Algorithmic Agenda Setting

Congress distinguished itself once again by showing just how clueless most of them are. I tried to watch it live. I had to stop. At least 3 of them could not pronounce the word 'algorithm'. And the whole "WiFi" stupidity. TikTok is awash with videos today about the testimony. My feed is flooded. It's definitely not an accident. Some of the stuff is viral, organically. Other stuff is definitely being "heated", as they say.?

But the whole "data storage" issue is a red herring.?

Yes, Facebook did evil things and was completely leveraged by Cambridge Analytica. The first time I saw Alexander Nix give a speech when he actually was bragging about the kind of manipulative shit they could do (and were doing) for political parties in the UK and then in the US, I downloaded because I thought to myself "there's no way this ever stays online". 6 years later, it has less than 1M views. It's an open book. You can still watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8Dd5aVXLCc?

But as I said, the whole "data storage" issue is a red herring. The likes and reshares and fun silly serious educational informational whatever videos are not the problem.

The problem is agenda setting.?

And the fact is, TikTok's algorithm is insane.?

I really enjoy TikTok, to be honest. It's incredibly entertaining. New music. Fun recipes. Off-piste skiing. Motorcycles. Digital marketing. AI. Comedy. ... It knows what I like. And as a result, it knows a lot about me.?

But here's the thing: It is the only algorithm I have ever seen that has the ability to subtly show you topics and themes that it picks up on and then slowly "introduces" you to the "theme" more and more and more over time. You can try to shut it down, but every once in a while, you get the distinct impression that despite trying to steer the algorithm in one direction, it wants to go where it wants you to go. And once you start going along with the algorithm, it can be a very bumpy ride.?

On YouTube, they call it a "rabbit hole". You start with one thing, you end up in deep dark land. On TikTok, it is far more subtle.

There are 150M Americans on this thing. and most of them are young people. Tweens, teens, and young adults who are maturing and developing their identities. And then a pandemic. And they're locked inside. And an app comes along that's super fcuking fun. Less glamourous. You don't need to be outside. You can be you. It feels so real. People can go viral. It's all video. It's all amazing. Everyone is on it. We do everything there.

Until you realize that it's not necessarily about selling ads against a demographic. That's a nice fringe benefit. And it makes ByteDance and co a lot of money. Fine. Whatever. I have no problem with that.

The problem is agenda setting.?

The issue is that by putting a very light finger on the scale of TikTok's algorithm, those who control it have the ability to subtly influence an entire generation of Americans (amongst other people). Sure, newspapers and TV and FOX and "traditional" media are increasingly biased but this is not the same. Classic media (and most other social networks, for that matter) are far more obvious. TikTok has refined what Facebook and co. started, and I think people could/should be very worried.

Stuff like: Democracy is doomed. Voting has no impact. The idea that work is bad, and it's ok to be lazy. Defining "beauty". The whole "dysphoria" topic. Bosses are bad. Eat the rich. Quiet quitting. School is for losers. It's ok to be a rude boy. The American government is bad. School is for losers. It's ok to sexualize yourself as a 15-year-old. ... I could go on.?

Again, don't get me wrong: I know that there are many brilliant creators on TikTok making incredibly good content. It's so impressive. I am inspired, and I am often in awe. The creators are not the problem. It's the influence that TikTok's management and those in the Chinese government have as a result of all that creativity which worries me.?

Some people may say, "Isn't that just like Don Draper? Isn't this Coke teaching the world to sing?"?

My answer is, Yes, somehow. Except that they're not selling Coke, and they're not teaching the world to sing.

The average watch time on TikTok is 95 minutes per day. That's over 1.5 hours per day, on average. Take 10 minutes per day. That's 20+ TikToks. Tip the scale of the algorithm towards a set of videos which leverage the music, colours, and memes of whatever you are into and also contain messages favourable to whatever behaviour you're trying to change.?

And it is in the hands of the Chinese government. And they will leverage that power as often as possible for as long as possible.?

I'm 100% certain of it.

Why am I certain? Because the NSA did this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM

As always, thanks for letting me rant.