The TikTokfication of Everything

HOO BOY do I have a lot to say about this, too.

A lot of people are quitting TikTok because it either wastes too much of their time or they're tired of how outrage trends easily just like on Twitter.

I've always liked doing short form content! The weeb space on youtube used to be crammed with it waaaaaaay before Vine and I think it's fun. But I think TikTok's algorithm leaves a lot to be desired and YouTube's is even worse, even outside the shorts feature. I guess that's what happens when you let a robot decide what you should watch next.

For both sites, the videos I hit "like" on are either humorous animations or uplifting messages for the creative community. What's suggested to me are angry callout videos about creators I don't know (nor would I ever watch) and 30 minute video essays explaining why you should feel bad for liking a relatively benign piece of media. Maybe I should thank the bot for reducing my Youtube rabbit hole time by giving me stuff that stresses me out?

I'd like to go back to the days where the algorithm was more user-directed (tags!) instead of machine-directed. While I think algorithm tech (including chatbots) could be used in beneficial ways in the future, right now it's just not where it should be and I don't think it should play the huge role that it does.

Also, endless scrolling needs to die. I think that was really the point where everyone's usage became a problem because we couldn't tell how long we'd been looking at the screen, it all became a blur.

Anecdote: One of the stores half an hour from me had a six foot tall robot that was supposed to detect when shelves needed to be stocked. Ended up with employees hastily putting products where they shouldn't go just to appease it because it would go ballistic. I haven't seen it since the day I almost crashed into it while looking at my phone--and I haven't seen products in the wrong places since that day, either.

Here's hoping that the oversaturation of TikTok clones will at least take one of the social network giants out. 

I never understood the appeal of TikTok, like you said, videos are too short to actually enjoy, although some have actually taken advantage of the format, but it mostly works for comedy bits and people dancing, but when it comes to subjects you might find interesting at the end of the day you end up with many questions because you can't cover interesting topics in such a small time frame.

I have the opposite experience as you when it comes to the algorithms. I don't know why but in my case the algorithms for Facebook are feeding me Super Mario World romhacks which I have to admit that I like to watch once in a while. Instagram shows me videos of old toys. YouTube just shows me crap so I rarely click on their "shorts". While TikTok shows me videos of girls dancing to music I don't like and stupid conspiracy theories like certain famous people being time travelers or doctors stealing liquid from your knees, maybe it's because too many people in Latin America believe in that retarded shit. 

I do have to say that with exception of Facebook, which came pre-installed on my Samsung phone, I don't install any social media apps, I browse them through Kiwi Browser. 

Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if there's an upcoming rabies challenge lmao, people have licked toilet seats +ice cream tubs, stole and damaged properties all for clout. It's wild. It's the way they proudly record literally everything that discriminate them that's really interesting! And I agree with Mylo, tags work really well when looking for things before! It's like the moment we were handed the content we enjoy and a way to just scroll endlessly to amuse ourselves things go downhill. 

I just read something about a mass censorship bill called KOSA and bruh

i really do resonate with this. i quit tiktok because the constant sounds and short-spanned videos just made it worse on my mental state. it made my audio sensory issues worse. i used to scroll for hours and then i realized: it wasn't giving me joy.

it makes me truly wonder: we aren't even taught how to use social media in a healthy manner. i genuinely think it's a subject that should be taught alongside mental health.

The concept of social medias trying to keep you on their app for longer amounts of time has been around for a long  while, it's their business strategy. But the effects of this were not felt as severely as it is now with the inception of tiktok and shorts and reels and whatever it is other platforms call it.

you analyzed it nicely, short but abundant content has essentially melted our brains into a mush. We can't focus well because we're used to stuff lasting 15 seconds, and we can't comprehend what we just saw because our brains are expecting something else to come along before it can start to think. Like, the subway surfers footage in background meme is not even a meme anymore, its very true for a lot of people

Worst part is that this situation is not really going to improve, its going to get worse.. This style of content, or the system, works very well for what the social media companies want: more engagement, more users, more downloads.. its at the expense of, well, human health, but business is boomin.

It is what it is: brainrot

By the way, I think you missed an opportunity there, you could have called this "The TikToXification of Everything"!  ;)

This is another reason why I hate the stupid modern world. Come to think of it, I've had this disdain for the modern world throughout most of my 17 1/2 years of life and the list of reasons just keeps on growing as time goes on.