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The problem with TikTok isn't the form, which is effectively StumbleUpon for short-form video (or Dave Winer's "river of news" in video form, if you prefer). T

The problem with TikTok isn't the form, which is effectively StumbleUpon for short-form video (or Dave Winer's "river of news" in video form, if you prefer). There's brainrot content on all platforms, but there's also ArtTok, BookTok, CraftTok, EduTok, FoodTok, GardenTok, HistoryTok, MathTok, MusicTok, PoliTok, ScienceTok, TechTok, and lots more.

Avicebron 8mo ago
I'm pretty sure BookTok is just porn for women who really like the plot of 50 shades of grey.. edit: which is to say I'm not positive the format isn't the problem.
- amelius 8mo ago
  Is that also short form?
  - Avicebron 8mo ago
    How would I know? I don't use tiktok, this is second hand from an ex
- CharlesW 8mo ago
  > I'm pretty sure BookTok is just porn for women… Those aren't the kinds of book-related videos that I see, so at some point The Algorithm must've decided I wasn't interested in porn for women (not that there's anything wrong with that).
ajam1507 8mo ago
Short form video is the brainrot.
wolvoleo 8mo ago
The problem I find with it is that it's such a monoculture. Everyone is copying everyone else. As an example: there's this stupid skit going around. Someone asks a waiter "Could I ask you about the menu please?". The waiter comes really close and goes like "The men I please is none of your business". It's an ok joke but I've seen literally 20 different people doing the same skit in the last two weeks and it gets so damn annoying. And it's not just this one. There's always one that is viral and everyone copies it.
- kelipso 8mo ago
  Yeah that’s what memeing is. What is this, 2000s internet and we start discovering what memes are or something.
  - jatari 8mo ago
    You can use youtube and never come across a "meme" like that.
    - kelipso 8mo ago
      It’s a culture thing I guess. Overlay videos of other videos and the memeing videos has been in TikTok since the beginning. Youtube would probably ban the former under a copyright strike or something.
    - oefrha 8mo ago
      I used TikTok and also never came across a meme like that. Or maybe I did once or twice, I just quickly swiped away (or if something I’m not interested in is shown repeatedly I click not interested and it’s gone at least for a long time). If you’re shown the same meme from 20 different people chances are you just kept watching them, maybe with disapproval, but your device can’t read your brainwaves yet so the service just thinks you’re super interested. And YouTube also had those stupid challenges with everyone doing the same stupid shit before TikTok even existed.
      - nobody9999 8mo ago
        >And YouTube also had those stupid challenges with everyone doing the same stupid shit before TikTok even existed. And before the transistor, we had flagpole sitters[0] and dance marathons[1] and dozens of other memes, just in the 20th century. This kind of thing is nothing new, and has been going on for as long we've been us. Now this is accessible to a larger and more varied audience, not just those who are nearby. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole_sitting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole_sitting [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_marathon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_marathon
Zak 8mo ago
Here's a study showing an immediate negative impact on prospective memory from switching context repeatedly on short-form video platforms: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/09658211.2025.2521076 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/09658211.2025.252107... Unlimited skipping until a video is sufficiently stimulating had a negative impact regardless of the content, while people limited to ten skips in ten minutes did not experience a negative impact. This suggests that the format itself has harmful cognitive effects.
- sieste 8mo ago
  Scrolling through a comment thread in an online forum such as this requires a lot of context switching. Does the context-switching theory of brain rot apply to text based feeds as well, or only video?
  - diabllicseagull 8mo ago
    you would hope that comments in a thread would stay in context, ideally.
  - card_zero 8mo ago
    Or browsing shelves in a bookshop. I've noticed I forget what I was doing ("prospective memory impairment") while looking for a good book. Also sometimes I annoy myself because I want to quit but I can't because I haven't found anything good yet. Whoops, where did the time go? So, ban bookshops.

Avicebron 8mo ago

I'm pretty sure BookTok is just porn for women who really like the plot of 50 shades of grey.. edit: which is to say I'm not positive the format isn't the problem.

amelius 8mo ago
Is that also short form?
- Avicebron 8mo ago
  How would I know? I don't use tiktok, this is second hand from an ex
CharlesW 8mo ago
> I'm pretty sure BookTok is just porn for women… Those aren't the kinds of book-related videos that I see, so at some point The Algorithm must've decided I wasn't interested in porn for women (not that there's anything wrong with that).

ajam1507 8mo ago

Short form video is the brainrot.

wolvoleo 8mo ago

The problem I find with it is that it's such a monoculture. Everyone is copying everyone else. As an example: there's this stupid skit going around. Someone asks a waiter "Could I ask you about the menu please?". The waiter comes really close and goes like "The men I please is none of your business". It's an ok joke but I've seen literally 20 different people doing the same skit in the last two weeks and it gets so damn annoying. And it's not just this one. There's always one that is viral and everyone copies it.

kelipso 8mo ago
Yeah that’s what memeing is. What is this, 2000s internet and we start discovering what memes are or something.
- jatari 8mo ago
  You can use youtube and never come across a "meme" like that.
  - kelipso 8mo ago
    It’s a culture thing I guess. Overlay videos of other videos and the memeing videos has been in TikTok since the beginning. Youtube would probably ban the former under a copyright strike or something.
  - oefrha 8mo ago
    I used TikTok and also never came across a meme like that. Or maybe I did once or twice, I just quickly swiped away (or if something I’m not interested in is shown repeatedly I click not interested and it’s gone at least for a long time). If you’re shown the same meme from 20 different people chances are you just kept watching them, maybe with disapproval, but your device can’t read your brainwaves yet so the service just thinks you’re super interested. And YouTube also had those stupid challenges with everyone doing the same stupid shit before TikTok even existed.
    - nobody9999 8mo ago
      >And YouTube also had those stupid challenges with everyone doing the same stupid shit before TikTok even existed. And before the transistor, we had flagpole sitters[0] and dance marathons[1] and dozens of other memes, just in the 20th century. This kind of thing is nothing new, and has been going on for as long we've been us. Now this is accessible to a larger and more varied audience, not just those who are nearby. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole_sitting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole_sitting [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_marathon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_marathon

Zak 8mo ago

Here's a study showing an immediate negative impact on prospective memory from switching context repeatedly on short-form video platforms: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/09658211.2025.2521076 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/09658211.2025.252107... Unlimited skipping until a video is sufficiently stimulating had a negative impact regardless of the content, while people limited to ten skips in ten minutes did not experience a negative impact. This suggests that the format itself has harmful cognitive effects.

sieste 8mo ago
Scrolling through a comment thread in an online forum such as this requires a lot of context switching. Does the context-switching theory of brain rot apply to text based feeds as well, or only video?
- diabllicseagull 8mo ago
  you would hope that comments in a thread would stay in context, ideally.
- card_zero 8mo ago
  Or browsing shelves in a bookshop. I've noticed I forget what I was doing ("prospective memory impairment") while looking for a good book. Also sometimes I annoy myself because I want to quit but I can't because I haven't found anything good yet. Whoops, where did the time go? So, ban bookshops.