This is probably one of the better-written efforts to describe TikTok's appeal, and yet I still don't 'get' it. Remove the app-specific bells and whistles and it's not fundamentally different from 12 years ago when the idea of putting your life online in video form became a thing.
The author says it's not about the algorithm, but rather the content, but the examples seem to provide evidence for the reverse. People are uploading millions of videos daily, the algorithm is why he's seeing something that's of interest to him.
Maybe what's gone unmentioned here is that people originally used Youtube like a search engine. You typed something in, and clicked a video on the topic. TikTok is like cable TV, it autoplays as soon as you turn it on, and you can "channel surf". Maybe that's the appeal; finding something by perceived "serendipity" releases more dopamine than clicking on a search result.
The author says it's not about the algorithm, but rather the content, but the examples seem to provide evidence for the reverse. People are uploading millions of videos daily, the algorithm is why he's seeing something that's of interest to him.
Maybe what's gone unmentioned here is that people originally used Youtube like a search engine. You typed something in, and clicked a video on the topic. TikTok is like cable TV, it autoplays as soon as you turn it on, and you can "channel surf". Maybe that's the appeal; finding something by perceived "serendipity" releases more dopamine than clicking on a search result.