[synthpop]

My read is that TV (or 'entertainment' as we've come to know it since the cultural explosion of television) still requires artists and/or professionals with some form of skills/vision in order to be made, but is ultimately produced by and for the enrichment of corporate giants at the end of the day. Under that system, works can still potentially be made which satisfy the interests of the artist, the corporation, and the consumer (and everywhere in between). The transition to the distraction economy (e.g., TikTok but more generally 'content' as we've come to know in the last decade or so) seeks to remove the pesky artists and professionals from the equation, and tighten the corporations' collective grip around the consumers' attention to the point that the constant use of their product is less of a choice, but more of a compulsion (or as the author states more plainly, addiction) to which there is little alternative thanks to the current landscape of culture at large essentially now being contained within a handful of apps.

[amadeuspagel]

I don't see how someone who makes funny TikTok videos is less of an artist then someone working on a comedy show for TV.

[solumunus]

To each their own I guess, but in my opinion one of these media forms has much more potential for deep quality. I have never seen a TikTok video that left a lasting impression on me, or I was compelled to rewatch years later. I would be shocked if anyone has…

[amadeuspagel]

Why would you rewatch a TikTok when there are so many new ones?

[solumunus]

You wouldn't even if there weren't so many new ones, it's low quality, highly derivative content. Even if new TikTok videos were banned, no one would go back and watch the old ones as they have no lasting value.

[epiccoleman]

Think it just depends. If they're, you know, writing a little sketch or something that fits into the constraints of the format, that's obviously more artful than cutting out a 15 second funny Family Guy clip.

But I think the bigger issue is that these platforms actually incentivize creators to conform to their formats. Look at the weird little "genres" that have popped out of TikTok / YouTube Shorts / Instagram, like short videos of some (usually stupid) "tool hack". These kinds of things do numbers because they're exactly what the article describes - a 15 second rush of "interesting."