5 ms·

TikTok's differention is the userbase of all teenagers in the world.

AlienRobot 8mo ago
It also provides different opportunities for growth compared to other social media. A video that gets over half a million views on TikTok may not get 5 thousand on Youtube, or even 10 views on Instagram or Facebook.
- bigfishrunning 8mo ago
  Isn't the inverse true though? it's not as if nobody's watching youtube, it's just that different videos are popular there.
  - dehue 8mo ago
    It's not just different videos, Tiktok is much better at recommending videos by very small creators and people with no followers. On Instagram or Facebook if you don't already have a large following you most likely wont get any views at all no matter how well your video matches the platform. YouTube often pushes big creators that already made it big while Tiktok allows me to discover new and niche ones.
notyourwork 8mo ago
That didn’t by accident though.
wongarsu 8mo ago
But go just one layer deeper to 'why is every teenager using Tiktok' and the primary answer once again becomes 'Tiktok's recommendation engine'
- deleted 8mo ago
  [deleted]
- expedition32 8mo ago
  No the primary answer is "teenagers do what other teenagers do". Remember we are advanced apes no more no less. There is this curious word "influencer" which everyone uses but few ever think about what it really means.
  - direwolf20 8mo ago
    That's not an answer, that's a thought–terminating cliché.
- godshatter 8mo ago
  I'm not a TikTok user, but I'm assuming the recommendation engine is there to keep eyeballs on more ads for longer. Maybe we should be regulating how often and how many ads can be shown on social media, especially to teens and kids.
- cloverich 8mo ago
  They are arguing its not the recommender that is unique it is the network effect.
  - wongarsu 8mo ago
    If it was only network effect, then how did TikTok grow in a space where Instagram and Youtube were already much bigger players? How did they gain that user base? Network effect helps, but it only explains why they stay big, not how they got big There really isn't that much making TikTok unique. Yes, their app is well designed. Yes, stitches and video replies make for great social/parasocial features because creators are actually interacting with each other and the community, almost like tumblr. But in my opinion those are reasons number three and two why TikTok is successful. Their recommendation algorithm is number one, by a wide margin.
    - miohtama 8mo ago
      Because back in a day, Instagram and YouTube were shitty products and by some metrics still are

It also provides different opportunities for growth compared to other social media. A video that gets over half a million views on TikTok may not get 5 thousand on Youtube, or even 10 views on Instagram or Facebook.

bigfishrunning 8mo ago
Isn't the inverse true though? it's not as if nobody's watching youtube, it's just that different videos are popular there.
- dehue 8mo ago
  It's not just different videos, Tiktok is much better at recommending videos by very small creators and people with no followers. On Instagram or Facebook if you don't already have a large following you most likely wont get any views at all no matter how well your video matches the platform. YouTube often pushes big creators that already made it big while Tiktok allows me to discover new and niche ones.

notyourwork 8mo ago

That didn’t by accident though.

wongarsu 8mo ago

But go just one layer deeper to 'why is every teenager using Tiktok' and the primary answer once again becomes 'Tiktok's recommendation engine'

deleted 8mo ago
[deleted]
expedition32 8mo ago
No the primary answer is "teenagers do what other teenagers do". Remember we are advanced apes no more no less. There is this curious word "influencer" which everyone uses but few ever think about what it really means.
- direwolf20 8mo ago
  That's not an answer, that's a thought–terminating cliché.
godshatter 8mo ago
I'm not a TikTok user, but I'm assuming the recommendation engine is there to keep eyeballs on more ads for longer. Maybe we should be regulating how often and how many ads can be shown on social media, especially to teens and kids.
cloverich 8mo ago
They are arguing its not the recommender that is unique it is the network effect.
- wongarsu 8mo ago
  If it was only network effect, then how did TikTok grow in a space where Instagram and Youtube were already much bigger players? How did they gain that user base? Network effect helps, but it only explains why they stay big, not how they got big There really isn't that much making TikTok unique. Yes, their app is well designed. Yes, stitches and video replies make for great social/parasocial features because creators are actually interacting with each other and the community, almost like tumblr. But in my opinion those are reasons number three and two why TikTok is successful. Their recommendation algorithm is number one, by a wide margin.
  - miohtama 8mo ago
    Because back in a day, Instagram and YouTube were shitty products and by some metrics still are