Over that stunningly short amount of time viewing and swiping, the algorithm is able to direct hyper-personalized content to viewers.
I mean, that’s…not really a negative. You could argue that the content is largely fluff (which I think it is, when it comes to short-form video), or maybe that material that appeals to a user isn’t what would help them the most or any number of other things, but being able to find and provide content that is a function of a user’s interests is normally something that one would consider desirable. I’d rather do less scrolling past things that I’m not interested in viewing.
You are making the mistake of assuming this is done for your benefit, though. You are not TikTok’s customer. You are the product, and advertisers are their customers.
They aren’t showing you things you are interested in, they are showing you things their customers are paying to show you.
I mean, that’s…not really a negative. You could argue that the content is largely fluff (which I think it is, when it comes to short-form video), or maybe that material that appeals to a user isn’t what would help them the most or any number of other things, but being able to find and provide content that is a function of a user’s interests is normally something that one would consider desirable. I’d rather do less scrolling past things that I’m not interested in viewing.
You are making the mistake of assuming this is done for your benefit, though. You are not TikTok’s customer. You are the product, and advertisers are their customers.
They aren’t showing you things you are interested in, they are showing you things their customers are paying to show you.
I can’t stand it when my wife says, “people on TikTok all love this product.”
Right, because they’re being paid to say that.