That said I understand the term of good quality - in that it isn't vitriolic political messaging, conspiracy theories etc. It's mostly devoid of any true meaning - more like entertaining, sometimes hilarious content. I wouldn't say it's enlightening or provides much educational value. As I said early it also probably reinforces short attention span, attention seeking dopamine feed back loops... likely long term damage to brain development.
Just my opinion, no facts here.
My fyp is a combination of good natured dancing, linguistics, crowd sources music, hank green, a few comedy creators who engage positively with mental health and feminist topics, and animals doing silly things, recently a lot of possums. That's interspersed with memes and jokes, but very few that are particularly rude.
I am in no way under the illusion that this is what most see. But i have to question if people that complain about Charlie Damelio and similar people being shown too much, just aren’t spending a lot of time watching the videos, commenting and liking them. If you scroll past they stop popping up.
Overall the content creators I see content from seem extremely good for these smaller niche communities.
As a plus, the most unbiased source of content for the BLM protests I found was tiktok, because it was just livestreams and videos from the protests with little possibility to editorialize it. Instead of anchors screaming “violent!” Or sternly saying “peaceful!” You got streamers on spot showing exactly how violent or peaceful certain situations were.
Then as you encounter stuff you like click hashtags that look interesting, explore sounds to find similar videos, checkout a producers other videos.
I watch a lot of strength training/weight lifting videos on TikTok, and I would say the vast majority of the comments are supportive, positive and/or constructive.
Early Twitter (in particular) was a game changer for me, who was working from home for the second time in my life. I had people to talk to and bounce things off and all of a sudden work wasn't so lonely (as I had been the first time I tried). There was a genuine community feel without all the snark and unpleasantness.
I don't use TikTok, but I hope they'll be prescient enough to see where the others have struggled and keep on top their content policies, communities and moderation.
If it focuses on people, you can meet with real friends, and that's fine, because you get along.
If it focuses on topics, it is also fine, you meet people you don't know, but because you talk about subject you all enjoy, that's fine.
Problem starts when the two mix. If you enjoy astronomy for example, the other guy may be an asshole, but you probably don't even know and you get along fine, because all you do is talk astronomy. But if the network thinks that because you like the same thing, he must also be your friend, then your feed starts filling with assholish things.
Stage 1: The person is relatable, the videos are simple and to the point.
Stage 2: The following has grown, and the person now posts more frequently, however the quality/humor/personal touches are reduced. Less content about fitness, more about personal lifestyle
Stage 3: Monetization. Workout PDFs, constant advertising of fitness products (protein shakes, weight belts, etc), lots of hollow 'motivation' posts. The audience keeps growing, but the community has disappeared.
I don't think the commenters who say they only get weird or bad content actually know how TikTok works, or how to use it. You can't just scroll your FYP and expect to get new content, you have to go out of your way to find it. FYP is just a feedback loop of videos you keep watching.
If you want to start getting more queer content, for example, start searching the #lgbt or similar tags and watching/liking/commenting. Your FYP changes really quick.
Not the experience for my circle of friends.
> for example, start searching the #lgbt or similar tags and watching/liking/commenting.
What if some hate video for the community gets posted under the same/similar tag? I am not sure how it is now but mid last year one friend saw something very offensive on a tag related to his nationality with a lot of likes.
Plus the conversation is about under 16s, I highly doubt what they're seeing is the same as you, so it's not really relevant what your feed is like.
But you can’t bar talking about it because sometimes it’s bad. It’s tough.
Not saying you’re wrong at all. Just suggesting there’s a lot of nuance here and it’s difficult to manage. Your point is very correct and important.
I don't think its particularly helpful as based on what I've seen myself, a lot of these 'support networks' actually veer on glorifying the issues.
You shouldn't base your social group on an echo chamber.
I think glorification occurs because it’sa much easier way to, at least temporarily, alleviate the struggle some issues can cause. It’s an understandable response to pain, especially in young people confronted with complex internal problems.
Also your point about children not being able to judge these things for themselves immediately made me think... It seems a lot adults can’t be relied on to do it either.
The glorification can provide short term relief but creates countless more issues than it solves.
These issues should be dealt with using advice from professionals in combination with a support network.
This may sound counter-intuitive, but please don't judge that sort of thing until you've gone through it.
There are many online communities that seem dangerous or destructive to people who haven't gone through the issues, but are actually incredibly helpful to those who do.
It definitely doesn't seem like the communities that actually help each other gain a sense of security required to pause and self-reflect and unpack their issues get very popular because the click-optimizing algorithms don't give them a chance.
But there's so much more content under the surface that doesn't get talked about. Travel TikTokers give me ideas of where to go in 2021, I stole an Oatmeal recipe from a bodybuilder on there that I still make every morning. I took some ideas about Lightroom from a number of Photography TikTokers, the rabbit holes are endless.
TikTok I think it in it's "pre-mainstream" phase where you get the best of user content but it still hasn't been muddied by promo deals, partnerships and big media. Sure big media is there but most of the content I see reminds me of YouTube in that magical time between when it went mainstream with users but not big brands and corporations.
This has led to a load of interesting communities springing up like the Sea Shanties one and quite a few musical communities doing collaborations.
That should be part of the discussion, though. It's difficult to separate Queer philosophy from predatory pedophilia. It's part of the system of thought, back to the beginning.
Age becomes relative, and Parenting is seen as an oppressive structure that is imposed on children.
any sane individual studying queer theory is still going to understand the relationship between consent & age, and how pedophilia is a mental illness and not a sexual orientation specifically because it violates the ability of younger individuals to give consent
They believe that "normal" sexual ethic is imposed on children by oppressive power structures (enforced by parents). So they believe that they're liberating children by exposing them to queerness. They don't see it as peer pressure or coercion because they see sex as something similar to choosing between ice cream or cookies, which a child is capable of.
Gayle Rubin also defended NAMBLA quite clearly.
Many examples of this stuff.
It really isn't.
TikTok is instrumental for offering children and teens an "in-group" and finding their interests. If you're LGBTQ, you find really wholesome content. If you're depressed, you can find people being open about their depression. If you self-harm, you can find other people discussing and opening up about it. If you're in a toxic household, there's basically a whole support network for you. It's an exceptionally human way to interact with people online, and it's so much fun.
IMHO, TikTok has been the most wholesome social network I've ever used and participated in. Even as an adult (24yo), it's even helped me explore my own identity and how I relate to the rest of the communities I'm a part of. Legitimately, TikTok has helped me feel comfortable opening up and be more "myself" in public.