That was how I felt about Instagram... I used to be able to search the hashtags about topics I'm interested in and see tons of legit, awesome real content. It has gradually devolved to basically spam and an "algorithmic" feed that jams ads and unwanted crap at me. I can't tolerate that unfortunately. Haven't used it in a couple years now.
In the same way that YouTube, reddit, digg, before it has done the same, and presumably tiktok will do so in the future
Yeah, I speculate that it is the ~inevitable path for any investor-funded social platform, necessary to drive increased revenue. I actually see no alternative to doing so, other than the services becoming paid subscription services -- a barrier to entry most of them are not going to adopt after years of free access.
tiktok is really good for finding interesting things about almost any hobby or activity. home reno, biking, weightlifting are what pop on my feed and most of the content is pretty damn good.