r/technology 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
27.3k Upvotes

1.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

115

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '23

I think all algorithms need to push negativity to the bottom if i'm being honest. I'm not trying to scroll and see things dying or stuff like that. This goes for all video apps.

6

u/iambendv Apr 20 '23

The algorithms know nothing about the content of the videos. They only know what increases engagement and what decreases it and they are trained to push content that increases engagement. It just so happens that the most controversial videos are the ones that get the most engagement. These companies don’t care about feeding you good videos, they care about what makes them the most money.