Let's talk about TikTok

[malware]

I honestly enjoy TikTok, though there are definitely genres of it I heavily avoid. Never posted on it, and hopefully I never will.

[Anza]

I honestly enjoy TikTok, though there are definitely genres of it I heavily avoid. Never posted on it, and hopefully I never will.

I feel that too, there a definetly some odd genres on there
I generally enjoy it, I get a laugh out of it which is pretty nice, but the home-page (for you-page??) gives me the ODDEST stuff. Like some is original comedy, and then there's other things that pop up like over-sharing story time. IDK it rubs me the wrong way sometimes, like I'm just like, what on EARTH did I just witness.

Anyway, its a pretty nice platform. And the best thing is that I've found some really cool songs that I now enjoy! I love that it allows me to discover new music!

[ScruffyAlexHS]

I'm personally kinda on the fence about it? I don't have an account so the majority of the exposure I get of it is from videos I see online from that platform. Some of it I feel is oof, then again tons of platforms have their oof sides so I steer clear of those. Other parts of it are genuinely creative and a joy to watch or downright hilarious.

[TzatzikiTheLeg]

there are a few people on tiktok who are funny, not a lot though - most popular tiktokers are extremely boring, imo. i do find it kinda unfair when some people say everything on tiktok is terrible (i used to be one of those people too though hehe) just because most mainstream trends are trash, but there are still some aspects of it that i really dislike - cancel culture being no. 1.

[mykeecore]

I think tiktok is full of cool and inspiring creators (cosplayers, makeup artists, and illustrators, etc.), but it can be a very strange place. One thing I don't like is that there are a lot of children on there, and the internet (especially tiktok, where I've seen hate and ignorance spread like wildfire) is no place for a kid. I will say I do enjoy alternative and LGBT+ tiktok a lot though XD

[~ Stray Kids ~]

I don’t upload anything but I do spend an hour or two watching stuff on there. Most of the tik Tok I watch happen to be doctors/nurses or I do watch a lot of Christian hull

[computerkisser]

I only watch the meme part of Tik Tok, lmao. But like, I don't have the app, I just watch compilations on yt.

The rest of Tik Tok is questionable, from underage girls acting 20 to creepshows targeting children, to people who don't seem that sound in the head. It can be pretty crazy.

[POSTAL 2]

?? why is there a bot on this dead thread

[★Vixxen★Kitten★]

?? why is there a bot on this dead thread

Oh gawsh this is screaming snapchat AI vibes to me XD

[Maxella Roe]

Fashionably late to the thread, as per my usual MO. But I did want to give my two cents as a tik tok creator of cosplay content, meme content, and general cringe. Because I am cringe and I am free, I've got too much going on to care what strangers behind a screen think of me. If people wanna view my page as a free cringe compilation that gets updated every few days, more power to them. And as the self proclaimed Queen of Cringe, the only thing cringier than me being so unapologetically myself that I make other people a little less afraid to be themselves, is being toxic to people that are harming absolutely no one and simply trying to enjoy something that makes them happy.

That being said, I initially signed up for it back in the day when it was still musically, and I never expected to gain the following I currently have on it. I just wanted to post my silly little costumes because my favorite hobby back in the 2010s was standing in front of the mirror and lipsyncing to songs and movie/TV show scenes I felt fit the character I was cosplaying, because it was just fun. Muscically and then later Tik Tok was just the perfect platform for that, and I've grown a relatively large-ish following on it complete with its own inside jokes and meme culture. I shifted my page to be almost entirely focused on cosplays of my original characters, because they gave me an amazing outlet to express myself. And in the years now that I've been on Tik Tok, I don't think anybody can really deny at this point that it's monumentally affected social media as a whole. While I certainly wasn't expecting that and do have my complaints that came with it, it's also done a lot for me over the years that I simply can't argue with, including giving me a way to make somewhat of an income as someone who's disabled. I struggle most of the time to function but still have enough energy to get out and about and do things when I'm having a rare good day.

My platform there has directed people to means of financial support that they also get bonuses for chipping in on. I like to think of it as a pretty cool symbiotic dynamic between myself and my supporters; cool art, exclusive content, and quarterly thank-you packages of stickers and postcards and stuff of their favorite characters in exchange for the support. And myself and my team (never thought I'd have one of those either, lol) are working on rolling out merchandise of the original characters that I feel so blessed (and surprised) that people take an interest in and really like!

It does have its downsides too though. From what others have told me, it takes a long time and a spoonful of effort to tune your algorithm to show you content you're actually interested in, and even then it can be hit or miss sometimes. I'd like to think that after like, 4 or 5 odd years of being on the platform from its inception, my for you page is pretty close to just being perfect at this point. However, I can see the potential it's got to be a major problem, as your for you page is curated specifically based on how you interact with content. I imagine it's easy to get stuck in an echo chamber of misinformation or fall down some real nasty rabbit holes if you're not careful. I can't actually speak on any issues regarding the younger user base because I've never actually even seen anything of the sort before, I think because I was able to specifically curate my algorithm literally from the day Tik Tok launched. But as for other content, I make it a point not to leave an upset comment on an awful post if I happen upon one, because I know I'll get more of them. I don't even watch a bad video all the way through anymore, I just click not interested, report if it's needed, but scroll on regardless so my timeline isn't getting cluttered with garbage.

It's a pretty rare occurrence as is because I spend most of my time in my "Following" tab, and again, the algorithm constantly adjusts your For You Page specifically based on how you interact with the content presented on it. It has the potential to be an amazing platform if you learn the little tricks to navigation and establish healthy habits. I've been working really hard on setting boundaries and managing my time, just in general, not only on tik tok. But with tik tok specifically, it's gotten to a point where unless I'm specifically making content (which I tend to do in bulk to work around my disabilities), I spend maybe ten to fifteen minutes on the app a day apart from periodically making a scheduled post or checking my notifications every couple of hours.

Like anything, there's good, there's bad, and there's nuance. Tik Tok definitely has a lot of problematic aspects and there's some massive adjustments that I think need to be made in terms of safety and content moderation, but on a platform with millions of monthly users, I imagine it's probably difficult to catch absolutely everything, and also easy to catch the wrong things. I've had posts get wrongly flagged that had to be reinstated because of automatic detection systems that unfortunately are going to make some mistakes or not catch things from time to time. I'm definitely always going to advocate for improvements to ensure the safety of users on any platform, especially their younger user bases.

I'm rather passionate about that, having teenage siblings on social media myself. I think me and my family all have pretty healthy habits regarding our consumption of social media, as well as pretty open communication with either our parents or another adult sibling like myself if they don't feel comfortable going to mom or dad for some reason or another. So none of us have had such issues on there, but not everyone has that. I'm very lucky to have amazing and supportive parents, as well as a strong bond and great dynamic with my family, and I understand not everyone is privileged in that regard. I think they've adjusted the the algorithm again, it hasn't been pushing my content as much as it used to, not even to my followers, but that's truly never bothered me before. Like I said, the reason I signed up in the first place was to post my silly little videos because I had already been doing essentially the usual tik tok-thing in front of my bedroom mirror for years before it was even a platform.

TL,DR: All in all, it's far from perfect, but it's given me my life back to some degree, and I'll always be super thankful for that. And I'll always have tons of fun making content regardless of whether or not anyone ever even sees it. That's just my scatterbrained 2:30 AM blurb on the matter, lol.