Twitter did this already for the text form. In depth analysis articles and blogposts got replaced with whatever could fit in 40 characters and what mattered more than anything was the impression. It changed how politics is done, so I would say it had an even bigger impact to society.

It is all depressing. As if the spectacle has devoured the whole reality and there is now nothing but it.

TikTok and those consuming it can rot.

Some of us will continue to be reading War and Peace level works and watch "lengthy" movies.

Is the posting account a bot? It’s posted only links and zero comments since it was created.

It's basically television^1000. TV was also constantly criticized for reducing critical thinking skills and championing mediocrity. Douglas Adams put it best of course: "the future is the same old stuff with faster cars"

> TikTok won. Now everything is 60 seconds.

It's true and it's devastating. I intentionally never signed up for TikTok because of the dangers of hyper-addictive short form content. Ultra-processed, junk food content.

But my Instagram became TikTok - so now I don't use Instagram. My YouTube is becoming TikTok - so now I don't use YouTube. Everything is implementing autoplaying short form content. X/Twitter. Reddit. etc.

TikTok won, and we're all worse off for it.

I'm going to be the odd duck here and suggest TikTok has been helpful for me. I view it as a tool. It can be used in a harmful way (scrolling for hours, reduced attention span) but it can also be helpful if used correctly.

It's kind of like Reddit and other "customize your feed" social media. If you subscribe to the defaults, yeah, it's hot garbage. If you select content creators or topics that support your individual growth then you get a much different outcome.

Of course not to say I couldn't have benefited from the same topics via another type of media. But I enjoy the few minutes I spend on TT per day, seeing what my favorites have posted, etc. I even met a cool dummer named Zooich in Japan who I enjoy following and interacting with each week. And I've made a bit of content myself which I'm proud of.

Lastly, in no way does my positive experience diminish the negative issues surrounding TT. I fully agree it contributes to reduced attention span, spreading misinformation, etc. -- just like most other forms of social media. And there's a very real risk of it becoming state media in the future. I just wanted to provide a different perspective other than "TT is terrible in every way, ban it!".

Tiktok has such a better feed algorithm than any of the incumbents. You see what you like, plain and simple.

It made me realize how much the incumbents myopically prioritize ad engagement above all else.

I want to note that culture has been shaped by recommendation algorithm looong before tiktok...

First time I noticed that was "we are number one" meme in autumn 2016

I used to love watching the hour long essays but after notebooklm I just get a briefing summary and realize most of these essays are mostly vibes.

Would someone be able to explain how I, as someone who has never installed TikTok be interfacing with this new change in culture?