My neighbor's kid explained why he doesn't use TikTok anymore and it kinda made me think about social media differently

So I was grilling out back last Saturday and my neighbor's 16 year old comes over to borrow some lighter fluid. We got to talking about phones and stuff and he told me he deleted TikTok 3 months ago because 'the algorithm figures out what makes you mad and just feeds you that over and over until you hate everything.' I mean I knew that was a thing but hearing it from a kid who actually lived through it hit different. He said his whole feed turned into arguments about politics and drama he didn't even care about. Has anyone else noticed their feeds getting more negative over time or is it just me?

3 comments

3 Comments

williamt442d ago

... I mean yeah but isn't that kind of on him for not curating his own feed and just letting the algorithm run wild with what he engages with? Just hit "not interested" on the first few rage bait videos and it learns quick.

jenny_fox2d ago

Hit not interested on the first few rage bait videos and it learns quick" - man, I tried that and ended up accidentally training my algorithm to think I'm obsessed with both sides of every argument. Now my feed is just a schizophrenic mix of people yelling at each other about stuff I don't care about, all because I rage-clicked the wrong button. At this point I'm convinced my feed is smarter than me, it's been baiting me for years and I keep falling for it.

benwilliams2d ago

Same kid is absolutely right, my feed turned into pure rage bait about stuff I never even searched for.