I have to wonder how deeply society is affected by Tic Toc and other videos, Not a day goes by that I don’t somehow stumble on to these videos and maybe spend 15 min over a days period watching them. I have to admit that they have changed my thinking over time and I don’t think in good ways. What are possible counter measures to this?
Countermeasures? Don’t watch them; if you have kids, block them from seeing them if you think they’re a terrible influence, but I don’t see how Tic Toc is any worse than YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, or other channels that show content. I think you’re tilting at windmills. Have you ever wasted time on a Message Board?
Actually, I waste about 30% of my life on the internet. As far as my post goes I wasn’t thinking so much about how to stop watching them as much as I was thinking about offering more attractive content with a little more positive message. Obviously, it would have to have more appeal than what is currently winning the contest competing in the exact same space. I am looking for suggestions as to what could possibly compete with this.
How would you define positive messaging? Most of the videos I watch are about animals doing silly things. How is that negative? If you’re talking about QAnon and other CT stuff, as crazy as you might think it is, people have a right to present their POV on any forum they want. You can produce more upbeat stuff, but people will be attracted to certain content no matter what else is competing with it. If you ask me, there’s a lot of positive stuff on Tik Tok.
Yes, I agree with you. I am looking for people’s ideas on what might compete with what I am referring to. I am fully aware that it is a competitive space. I realize there is a very strong presence of positive programming, and I am simply looking for things that might make it stronger. Areas that relate to body image, sexuality, manhood, womanhood, friendships, relationships etc. I am not even remotely suggesting censoring existing content, I am simply looking for feedback from others on this.
You’re not going to get there until you get more content creators or communicators that have the resources (knowledge, communication skills, passion etc, not to mention the time and money involved) to not only do this, but to keep their community engaged. Look at videos by PhysicsGirl, Mark Rober, CineFix, Great Art Explained, Practical Engineering, Steve Mould etc (yes, I’m partial to hard sciences). These are all people doing ‘positive’ things, making engaging videos that encourage people to think about things beyond the very basics and they’re all doing a good job of explaining things in a way that ‘anyone’ can understand but also in a way that forces you to continue seeing things differently long after the video is over. Wondering why a movie is lit in a certain way or if an artist made that particular brush stroke for a reason or how something works are all good critical thinking skills to have. And, they’re all better than seeing if you can swallow a spoonful of cinnamon.
Part of that, I think, is going to be weening people [mostly younger people] off short form videos and ‘challenges’. While a lot can be conveyed in short videos, you can’t really get beyond the surface and most people aren’t going to dig deeper on their own if they’re not interested enough, though they may watch longer videos.
It sounds like you understand the issue similar to the way I do. I am thinking there are two key elements that are largely missing. Too few opportunities to contribute, and lack of advocates for potential contributors. Videos often show you how to create an identity instead of actually building one through actions.
Well, the first time we ever heard of something going viral on TikTok, it was a dare for students to vandalize school property, especially bathrooms, while nobody was looking, and post the video.
The second time was a dare to slap your teacher on the back of her head when she wasn’t looking.
Our school district superintendent had to email the parents to warn them about these.
As a former teacher, this did not make a good first impression of TikTok to my wife.
The correlation is weak at best, but not long after the Kia Boys started blowing up on TikTok, my Kia was stolen and trashed.
The Kia Boys are a group of adolescents out of Milwaukee, WI who posted videos on TikTok showing how easy it was to steal Kias. Now, these videos have also appeared on YouTube so it’s a stretch to say TikTok is singularly responsible for this trend. Poor security design on the part of Kia and Hyundai is a major contributing factor, too.
I don’t know why I used Tic Toc; I was referring to all video content reels. The real question here is why did kids suddenly start feeling like it was ok to steal and trash a car?
Tic Tok allows you to subscribe to accounts that you enjoy and then watch videos only by those creators by clicking the “Following” feed button. If you subscribe to enough accounts and the creators post regularly, you may be satisfied watching only the “Following” feed.
I subscribe to a number of funny cat video posters because I like funny and I like cats, so those are the videos I mostly see popping up on my Tic Tok.
In the “For You” feed, “the system recommends content by ranking videos based on a combination of factors – starting from interests you express as a new user and adjusting for things you indicate you’re not interested in, too – to form your personalized “For You” feed.”
So, you do have a significant amount of control over what you see on Tic Tok, in the “Following” feed, moreso than the “For You” feed. You reap mostly what you sow.
I had no idea that was a tiktok thing, but as a resident of Milwaukee, I can tell you the “Kia Boys” have been a huge problem. To the point that a lot of police stations and Kia/Hyundai dealers are giving out free clubs.
ETA, on r/WhatIsThisThing, over the past year or two there’s been an slight uptick in people posting pictures of Clubs.
In January through October of 2020 Milwaukee had 3100 cars stolen. In January through October of 2021, Milwaukee had 5700 Kias and Hyundais stolen, as part of 8400 cars total.
And the even more scary thing is that a lot of these Kia Boys are young, like, really young. Finding out a 12 year old led police on a high speed chase, almost always ending catastrophically, if not fatally, is quickly starting to feel like ‘a thing’ now.
Kids are going to emulate people and activities they see in viral videos. If they think they can steal a car and get 10’s of thousands of views in the process, they’re (well, some of them) are going to do it. And, when 20+ cars, per day, are stolen and very few arrests are made, they’re going to work on the assumption that they’re not going to get caught.
You missed the entire point of the thread.
I was addressing what you posted in your second post: “Actually, I waste about 30% of my life on the internet. As far as my post goes I wasn’t thinking so much about how to stop watching them as much as I was thinking about offering more attractive content with a little more positive message.”
I took this to mean you didn’t like what you were watching on Tic Tok and wanting better content (more attractive/more positive). My reply was to inform that you can tailor the content viewed on Tic Tok to something you like better.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a video. I guess I’m not the target audience (young and/or stupid and/or drunk).
I was a bit dismayed this evening though: we’re staying at an Air BnB rental house for a week, and among the house rules are no smoking, no parties, no jumping on the furniture, and no Tik Tok challenge videos. How narrow minded!! I mean, I don’t smoke, don’t have time for parties, and since I cannot walk on level ground without injuring myself, no furniture jumping is planned. What else is there to do for fun???
I watch what I want to watch and scroll past when I choose not to watch something. The post was looking for possible ways to present more content with positive messages that would be able to out compete some of the more negative type reels. In other words, looking for something that doesn’t currently exist.
Does that mean you can post on TikTok if it isn’t a challenge video?
People can post all the positive content they want, but teenagers, the primary target of Tik Tok, will watch what entertains them. Regardless of whether they are wholesome, Goofy challenges will beat out kumbayah every time.
I don’t think anything with only or mainly positive online content can ever outcompete Tik Tok. If you want positive messages, stay off the internet and head to your local library—thousands of books with all the positive messages you would ever want to read.
This post has absolutely nothing to do with me, why do you comment if you have no interest in the post??
To directly answer the post, someone would need to present content more compelling to teenagers than what is currently on apps like Tik Tok. Is it possible? Of course, anything is possible. New apps are being launched all the time. Displacing an entrenched competitor, however, is another story.