_86 3y agoThat’s absolutely on point. It seems to me like we’re unable to connect these dots so easily though, and we let a lot of these “cookies” infiltrate our lives readily. We understand eating too many sweets is bad for us, bad for kids, but we seem to struggle to identify why that is and why so many other things in life stimulate the same neural paths and responses. I try to tell my kids all the time (paraphrasing myself): the best cookies are the ones you earn. The worst ones are the ones you acquire easily. Riding up a mountain so you can ride down it, ripping around the trails and getting air, coming out the bottom still lightheaded with excitement is incredible. The way up can be hell, sometimes you wonder what you were thinking, but at the end of it all you want more! That’s what the brain needs. Video games and infiniscrolling on the other hand… Some of the same reward pathways are hit, but there’s no substance there. Just a bag of free cookies that makes you ill. Edit: I love video games, I’m definitely not saying they’re ruining children or anything. But I mean, video games after a day of getting stuff done and having nothing left on your plate is going to feel like a great reward. Waking up and playing until you feel like a human slug, anxiety ridden about all the stuff you didn’t accomplish… That’s a problem. Not because video games specifically, either.
- macintux 3y agoDeleting my account did nothing to alleviate the destructive impact Facebook has on teenagers. Had I a TikTok account, deleting it would similarly accomplish nothing for anyone but myself.
- nobody9999 3y ago>Deleting my account did nothing to alleviate the destructive impact Facebook has on teenagers. Had I a TikTok account, deleting it would similarly accomplish nothing for anyone but myself. A fair point. But while you won't be "saving the world," you will be getting you away from such toxic cesspools. Unless you like toxic cesspools. In which case, please do carry on. Good luck.
- americanZero 3y ago[dead]
- MichaelZuo 3y agoAnyone who even briefly used Instagram, Snapchat, etc., in the last decade would know they were far from wholesome, especially when the 'influencer' stuff started gaining traction. So I would be surprised if TikTok failed to clear that low bar. In fact, it's so unlikely, considering the vastly greater scrutiny they're under, that I'm beginning to suspect it's more to do with geopolitics then any actual aspect of the social media platform. And it doesn't help that nearly every comment debates geopolitics whenever one of these articles is posted. Wanting Beijing to buy more soybeans, be less obstinate about the WTO, vote against Russia in the security council, etc..., is fine, but I'm getting tired of everything being dragged into this browbeating contest.
- CPLX 3y agoGeopolitics has everything to do with it. Tik Tok would be banned immediately under any sane policy we have never allowed mass media outlets to be controlled by state agents of a hostile foreign power for obvious reasons.
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- alluro2 3y agoI agree in principle - but why is TikTok different - why then not, for example, Instagram as well? Is the content on IG any better? Does Meta for some reason have any one individual's interests at heart more than TikTok?
- CPLX 3y agoThose should be broken up for different long-standing and obvious reasons, namely that they’re clearly prohibited by existing antitrust statute. That however is a different issue to foreign state controlled media.
- erulabs 3y agoMy wife uses TikTok sometimes. Her feed is mostly toddler related (we have a two year old), and is typically really light and happy. If she scrolls for more than about 10 minutes tho she’ll get a video about a kid dying or being abused, and I find her crying and upset. I don’t know if it’s intentional or not - it’s possibly not - but I know it makes her more sad than happy.
- parker_mountain 3y agoIt's not intentional in the sense that they're trying to do that to her, but their algorithm likely determined that showing a video in that cohort leads to increased use of their app.
- TheSpiceIsLife 3y agoNo no no. You're confused. There is no algorithm acting independently. The responsibile agent(s) is(are) a person(people).
- parker_mountain 3y agoNo no no. You're confused. I didn't absolve the creator of guilt, I just said that it's unlikely they're intentionally trying to make her sad. They're just trying to increase engagement - at any cost.
- xapata 3y agoWhy? What motivates ByteDance?
- spondylosaurus 3y agoProfit, presumably? Same as any other company. Engagement = profit has been the formula for some time now.
- 3y ago
- booleandilemma 3y agoRight, and mainstream media is all sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows.
- namaria 3y agoTiktok is a pretty mainstream medium
- WhereIsTheTruth 3y agoThe West is pioneering the trash culture of social media, I find TikTok to be quite cheerful in comparison, I don't know what the purpose of this article is other than to spread anti-TikTok propaganda, which seems to be popular among today's elite There is a better strategy to counter foreign threats than blaming others for doing what you have been doing for decades, it makes you look like a fool
- andybak 3y agoDunno. I spent a few days diving into TikTok out of a sense of curiosity and a desire to "stay in touch". I found it got weird quite quickly without any conscious input on my part. Animal cruelty, conspiracy stuff and things that YouTube has never suggested.
- AtreidesTyrant 3y agolmao, this is straight untrue. how many family members have been lost because of YouTubes insane conspiracy stuff.
- numpad0 3y agoSocial media suggestions varies person to person. TikTok gave me nothing memorable last I tried. YouTube seems to be a better place when I’m logged out in a fresh browser. Twitter and Reddit gives me very little fake/incorrect posts. None of above seems to be the case for anyone else.
- deepzn 3y agoAgreed. TikTok in the wild without developing a curated feed of normal Human interests, can keep recommending sickening videos. I've seen the animal cruelty videos you saw too. Though, if you get out of the YT algorithm, for eg. in incognito mode, I've seen very poor recommendations as well. Like viral bait videos. But not like Tiktok.
- darth_avocado 3y agoNot sure about animal cruelty, but you click on one Tim Dillon comedy bit on YouTube and for some reason the feed just immediately devolves into an endless stream of conspiracy stuff. Clicking not interested does little to change it, and even watched videos keep showing up again and again.
- DoreenMichele 3y agovideos that promote restrictive diets and discuss self-harm and suicide. This sounds to me like a misguided attempt to "warn" and "educate" in the worst way possible.
- telotortium 3y agoHow long did they work for the alliteration in that headline?
- rdxm 3y ago[dead]
- ok123456 3y agoThe lanyard class is really hitting the yellow peril button really hard. How about "Commercial Media Feeds Everyone a Diet of Darkness"?
- namaria 3y agoI'm confused, how is Tiktok not a part of 'commercial media'?
- ok123456 3y agoYes it is. But so is every TV station and commercial internet platform. TikTok can at least show you videos of dogs and educational content. Cable news can only sell you fear and reinforce your biases to optimize their earnings. Adult children who have parents who have been consumed by cable news know this all too well.
- namaria 3y agoThis is a false dichotomy. There are many choices other then tiktok or any brand of 'cable news'. Mainstream media is huge and has many different biases. And if you think anything on a short videos entertainment platform is educating you, I feel like you should have a higher standard for education.
- ok123456 3y agoIt's not a false dichotomy. I picked cable news as an example of other forms of commercial media. It's also a form of commercial media that drives the alienation and polarization of everyone nearing or at retirement age. A well made 1.5-3 minute video on TikTok can be very educational. It seems that a lot of people are invested in this bizarre idea that TikTok is a kind of Manchurian Candidate app that brain washes tweens with dance videos, when the reality is that a lot of the more established media is much more corrosive and carefully constructed to manufacture consent.
- 3y ago
- richk449 3y agoWe need a constitutional amendment banning infinite scroll.
- deely3 3y agoIn your opinion what number of posts should be allowed to view per day?
- richk449 3y ago42. Actually it isn't about the number of posts that you can view per day. It is about the number of items that can be on a page before you have to click the next page button. Heroin is illegal. I don't see why infinite scroll shouldn't also be illegal.
- deely3 3y ago> It is about the number of items that can be on a page before you have to click the next page button. Im not trying to be a smartass here, but imagine (hypothetically) that I implemented page viewer for Instagram or Facebook or TikTok. Also I implemented possibility to go between pages by touch sliding or by scrolling using mouse wheel. For you is this different enough from infinite scrolling or no?
- richk449 3y agoThat sounds like a great question for the Supreme Court!
- nullsense 3y ago>42. Hahaha. So, this turned out to be the number of items of content you should be limited to in order to keep life, the universe and everything maximally stable.
- ingenika 3y agoI think algorithm auditing should be a solution
- deely3 3y agoWe already have it. We can't swear or discuss some topics on a popular media withoud banning/demonetization. Im not sure about effectivness of these tools tho..
- hax0ron3 3y agoThere was plenty of darkness on the Internet back in the 90s when I was a kid using it, and I grew up just fine despite having access to hardcore pornography, gore, and all kinds of disturbed people's writings. I do not think that targeted algorithms make any significant difference in this regard. The "won't somebody please think of the children!!!" moral panic around social media annoys me. Hysterias about shadowy outside agencies infiltrating and subverting society usually annoy me in general, whether they are about Jews polluting the minds of good Germans, communists taking over Hollywood, the CIA being behind every revolution, shadowy Russians interfering in America's elections, or nefarious Chinese hurting American children by giving them access to information. Such theories often have some grain of truth to them. Obviously, there are lots of different groups out there running actual influence and subversion campaigns. But I think that such campaigns are typically nowhere near as centralized or as effective as the subversion theorists claim. The subversion theorists frame things in a way that discounts the agency of the supposed targets of the subversion, and I think this reveals what many of them actually think about those targets. It is an authoritarian mindset. "I, who am obviously a good guy, should protect these pawns from having their minds by subverted by this other power over there. Only I, not those other guys, should have the power to control the minds of the worthless plebs."
- jasmer 3y agoMy TT feed is funny animals and animal rescue, I've never seen a dark thing and I think TT is very small-c conservative and doesn't want that stuff. They are not trying to be 'free speech' just 'fun'. Aside from it's addictive qualities, I find Insta and FB far more toxic. That said, TT cannot exist as it can be controlled (and is in some ways) by CCP. No reason they can't sell of Western operations (or just do a split, all shareholders get 1 share in new entity), like a big business 'Fork', and everyone can be happy.
- erenyeager 3y agoI’m waiting for policy level regulation of some kind of all social media. It’s difficult because access to social media and internet has much good in it, but also there is much bad. I think it is too much of a drug this point for our society though, but certainly it has changed the playing field in many good ways (and bad).
- 2-718-281-828 3y agoThis is all nice and dandy but what I would like to know is whether such harmful, abusive, idiotic content is shown to mainland Chinese users at the same rate. Also China is officially attempting to guide young men and boys towards more masculine lifestyle and mindset. I'd actually make a bet that OG Chinese TikTok is curated towards whatever content the CCP considers beneficial while the rest gets intentionally what they ask for which is the usual clickbait mayhem stuff.
- mike50 3y agoWSJ feeds boomers propaganda and lies.
- BigCryo 3y agoThe powers that be really hate that young people might get ideas into their heads from sources other than centralized ideology channels.. that is behind the current push to keep kids off of the internet, especially social media where they might get unapproved ideas.. the entire Western regime is dependent on shaping the minds of young people, which is the age which the adult worldview is formed..
- shrimp_emoji 3y agoIsn't the West the place where centralized idea shaping happens the LEAST? The alternatives: Asia, the Middle East, Africa
- shrimp_emoji 3y agoBonus meme: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Principles_for_the_Establishment_of_a_Monolithic_Ideological_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Principles_for_the_Establi...
- cramjabsyn 3y agoWho paid for this article? TikTok gives you more of what you watch, theres plenty of content opposite what they mention as well. There are videos about every possible thing on there