7 ms·

They can do whatever they want with it with the sure knowledge that the users will never leave it. Tiktok is the digital equivalent of "getting kids addicted to

by cons0le 10mo ago

They can do whatever they want with it with the sure knowledge that the users will never leave it. Tiktok is the digital equivalent of "getting kids addicted to heroin"

CuriouslyC 10mo ago
Not true, YouTube is the dominant player in short form content, and while TikTok has a loyal fanbase, I don't think it's a wall YouTube couldn't climb. For those that are downvoting this based on vibes, please feel free to get recent view counts that prove me wrong.
- doublerabbit 10mo ago
  YouTube is the dominant player in Western Fronts. TikTok is the dominant in Asian fronts. TikTok is Chinese Youtube & YouTube is Western TikTok Both are cancer.
  - nxor 10mo ago
    [dead]
  - esafak 10mo ago
    Youtube Shorts, maybe, but Youtube is obviously broader than TikTok, and it is not just a dopamine machine, unlike TikTok. Can you find research seminars on TikTok?
    - doublerabbit 10mo ago
      > Youtube is obviously broader than TikTok Well yeah, it's existed longer. You can't compare one service like YouTube, a streaming platform for video vs TikTok which is a viral social platform. > Can you find research seminars on TikTok? TikTok isn't nor the platform for such. This link has results. https://www.tiktok.com/tag/researchseminar https://www.tiktok.com/tag/researchseminar
      - petcat 10mo ago
        Did you check that link before you posted it?
    - fragmede 10mo ago
      TikTok has longer content, some of it quite academic, but it's all vertical. I don't know about any one else's TikTok, but mine has a dedicated STEM feed if I scroll all the way to the left at the top. The problem is their vaunted algorithm will prioritize whatever content you happen to come across and then linger on, which tends to end up not prioritizing eg math content until you reset your algorithm and search for content you want the fresh algorithm to prioritize.
    - johnnyanmac 10mo ago
      >it is not just a dopamine machine, unlike TikTok. Can you find research seminars on TikTok? Sure, you can find white paper previews on Tiktok.
      - esafak 10mo ago
        I can't because they gate the video search. Joke's on them, I ain't signing up.
- al_borland 10mo ago
  YouTube Shorts is littered with reposted content from TikTok and Instagram, with a layer of AI slop on over it all. It seems overrun by people who don’t make content of their own, but were looking for a quick and easy payday. YouTube keeps pushing it harder and harder. On the AppleTV, search often returns 90% Shorts, with no way to filter them out.
- happosai 10mo ago
  My relative runs a digital marketing company. The only platform they can reach 16-20 age bracket is via TikTok. Facebook, Instagram and YouTube for older people still work, but are fading.
- kipchak 10mo ago
  I think the main problem is a YouTube "customer" is there because they're looking for long form content, and someone looking for sort videos is probably already either a TikTok or Instagram user with no particular reason to switch.
- AlexAplin 10mo ago
  Comparing views cross-platform is not a very useful study and YouTube routinely adjusts what a view means. Shorts changed earlier this year to count all playbacks and loops without a minimum watch time requirement. https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/333869549/a-change-to-how-we-count-views-on-shorts https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/333869549/a-change...
- jcfrei 10mo ago
  Not downvoting you but such a broad statement is pretty meaningless if you don't segment by age group. Also Tiktok captures almost the same percentage of US ad video spending - that wouldn't be the case if youtube had so many more viewers that matter to advertisers.
kyledrake 10mo ago
Tiktok is not heroin. Tiktok does not make you vomit if you quit using it. Tiktok does not give you a 5 year life expectancy. You can't overdose on it and die. Tiktok does not make you rob a grandma to get your next fix of it. I hate social media more than most people do, and I don't use tiktok and don't think anyone else should, but can we all please stop comparing a mobile phone app to using heroin? It's misinformed and dangerous to make rhetorical comparisons like that.
- nxor 10mo ago
  [dead]
- doublerabbit 10mo ago
  Metaphorically speaking, Tiktok is heroin. >Tiktok does not give you a 5 year life expectancy 12 year old life expectancy then? > The lawsuit, filed in the US claims that Isaac Kenevan, 13, Archie Battersbee, 12, Julian "Jools" Sweeney, 14, and Maia Walsh, 13, died while attempting the so-called "blackout challenge". Four children died because of, compared to one, who injects? Heroin invokes addiction, TikTok does that. Heroin can cause physical dependency, TikTok brews this. Heroin is highly addictive, isn't TikTok to the young viewer? I still hold my point that TikTok can be distilled and viewed as a form of Digital Heroin. Evidence shows. How else do you describe it's nature?
  - sallveburrpi 10mo ago
    Metaphorically everything can be anything TikTok is in no way like heroin, stop using that false analogy
    - doublerabbit 10mo ago
      > TikTok is in no way like heroin, stop using that false analogy How is it not a form of digital heroin when the effects are digital? Heroin destroys your mind, And one could argue without moderation any other thing can do too.
ipdashc 10mo ago
Completely anecdotally, I've seen Tiktok get replaced almost entirely by Instagram Reels in the sample space of, well, links to funny videos people send me. It doesn't count for much, but I do feel people might have slightly overestimated how much sticking power a platform like this has.
- afavour 10mo ago
  Actually I think there’s an important distinction there: the draw of TikTok isn’t people sending videos to you, it’s the algorithm that automatically suggests them to you. I’ve heard it describes as uncanny at matching your interests and Reels isn’t anywhere near it. (I don’t use TikTok so I don’t know first hand!)
  - justonceokay 10mo ago
    I’ve used both and I think that’s cope. There’s more younger creators and maybe more varied content on TikTok. If you want proof, watch someone’s feed with them. Invariably they will start to apologize. Classic “he’s different when we’re alone” rationalization for an addictive substance
    - dylan604 10mo ago
      > Invariably they will start to apologize This is my experience as well. I don't use the app, so my only direct experience is watching with someone scrolling their feed.
    - johnnyanmac 10mo ago
      >If you want proof, watch someone’s feed with them. Invariably they will start to apologize. Is that unique to any one social media? Our internet browsing is pretty intimate. I dont even want my family seeing my moment to moment feed.
  - 9rx 10mo ago
    I tried it once. It uncannily picked up on what I was interested that day. However, by the second day I had moved on to new interests, but it didn't. It keep trying to push the same thing as the day before that I was no longer interested in anymore. Perhaps the algorithm has gotten better since, but I had no reason to want to use it after that.
sunaookami 10mo ago
>Tiktok is the digital equivalent of "getting kids addicted to heroin" I heard this argument about TV and videogames before
- jollyllama 10mo ago
  Was it false?
  - uoaei 10mo ago
    Right, seems like "dopamine sickness" (or whatever we want to call ADHD these days) is rampant in ways that were relatively easy to predict.
  - lesuorac 10mo ago
    Yes! Have you every heard a heroin addict comparing heroin to TV?
    - jollyllama 10mo ago
      No but everyone has been or has known someone who rages when they lose access to their videogames, and everyone knows someone who has played videogames to the point that it is detrimental to their school or work obligations.
      - lesuorac 10mo ago
        You can replace "videogames" with literally anything and it still works. Sports, dance, family, etc. Everybody knows too many people for an anecdote to make videogames and heroin the same. It's like pointing out some school shooter played a violent video games; so did the people they shot. You need to disprove the null hypothesis; not show that there exists evidence.
        jollyllama 10mo ago
        > You can replace "videogames" with literally anything and it still works. That's like saying "one who cannot go without food is the same as one who is addicted to heroin." You're engaging in superficiality to the point that all distinction is made meaningless. > It's like pointing out some school shooter played a violent video games That's a totally different argument
riversflow 10mo ago
Nah, Tiktok got popular not just because of the Algo, but also because of the creator fund which makes the Algo rich with good content. Since they stopped that 2 years ago Top creators (different from influencers, who make money from advertising/sponsors) are moving to first Instagram Reels and now Youtube Shorts because that’s where the money is at. Any firm who wants can build an audience by paying creators. It takes time though, because the creators have to convince their audience to switch.

by cons0le 10mo ago

They can do whatever they want with it with the sure knowledge that the users will never leave it. Tiktok is the digital equivalent of "getting kids addicted to heroin"

CuriouslyC 10mo ago

Not true, YouTube is the dominant player in short form content, and while TikTok has a loyal fanbase, I don't think it's a wall YouTube couldn't climb. For those that are downvoting this based on vibes, please feel free to get recent view counts that prove me wrong.

doublerabbit 10mo ago
YouTube is the dominant player in Western Fronts. TikTok is the dominant in Asian fronts. TikTok is Chinese Youtube & YouTube is Western TikTok Both are cancer.
- nxor 10mo ago
  [dead]
- esafak 10mo ago
  Youtube Shorts, maybe, but Youtube is obviously broader than TikTok, and it is not just a dopamine machine, unlike TikTok. Can you find research seminars on TikTok?
  - doublerabbit 10mo ago
    > Youtube is obviously broader than TikTok Well yeah, it's existed longer. You can't compare one service like YouTube, a streaming platform for video vs TikTok which is a viral social platform. > Can you find research seminars on TikTok? TikTok isn't nor the platform for such. This link has results. https://www.tiktok.com/tag/researchseminar https://www.tiktok.com/tag/researchseminar
    - petcat 10mo ago
      Did you check that link before you posted it?
  - fragmede 10mo ago
    TikTok has longer content, some of it quite academic, but it's all vertical. I don't know about any one else's TikTok, but mine has a dedicated STEM feed if I scroll all the way to the left at the top. The problem is their vaunted algorithm will prioritize whatever content you happen to come across and then linger on, which tends to end up not prioritizing eg math content until you reset your algorithm and search for content you want the fresh algorithm to prioritize.
  - johnnyanmac 10mo ago
    >it is not just a dopamine machine, unlike TikTok. Can you find research seminars on TikTok? Sure, you can find white paper previews on Tiktok.
    - esafak 10mo ago
      I can't because they gate the video search. Joke's on them, I ain't signing up.
al_borland 10mo ago
YouTube Shorts is littered with reposted content from TikTok and Instagram, with a layer of AI slop on over it all. It seems overrun by people who don’t make content of their own, but were looking for a quick and easy payday. YouTube keeps pushing it harder and harder. On the AppleTV, search often returns 90% Shorts, with no way to filter them out.
happosai 10mo ago
My relative runs a digital marketing company. The only platform they can reach 16-20 age bracket is via TikTok. Facebook, Instagram and YouTube for older people still work, but are fading.
kipchak 10mo ago
I think the main problem is a YouTube "customer" is there because they're looking for long form content, and someone looking for sort videos is probably already either a TikTok or Instagram user with no particular reason to switch.
AlexAplin 10mo ago
Comparing views cross-platform is not a very useful study and YouTube routinely adjusts what a view means. Shorts changed earlier this year to count all playbacks and loops without a minimum watch time requirement. https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/333869549/a-change-to-how-we-count-views-on-shorts https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/333869549/a-change...
jcfrei 10mo ago
Not downvoting you but such a broad statement is pretty meaningless if you don't segment by age group. Also Tiktok captures almost the same percentage of US ad video spending - that wouldn't be the case if youtube had so many more viewers that matter to advertisers.

kyledrake 10mo ago

Tiktok is not heroin. Tiktok does not make you vomit if you quit using it. Tiktok does not give you a 5 year life expectancy. You can't overdose on it and die. Tiktok does not make you rob a grandma to get your next fix of it. I hate social media more than most people do, and I don't use tiktok and don't think anyone else should, but can we all please stop comparing a mobile phone app to using heroin? It's misinformed and dangerous to make rhetorical comparisons like that.

nxor 10mo ago
[dead]
doublerabbit 10mo ago
Metaphorically speaking, Tiktok is heroin. >Tiktok does not give you a 5 year life expectancy 12 year old life expectancy then? > The lawsuit, filed in the US claims that Isaac Kenevan, 13, Archie Battersbee, 12, Julian "Jools" Sweeney, 14, and Maia Walsh, 13, died while attempting the so-called "blackout challenge". Four children died because of, compared to one, who injects? Heroin invokes addiction, TikTok does that. Heroin can cause physical dependency, TikTok brews this. Heroin is highly addictive, isn't TikTok to the young viewer? I still hold my point that TikTok can be distilled and viewed as a form of Digital Heroin. Evidence shows. How else do you describe it's nature?
- sallveburrpi 10mo ago
  Metaphorically everything can be anything TikTok is in no way like heroin, stop using that false analogy
  - doublerabbit 10mo ago
    > TikTok is in no way like heroin, stop using that false analogy How is it not a form of digital heroin when the effects are digital? Heroin destroys your mind, And one could argue without moderation any other thing can do too.

ipdashc 10mo ago

Completely anecdotally, I've seen Tiktok get replaced almost entirely by Instagram Reels in the sample space of, well, links to funny videos people send me. It doesn't count for much, but I do feel people might have slightly overestimated how much sticking power a platform like this has.

afavour 10mo ago
Actually I think there’s an important distinction there: the draw of TikTok isn’t people sending videos to you, it’s the algorithm that automatically suggests them to you. I’ve heard it describes as uncanny at matching your interests and Reels isn’t anywhere near it. (I don’t use TikTok so I don’t know first hand!)
- justonceokay 10mo ago
  I’ve used both and I think that’s cope. There’s more younger creators and maybe more varied content on TikTok. If you want proof, watch someone’s feed with them. Invariably they will start to apologize. Classic “he’s different when we’re alone” rationalization for an addictive substance
  - dylan604 10mo ago
    > Invariably they will start to apologize This is my experience as well. I don't use the app, so my only direct experience is watching with someone scrolling their feed.
  - johnnyanmac 10mo ago
    >If you want proof, watch someone’s feed with them. Invariably they will start to apologize. Is that unique to any one social media? Our internet browsing is pretty intimate. I dont even want my family seeing my moment to moment feed.
- 9rx 10mo ago
  I tried it once. It uncannily picked up on what I was interested that day. However, by the second day I had moved on to new interests, but it didn't. It keep trying to push the same thing as the day before that I was no longer interested in anymore. Perhaps the algorithm has gotten better since, but I had no reason to want to use it after that.

sunaookami 10mo ago

>Tiktok is the digital equivalent of "getting kids addicted to heroin" I heard this argument about TV and videogames before

jollyllama 10mo ago
Was it false?
- uoaei 10mo ago
  Right, seems like "dopamine sickness" (or whatever we want to call ADHD these days) is rampant in ways that were relatively easy to predict.
- lesuorac 10mo ago
  Yes! Have you every heard a heroin addict comparing heroin to TV?
  - jollyllama 10mo ago
    No but everyone has been or has known someone who rages when they lose access to their videogames, and everyone knows someone who has played videogames to the point that it is detrimental to their school or work obligations.
    - lesuorac 10mo ago
      You can replace "videogames" with literally anything and it still works. Sports, dance, family, etc. Everybody knows too many people for an anecdote to make videogames and heroin the same. It's like pointing out some school shooter played a violent video games; so did the people they shot. You need to disprove the null hypothesis; not show that there exists evidence.
      - jollyllama 10mo ago
        > You can replace "videogames" with literally anything and it still works. That's like saying "one who cannot go without food is the same as one who is addicted to heroin." You're engaging in superficiality to the point that all distinction is made meaningless. > It's like pointing out some school shooter played a violent video games That's a totally different argument

riversflow 10mo ago

Nah, Tiktok got popular not just because of the Algo, but also because of the creator fund which makes the Algo rich with good content. Since they stopped that 2 years ago Top creators (different from influencers, who make money from advertising/sponsors) are moving to first Instagram Reels and now Youtube Shorts because that’s where the money is at. Any firm who wants can build an audience by paying creators. It takes time though, because the creators have to convince their audience to switch.