I don’t think it is fair when we frame products as being objectively and consciously nefarious in this way. Conjuring images of executives rubbing their hands together, giddy with enjoyment that the war is leading to more exciting content.
These are firms that are meeting a legitimate need- and that’s the need to feel connected. Tik-tok provides that, and very effectively. Plenty of people get genuine enjoyment out of their product, and meaningful connections do happen thanks to Tik-tok
Maybe it is not fair, but that is what happens and eventually it is acknowledged by executives, which leads for new design decisions based on that on TikTok and other platforms to get more money and users.
I don't think they fulfill some gap of the need of feeling of connected in a real way. More like a bandage. We have seen the development of Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram. Their audience is fading on countries who have used them longer time, what went wrong? How is TikTok so good that they try to adapt it on their platforms as well? No way to connect?
Short video clips which might or might not lead for a real conversation. They might offer escape from reality in your lunch break at work.
I understand the perspective of "feeling connected". It brings people together with similar mindsets on entertaining way. Or at least people who seems to enjoy similar things.
On the contrary, is it different than some oldschool cults or religions? Cults which are using psychology writings as base for feeling mutual understanding of themselves. Or religions which share same ideologies and use it as a solution for their problems?
Technology is advancing, is TikTok a modern solution for finding your role and place in the world when it does not make sense and you feel you are alone with your thoughts? Maybe it is, maybe it then fills some gap.
I agree that TikTok is providing entertainment (well, that is what dopamine usually is). It is easier to hook people on short videos which are done by global audience versus Netflix where there is a limited amount of material and they cost a lot to make, when audience on TikTok is mostly making them free and you just pick suitable ones with your algorithms for showing the other audience.
However, there are many problems in this. How it can be abused and how it creates people living on their own bubble, like people on some extreme Facebook groups. When a narrative includes only content that boosts your own thoughts, a reality can be lost. We need some research on this matter, but for some reason social media companies are doing their best to prevent that.
Someone people also really get addicted on the entertainment and cannot stop using it. Well, same thing can apply also for alcohol, but is addiction risk closer to opiates for example?
I don't really believe that executives are thinking for the best of the people, so optimizing platforms to hook users is a quite dangerous play.
These are firms that are meeting a legitimate need- and that’s the need to feel connected. Tik-tok provides that, and very effectively. Plenty of people get genuine enjoyment out of their product, and meaningful connections do happen thanks to Tik-tok