this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2024
91 points (100.0% liked)

chat

8167 readers
292 users here now

Chat is a text only community for casual conversation, please keep shitposting to the absolute minimum. This is intended to be a separate space from c/chapotraphouse or the daily megathread. Chat does this by being a long-form community where topics will remain from day to day unlike the megathread, and it is distinct from c/chapotraphouse in that we ask you to engage in this community in a genuine way. Please keep shitposting, bits, and irony to a minimum.

As with all communities posts need to abide by the code of conduct, additionally moderators will remove any posts or comments deemed to be inappropriate.

Thank you and happy chatting!

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I installed it out of curiosity, and God damn, this is the worst form of social media yet. It seems like it's designed to accomplish two things: keep me scrolling, and eventually make me depressed. It's basically paralyzing to use.

I didn't make an account, so I guess its a bit like looking at the front page of YouTube, which is also terrible. But out of all the social media I've used in my life tiktok seems like the worst because of how much it sucks you in, and the type of content on it. Runner up is Instagram, but I deleted my account there years ago and never looked back.

Call me a boomer or w/e, but this shit melts your brain even more than everything else already does.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 45 points 2 months ago (2 children)

yeah the constant auto-play with 0 time to think or breathe is a cognitohazard

Death to America

[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The CDC should be the ones banning it, not the State Department.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The CDC should be banning COVID, and if they go after TikTok instead then you know they’re acting as the state department.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago

In an ideal world, they'd ban both.

Actually, in an ideal world, a socialist or communist economy would be better able to deal with a pandemic and not create software designed to melt the brains of children so that they can be more susceptible to buying plastic trinkets.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 41 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I uninstalled it when I discovered autoplay could not be turned off

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago

So within five minutes? Me too.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I was telling someone earlier that tumblr is the only social media I can use for mindless fun. Stuff on tumblr at least feels somewhat organic and weird. There will be a post like, "we need fuckable cities" and it'll have like 60k notes. Meanwhile the TikTok/insta/Facebook crap is like shitty square video aspect ratio with a vertically shot iPhone video in it stolen by the account and not credited and the caption is "she was NOT expecting what happened 😁🤣😂😂😂😱😱 watch till the end!!"

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 months ago

the only social media I can use for mindless fun.

Rude, hexbear is RIGHT here

[–] [email protected] 26 points 2 months ago (1 children)

You need to make an account or the algorithm will not learn you.

You're not wrong about it being designed to keep you scrolling but isn't that basically all social media?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 months ago

I don't find other social media is as successful at keeping me drawn in like that. Maybe it's just idiosyncratic idk.

I didn't make an account, but it does start to funnel you towards what you've been watching pretty quickly

[–] [email protected] 25 points 2 months ago

I am a huge tiktok fan. Once you get your algorithm figured out you've got the perfect lil echo chamber.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

look, you're not old or lame for not liking [thing that's popular among young people]

Gen Z did not invent TikTok nor did they organically discover it, it was simply marketed to them by corporate tech advertising ghouls

besides, trendy popular things rarely stand the test of time. it's usually the niche countercultural stuff that gets recognized as "cool" later on. mainstream western culture has always been wack

in 10 or 20 years everyone will look back at TikTok and talk about how lame it was so if anything you're ahead of the curve

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

But in 10 or 20 years I imagine the new app will have an exponential increase in brain melting powers

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago (2 children)

yeah I shudder to think what the digital skinner boxes of the future will be like

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 months ago (1 children)

TikTok / Reels / YT Shorts is basically just the new form of lazing on the couch flicking through TV channels all day. I mean it's also pretty distinct in a number of ways that make it really worse, but I still take comfort in knowing that people have been sitting around passively flicking through mindless nonsense for decades.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 months ago (2 children)

that tiktok is the new, improved channel surfing should be the opposite of comforting.

channels surfing was the boomer invented past time and look at their fully conditioned minds now.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Honestly, I don't think that's the reason why boomers are Like That.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago (1 children)
load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 months ago (1 children)

yeah it sucks from a usability standpoint but the lil zooms on there seem to have better politics than any other social media site

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 months ago

Depends, an endless amount of liberal centrism too

[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

My gf basically sonically tortured me by watching tiktok videos with the same stupid fucking audio on short loops for like, forever, for like 3 years

really ironic that now she literally can't handle even the slightest noise from a neighbor without wishing death on them

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago

I'm sure your gf is amazing, but viewing TikTok without headphones is my absolute pet peeve.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago

My gf basically sonically tortured me

oh no, oh no, oh nononono

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Meanwhile on Douyin:

First vid: I live in {东北|dōngběi}, here's me going to an all you can eat buffet for ¥12.50

Second vid: Some university kids pretending to be birds in their dorm room

Third vid: white guy speaks fluent Mandarin!

4th: American conservative that hates Iran cannot find it on a map, points at Azerbaijan, Egypt and Turkey

5th: a clip from The Good Doctor for some reason

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It's the same brain melting, endless scroll, do not look away kind of app though.

The content of what I saw on tiktok was almost equally as boring and vanilla, but the form of it is insidious

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago

I think people yearn for short form meaningless distractions. Why do you think Garfield is in circulation? For fun? I don't hear anyone laughing.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 months ago (1 children)

My wife is hooked on Tiktok and sometimes shows me a long series of what the algorithm recommended to her. Fortunately it's mostly dog and horse videos, but I can feel that aggressive obnoxious format giving me anxiety, especially when it's "reaction face reacting to a reaction face with a wall of text and a 5 second clip of a pop song that expects full understanding of the context." debord-tired

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

"reaction face reacting to a reaction face with a wall of text and a 5 second clip of a pop song that expects full understanding of the context."

My wife shows me this stuff, too, and I'm just like jesse-wtf

Why the fuck did you put your face over someone else's video!? You're not adding anything!

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It feels a bit like artificial social pressure: "THIS is how you should FEEL about this! I am modeling YOUR expected reaction!" heated-gamer-moment

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 months ago

You're right. They a doing preemptive behavior mirroring like we're children scared

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 months ago (1 children)

How depressing it is varies a lot from person to person. My feed is like half comedy and half depressing horrors, my partner’s is like 90% possums, raccoons, and other adorable creatures

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I don't even know if it's the content that's depressing, most of it was just vanilla garbage, but it's how it sucks me and keeps me scrolling.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Kills time at work like no other, though

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago

It sure does melt time

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 months ago

Mine is like, just pure comunsit propaganda, a little arts n crafts, then some science stuff. I am quite happy with the experience

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago

Gotta curate your feed bc like YouRube, the algorithm will shit out the most inane things for you unless otherwise.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago

Nah TikToks the best screen time I've ever done in my entire life tbh

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Critical support to tiktok bans

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago

Having to press back several times to stop watching is also insidious.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago

If you aren’t on Cute Animal-tok then you’re doing it wrong

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I dont fully agree because I think TikTok can be enriching in a way no other social media is if you get on the right side of it. I hear actually new view points, people who live in Gaza for example, and a lot of open communists. That doesn’t really happen even on similar platforms like YouTube Shorts. TikTok is much less filtered experience and therefore more authentic, if you are consistent about liking/saving content.

It absolutely can be brainrot though, but it’s a blissful brainrot

Exhibit A, surprise Žižek https://www.tiktok.com/@jrdnstn/video/7361878519653109035

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

I’m scared of being sucked in. That’s why I haven’t tried it.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago

Never used anything but a browser for Tiktok, just like every other social media platform.

No I am not going to download a stupid app that duplicates what a web page can do.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

I misread the title as Tito sucks and for a mo was like wtf was this a bait and switch

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

You didn’t even stay long enough to see the Kamala HQ Chappelle Roan edits

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Chappelle Roan

I'm now at the age where I have no idea who new pop stars are. I've never seen this person before lmao

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›