[jermeh]

This essay is probably what is going to make me finally install the app. Nobody has been able to explain to me what TikTok is beyond people dancing and reacting to memes. I think what the author says about the algorithm guiding you instead of what your friends want is something I've always wanted. Other social media gets so bogged down in the relationship between you and the people you follow rather than the nature of the content itself.

[culopatin]

Really? I’m pretty sure the algorithm is guiding you in al the big players of social media. They are guiding you because they want your attention and they want to show you ads, if they counted only on your friends to do that for you then you’d leave. Facebook now injects random videos of pages you don’t follow just to keep you attached. Instagram suggests pages, friends, changes order of videos, etc. You have a relationship with the algorithm in many of them.