I was curious what a TikTok user might see if they made a fresh account. I provided no preferred content categories, and did not interact with any video in any way except the skip them.
In my first fifteen minutes, I received:
9 manosphere “inspiration” videos
The official accounts of Tucker Carlson and Vivek
2 clips from each Fox News, and tabloids New York Post and Metro
1 “America first” rando
1 Copaganda vid of “cool” new police robots
Elon’s nazi salute without context or commentary
I also got some questionable AI slop; an edited perp walk for Luigi Mangione that presented him as especially dangerous, and one robotic voice that mused something nonsensical about the “stereotypical appearance” of Mexican people.
Did I receive any real news? Yeah, a little bit!
Exactly one clip for each of the following publications: ABC, CNBC, BBC, MSNBC, SBS, NBC, CBS, and People Magazine.
I received one interview clip with Bernie Sanders, Kendrick at the Super Bowl, and someone having their vulva tattooed. (lol)
Everything else was dance videos, pet compilations, and recipes.
I would like to repeat this experiment with a more structured methodology, instead of me just screwing around on my couch. I’m not 100% sure how to do that with any amount of scientific rigor so that’ll take some research and prep.
When I concluded my experiment, I reset the feed and logged into my own actual account (which has never been used). I provided it with queer content and legit news follows, and specific preferences for content types.
It proceeded to not give me any of those things, and instead provide either the specific things I asked not to see, or recipes and dance videos in completely random language.
I do not think TikTok appreciated my experiment. lol
Oh, but it DID suggest I follow a family member, so it knows exactly who I am now. (I did not provide access to my contacts, so presumably that family member did)
@Haste my iPhone last night suggested that I name one of the Luigi photos I have in my camera roll. And they’re right it’s easier to find Luigi memes if I name his face so I did.
Then it immediately wanted me to connect that name and that photo to one of my contacts. I don’t have Luigi in my phonebook so I opted not to do that, and I will never ever do that to anyone I care about.
But I’m quite sure people who have iPhones with photos of me and my phone number in their phone have done this. And there’s no way to stop them .
Oh also I had Apple sell my information to Carter’s baby clothes when I stopped logging my period because I’m 51 years old. Carter’s claimed I signed up for their email list right around the time I would have been four months along if I was actually pregnant. I’m still mad about it.
@Haste Would be interesting to experiment from different countries as well
@philfr agreed; on at least some items, TikTok does disclose that its recommendation is passed on location.
@Haste The phrase "thanks, I hate it" comes to mind.
@bstacey it was almost omnipresent in my own mind as well