#tik tok algorithm

[ortofosforico]

Why I hate social medias algorithms, and why they're bad for mental health (in my opinion)

My contribution to Twitter's firedump.

Tumblr doesn't really count, 'cause it can push popular fandoms, memes and whatnot. The big problem comes with the algorithm looking at trauma that the viewer finds relatable and going, "you know what? You liked this joke/revenge post/ about no one believing in this person's abilities, let me show you more".

It's even worse if the viewer is someone without an active social life; 'cause then they start being flooded with posts and remarks that a creator made to vent ( to put a bad feeling into something you can share, THEN go on with your life with its ups and downs), and it starts feeling like the only reality.

A couple of examples:

You'd like to get a degree in STEM (doesn't matter which kind), and you find a joke about a PhD lab not having any money. It's true, what a relatable scenario, lol, yada yada yada. Then you start getting info about all kinds of bad experiences, low income, sexism, or racism. And DON'T GET ME WRONG, it's there, but there's also a better, nicer side that you rarely get to see online, or that sticks with you less than the bad experience.

If you have an eating disorder, chances are you'll use social medias to look for ways to care about your mental health, to look for stories similar to your own. And of course you're going to find food schedules, or fitness plans; so the algorithm will start giving you more, and even if they make you uncomfortable you're gonna look at them 'cause breaking a vicious cycle of comparing to others is hard.

As a woman in the workplace, you're gonna like and relate to other women's stories of injustice (rightfully so), untill you'll be having the constant buzz in your brain that someone will undermine you from the very beginning.

It counts for every minority, for every little thing that can upset you.

Worst part THERE IS NEVER A SOLUTION. The algorithm will show you RIGHTEOUS complaints, one after the other, and NEVER show you the other side.

In my country public research scientists get paid a misery? Show me the private lab job that can make me do what I love and pay me well.

I feel like the gender gap of pay is too big, is there anywhere else I could apply for a job?

How can I be assertive in the workplace? Where can I get help if the situation starts to spiral down?

The algorithm (especially to young adults and late teens) has this huge power to put you down, to give you false expectations because we tend to see the worst side of things as the "crude reality".

And every time you. Will. Look. At. It.

Doesn't matter how discouraged you are. The algorithm doesn't realize when it's pushing onto you something toxic. And between a meme and a video of an Indian guy building a pool, you'll find the short, the image, or the text that WILL be relatable to you, WILL make you doubt your choices and WILL give you a distorted view of reality.

Take it from me. When I started uni after covid I was convinced I wouldn't make it for this and that; that I'd never get a chance at a decent job, that I'd be criticized for god knows what trivial idiosyncrasy.

Spoiler alert: it didn't happen. It wasn't a walk in the park, but it didn't get even close to the total obliteration that social medias had prepared me to.

[queercryptid]

Gotta keep interacting with pro-Palestinian content so their voices get heard

[warakami-vaporwave]

TikTok84

[flamedoesart]

I feel like people tend to forget that the reason children are on websites they really shouldn't be on, like Twitter for example, is because there are no spaces on the internet anymore specifically designed for children, unless it's for babies or toddlers.

The death of Flash also meant the death of thousands of games and websites specifically designed for the 9-13 demographic. Now granted, several games died long before Flash did (like the Holy Disney MMO trio - Pixie Hollow, ToonTown and Club Penguin) but there were other websites designed around what kids would enjoy. Sites like Kongregate, Sploder, GirlsGoGames and others were designed with kids in mind.

These sites were special in the sense that it gave fun games for children to play without even really needing to interact with other people directly. They could play the games and have fun. If they wanted to make friends they could, and oftentimes these sites had moderation to prevent kids from having full control over what they could say so as to prevent bullying and potential cyberstalking.

But now Flash is dead, and there's barely any hangout spots for that demographic anymore. I think the last remaining game you can play that doesn't require Flash that was a major part of the 2010s game nostalgia was Wizard101, but that game comes with the flaw of membership programs, similar to all the other MMOs that existed at the time.

Needless to say, the next time we ask in annoyance why there's so many 12 year olds on Twitter and Tik Tok, remember that it's because there's literally no online spaces anymore solely for them and only them, that majority of adults wouldn't step foot into anymore.

[tomwambsmilk]

fr tho @staff why are you trying to make tumblr more like other sites why are you destroying your niche in the market please there have got to be ways to make tumblr more accessible to new users without sacrificing the very things that your existing userbase loves

[leonightwater25]

Likes

[bunbunsheart]

WHEN DID YOU GUYS FALL IN LOVE!!!! HOW LONG HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN TOGETHER FOr!!!!??!?!??! the people want to know🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

OMG HAAI HAIIIII if you mean my main ship w satoru ermmm it's been almost a year actually (i cant believe its been that long myself...!) and if i remember correctly i started to selfship/pair my oc w him arounddd september or october of last year :33

[yet-happy]

Which is better, TikTok or Tumblr?

I'd say Tumblr, less toxicity.

TikTok has too many problems tbh

(Lord save the beginner artists who post art there)

[izziessogay]

the best part of tumblr is that you can look at the most unhinged shit for as long as you like without being terrified that the algorithm will fuck up your dash to the point of no return

[dead-petey-au]

How to disable likes on post so only reblogs

[dogwittaablog]

GO ONTO TIKTOK AND THIS IS THE FIRST THING I SEE? GOD DAMN.

(HERES THE LINK IF YOU WANT TO CRY)

[8stims]

Do you have any tips for finding videos to turn into gifs? Instagram is a pain to use and idk how to download them in good quality, and people on tiktok always put text on their videos.

i get a lot of it just from my youtube/instagram recommendations, i watch a lot of slime/food content so good gif material just sorta comes up for me 😅 i also have a pretty huge backlog of videos to gif i keep in my notes, most of those i got from various stimblr pages (wether they be from others gif posts or from people posting videos)

EDIT: comment from glitteringstardust

I use that too! cobalt works for most platforms too :D

[upthewerewolves]

I deleted my other socials and Im not smoking or drinking this month which is why I’ve been on here obsessively sorry lol I promise I’ll start using my queue again and quit spamming luv u guys 🙏🏻

[rocknrollsalad]

unpopular opinion but joe quinn in that gladiator movie does the opposite of turn me on. like if I were to join a monastery or be a nun or whatever, i'd hang a picture of that up in my room. vow of celibacy would be easy.

[aslisjournal]

I think every non-western artist has wrestled with this thought at some point, but translating my art to be digestible to a western audience is not something I have an interest in doing. If you come across my work and relate and enjoy it, that is a great, but not understanding does not mean it lacks anything. Art is the manifestation of the conversations between the artist and their inner world. It would be doing a disservice to my soul if I felt that the only way for it to be valued is that it needs to be bent and transferable to the western experience and psyche. To me, that is to say to myself, “your experiences are not enough.” I think everyone who grew up in the west needs to be aware of the degree in which they are engaging in this, as the Eurocentric way of thinking is very overpowering. We are also are not doing the western world a favour by continuing to fuel this Eurocentric belief system, it is robbing them of the chance to explore this earth and the stories within it. I love this video of Ousmane Sembéne, when he said “I myself am the sun”

[ophernelia]

How do I deal with someone stealing my content??

Like stealing stealing? Depending on the platform, you can report it. There was this lady who stole my videos on tik tok and edited her character’s head onto Imogen’s body. I contacted tik tok and they removed the video. They left her account though, so everyone else’s content she stole was still up. Tik Tok basically said that those creators had to file a report themselves. They weren’t of any help fr. Which is not surprising at all. I’m not sure about like YouTube and stuff. I’m assuming they have a similar feature.

Aside from that, ignore it. Do something else. Or do something that’s harder to replicate. I’ve seen a lot of big creators talk about this recently. Most of them have said that it’s annoying but all you can do is to just keep it pushing. The bigger you get, the more it happens. As a smaller creator, I know it’s very discouraging. I don’t know what can be done about that, so sorry if this isn’t helpful.

What’s helped me is remembering why I create stuff in the first place. As cheesy as it sounds, create for the sake of creating. What matters the most is the enjoyment you get from making your content. Like machinima making is an immense amount of work and it’s not an easy niche to grow in. But the pay off I get is seeing the finished product. I get tired of the work it takes to make my content, for sure, BUT it’s so worth it to see a full episode done. So just try to hold onto that feeling instead. Hope that helps!