I changed my mind about Tik Tok

Maybe it's not all bad

Happy Thanksgiving!! Thank you for reading Woody’s World. This project has been fun for me, and I am thankful for you who read the posts.

If you are a subscriber from America, enjoy your dinner:)

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Tik-Tok

During the first lockdown, I noticed a strange change in my sister's behavior. She was constantly filming herself doing vertical dances in front of her iPhone. When she told me it was for Tik-Tok, I downloaded the app to see what all the fuss was about.

Two mindless hours later, I deleted the app. As someone previously addicted to Instagram, I recognized the risk of being sucked into the Tik-Tok vortex and ran to safety. That was nearly two years ago. Now I have somewhat changed my mind about the app. I remain convinced that the risk of addiction is high, but admittedly there are some merits to it.

Curated Information – Pros and Cons

Positive Feedback Loop

Tik-Tok, and more generally big tech, has more information on our habits and preferences than anyone ever before; it is nearly god-like. At first, I feared this, and I still do, but I also realize the great potential.

For example, in early 2020, I started watching Jordan Peterson's lectures on YouTube. Soon I was inundated with other self-help and philosophy content, which led to me reading lots of books and getting serious about using my time wisely. But I wouldn't have gone down that rabbit hole if it wasn't for the YouTube algorithm.

Positive curation on Tik-Tok — Two examples

Here are two recent examples of this on Tik-Tok.

This woman is a marketing professional. Here she is dancing to her most helpful marketing resources.

Before, I would have had to know a marketing professional to get this valuable information, but now a young woman is dancing to it for us.

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Or this account that taught me how to buy NFTs. (I didn’t buy any yet)

Of course, we still need to confirm the validity of the information, but that is another issue.

Negative Feedback Loop

The con of curated information is what I described in our introduction. My first experience on Tik-Tok ended with a never-ending rabbit hole of viral dance trends. However, we can be proactive by ignoring undesirable content and actively engaging with content related to our larger mission. 

The more we engage with content related to our purpose, the more Tik-Tok will show us the right content for our goals. 

The other risk is entering an ideological echo chamber. Many people spread lies about dubious political movements, and there is even blatant propaganda from foreign governments (you know which one). It is important to ignore this content, so we are shown it less.

It is the Social Frontier

When I used Instagram in high school, I was privy to the trends and habits of "modern" teens. However, when I logged back into Tik-Tok this month, I realized I had already become "out-of-the-loop." For example, teens on Tik-Tok seem to say, "I'm 2003" to indicate how old they are. Perhaps this is unimportant to you, but I found it interesting.

Solution

Tik-Tok is the most current social media. Despite the risk of addiction, the app has its merits. To get the most out of the app, do the following:

Be disciplined in how long you use it

Be highly selective with what content you interact with

Be skeptical of the validity of the content

Thanks for reading, and Happy Thanksgiving

— 11/25/21