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gundmc | on: TikTok goes dark in the US
Can you give some examples? I a skeptical that the format, designed for maximum retention and engagement, can be a positive.
sethammons | parent | next
Knot tying, woodman tips and tricks, off grid tips, cooking (from basic knife holding to now knowing what a roux is, and how to properly make a gumbo my kids love), stories from people I would never have known, movie trivia, historical accounts, and being exposed to music I would never have otherwise found.

I truly feel a loss. I have changed aspects of my daily life for the better due to TikTok.

And I also watched too many cute animals and "don't talk to cops" videos.

KineticLensman | parent | next
Short form instructional videos on topics such as woodworking that get a point across in 90 seconds, rather than a ponderous YouTube equivalent
stefan_ | root | parent
That you idly watched learning nothing retaining nothing because after all, it was what the platform picked for you, not what you sought out?
gdubs | parent | next
I mean, John Saves Energy is one that comes to mind. He shared tons of info about his solar power rig, interesting data, vibrant conversations.

Music accounts like Rare The Nanas who put me to sleep many nights with amazing VHS finds of obscure 90s music performances.

Tons of music theorists, weird quirky bands and musicians who built huge followings there, film makers, game devs, and on and on and on.

fastball | root | parent
What prevents JohnSavesEnergy from posting content on any other platform?
seventhtiger | root | parent | next
Not being noticed due to low quality algorithms. To me TikTok was the first proof that recommendation algorithms can work. I have been using manual curation for so long because so many times I open YouTube or any other social media with the intent to consume content and get that same old feeling "there's nothing to watch" like flipping channels on TV. Just scrolling unattractive thumbnails.

TikTok may have been too effective and addictive, but it undeniably worked. I started watching many niche and interesting content creators that the other platforms wouldn't recommend to me.

spacechild1 | root | parent
> To me TikTok was the first proof that recommendation algorithms can work.

This sounds great at first. Now imagine you are not just into wood working, indie bands or travel logs, but instead slightly interested in right wing or islamist ideology. Within a short time you are flooded with political or religious propaganda. In Europe that has been a real problem. See for example https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000231964/auf-tiktok-re... or https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/innenpolitik/tiktok-afd-100... (Sorry, German only.) The right-wing AfD politician Maximilian Krah became so "popular" on TikTok that the platform had to artificially limit his reach! (Kudos to them, but it shows the extent of the problem.)

To be clear, FB and YT have the same problem of creating filter bubbles, but the algorithm is less effective and therefore less dangerous (but still dangerous enough!)

seventhtiger | root | parent
I actually find the opposite is frue. YouTube constantly recommends more of the same of anything I watch, so watching one extremist or even extremist-adjacent video means I will get flooded.

What's so good about tiktok is that it keeps my interests thoroughly mixed. I'm bilingual and I see content from multiple countries about different interests and it keeps me in touch with all of them plus presenting topical and trending content. It also seamlessly measures my interest so if I naturally skip a couple of videos about a topic I'll see less and less until I see none.

spacechild1 | root | parent
> YouTube constantly recommends more of the same of anything I watch, so watching one extremist or even extremist-adjacent video means I will get flooded.

That's true. I got pretty frustrated by YT's recommendation algorithm. The front page got pretty bad and repetitive. However, there's always some good stuff in the right column when you select "similar".

But you know what you can also do? Actively search for stuff! I wouldn't feel comfortable putting my media consumption behavior into the hands of some addictive algorithm. (HN is already bad enough :)

> It also seamlessly measures my interest so if I naturally skip a couple of videos about a topic I'll see less and less until I see none.

Sure, but while you are interested it keeps feeding you the same stuff, like YT on steroids. This is all fine when it comes to hobbies, music, travel logs, etc., but it gets dangerous with other content. People don't really think "I'm not really interested into this right wing or IS propaganda videos anymore, I'll give it a break".

gdubs | root | parent | next
The question is: what prevents creators like JohnSavesEnergy from emerging on other platforms.
o_m | root | parent
My guess is that TikTok paid for their format more than anyone else. By posting on YouTube it might cannibalize the earnings. Now that it is banned it might as well be on YouTube or some other platform.
qingcharles | root | parent
I can post identical videos to different platforms and get massively different reach. I have one video that has >2m views on Reels, but only 200 views on TikTok, and vice-versa.

Success on one platform doesn't always mean success on all.

How much money has MrBeast made outside of YouTube? (excluding Amazon)

greenie_beans | parent
booktok turned people onto books. there's even a wikipedia page for it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BookTok