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5 min read

Another Reason To Dislike TikTok

A Story Told In Three Parts

TikTok logo on iphone against colourful background
TikTok

Not all TikTok magic sucks, but holy shit, the majority of it does. I don’t think it’s an issue with TikTok magicians, and I don’t think it’s magic itself. I reckon it’s all down to the platform. We’ve discussed algorithm hacking in the past. The concept of riding algorithms has been around for a long time now.

Platforms keep their algorithms top-secret and continually tweak them. They tweak them, so the platforms don’t become boring. They keep them a secret because there’s a net negative to any algorithm being public.

Stokes Twins Plead Guilty
BBC News

Algorithms, if left untouched, can have disastrous consequences. They can lead to children being exploited, pranks being taken to illegal lengths and they can even lead to colossal misinformation, election meddling and insurrections.

At this point, It’s just a fact that if the public knows what the algorithms are pushing, they will misuse that knowledge with terrible consequences. It’s just one of those things that will always, always happen. A little like how if you give people the ability to draw, they shall draw dicks.

TikTok has gamified social media more than any other platform, even Facebook, were prepared to do. Besides creating an addictive culture for their passive users, swiping through endless videos like they would at a Las Vegas slot machine, they’re making the app addictive for their posting users too.

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