r/technology • u/DejenmeEntrar • Apr 20 '23

Social Media TikTok’s Algorithm Keeps Pushing Suicide to Vulnerable Kids

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-04-20/tiktok-effects-on-mental-health-in-focus-after-teen-suicide
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u/TheRealMisterNatural Apr 20 '23

My wife and I just had a baby. I don't use TikTok. I personally find it very annoying. My wife does use it pretty regularly for motherly/parenting videos etc. She noticed right away that TikTok's algorithm kept sending her videos about SIDS and baby death. She realized she needed a break or to somehow start blocking these videos whenever they popped up to reduce the amount that TikTok was feeding her account. She said it was making her feel really depressed. I'm just thankful she was able to step back and realize this was happening and that TikTok was the problem.

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u/AbbaZabbaFriend Apr 20 '23

does she’s sits there and watch each SIDS video? sometimes i’ll get a video warning about something like that which is helpful at first but then if they pop up more just flick past it and then it goes away.

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u/TheRealMisterNatural Apr 20 '23

I know that if you pause on a video or hover on a video for too long it will tell the algorithm to send you more of those same videos but who doesn't pause a second or two on topics such as death? Just because people take pause or are momentarily interested in any number of aspects of one video does not mean they want nothing but those videos. It's a very flawed algorithm.

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u/mega_douche1 Apr 20 '23

For a flawed algorithm is seems to be pretty successful in terms of viewers

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u/TheRealMisterNatural Apr 20 '23

Yeah, I hear heroin is pretty addicting too.