[defaultname]

To the "girls dancing" claim, I get approximately zero dancing girl videos. If you demonstrated to the app that such is the content you want, that's what you'll get. I get tonnes of birds, comedy, pets, weird animals, etc.

"On top of that it is designed to be addicting for the sake of addiction."

TikTok doesn't create content. People do. It happens to have content creation tools [the real genius of TikTok that many overlook] that allow a lot of funny, creative people to generate content that they previously couldn't.

Is that "designed to be addictive"? I guess, in the meaningless "it's designed to offer a rewarding experience" way.

EDIT: Some of the complaints in this discussion remind me of this classic Onion story - https://bit.ly/2Qm2w87

[Graffur]

> To the "girls dancing" claim, I get approximately zero dancing girl videos. If you demonstrated to the app that such is the content you want, that's what you'll get. I get tonnes of birds, comedy, pets, weird animals, etc.

I am not complaining that I get the wrong recommendations. In fact, I don't have the app. My point is the app is full is seedy content.

It's literally designed to be addictive. If you don't understand that this conversation is over.

[defaultname]

You don't use it, yet you are also an authority on what it is "full of". So much so that you're an observer of subreddits dedicated to lascivious TikTok content.

I use Reddit and am blissfully unaware of such subs.

As to "designed to be addictive", you are literally using that as a lazy, pejorative surrogate for "designed to be rewarding/enjoyable".

Understand that almost every part of your life is "designed to be addictive" by that sloppy trope. HN is "designed to be addictive" by putting the most interesting stories on the front page. Netflix, Facebook, Starbucks, McDonalds, Movie Theaters, Parks, Conservation Areas -- Designed to Be Addictive. It is meaningless prattle, though it's usually leveraged to dismiss things Other People enjoy.

[Graffur]

I have researched it thoroughly and understand how it works. That goes for other major sites too including facebook, instagram, whatsapp, reddit.

I don't care that you use reddit and are unaware of what content is on it. I could not care less.

The tik tok algorithm is designed to be addictive. It sounds like you agree but are trying to obscure that fact by throwing examples of other popular products.

[defaultname]

Okay...

[mysterEFrank]

TikTok pings you every few hours of swiping with a video that tells you to put the phone down and get some fresh air. It's the only social media app I've ever used that does that.

[defaultname]

I'm a cynic. I don't rack that up to TikTok's wonderful benevolence, but rather that their revenue curve is optimized for a particular usage pattern.

[Graffur]

Instagram does this too fwiw