While our readings for today were not centered on TikTok, I think their message applies very well to TikTok’s hold that it has on the younger generations. All social media that works gives people a chance to engage with others in ways that are not necessarily intended to give the user the best experience, but to keep the user on and engaged with the app for as long as possible. As the second article talked about, there is not an option to turn reels or shorts off on Instagram or Youtube, even though the user may wish to turn them off. These videos are enticing and bring people in to the entertainment side of the platform rather than the personal, social side.
TikTok was created on the premise of being for strangers rather than personal social media. The first article mentioned that feeds are essentially just a long line of pictures being fed to us, but TikTok takes it a step further and feeds users and endless stream of engaging videos. Instead of choosing each video to watch, you must choose what not to watch by scrolling past. Videos without an interesting first second get swiped away as new, possibly more interesting video emerges from the never-ending feed.
As creators catch on to what TikTok rewards, such as a loud or shocking first second of a video, they begin to make content that is not out of their own desire to make videos like that or even is for those that like watching their videos, but they make content for the algorithm. The biggest problem is, the algorithm does not benefit the creator nor the watcher. The algorithm values what is most effective at keeping people on the app, not at what creates the best value or truest information for those watching or what the creator is most proud of creating. Countless TikTok accounts repeat the same style of video over and over simply because that is what gets people watching, which is what makes them money or gets them followers.
Making content for nonhuman entities is not what I hope ever to do. I do not quite see a way out of the servitude of the algorithm for current creators, but I do hope that someone will be able to solve the problem of finding a way to make money through social media without making a product of its creators and users.
The title of this post was generated by AI, the image is from Adobe Stock.
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