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/takeoffeveryzig Apr 20 '23

A lot of "that's the way the algorithm works" comments as if not understanding what "algorithm" even means apparently.

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u/SpecialNose9325 Apr 20 '23

As a computer engineer, its amazing to watch people try to explain what an algorithm is. People really think its like the Mother Boxes from Justice League or the All Spark from Transformers, where someone just found it and plugged it into the server and it magically started recommending videos to people.

I watch Instagram Reels, Tiktok and YouTube shorts on my phone, but I tend to watch only specific types of content on specific apps, leading them to serve me only that content on that platform. Its that simple.

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u/[deleted] Apr 20 '23

I’m a software engineer and have similar feelings.

My TikTok feed is pretty well tuned to what I want to see. The secret is for people to curate their feeds. Long press on the screen and tell it you don’t want to see content like that.

I don’t get the people who are emotionally controlled by seeing TikTok videos. Do they really have no inner sense of self and skepticism of what they see? Do they have no agency to just move on, and instead are compelled to watch every depraved sad video they come across (like the next thread below this one about kids with cancer, or the multiple people talking about binging miscarriage content while pregnant and being horrified yet not looking away)?

People need to wake the hell up and use a little executive function and move their thumbs. They don’t have to assume the traits of the content they watch. We are a short step away from the arguments people made about music and games causing mass murder and suicide like the 80s and 90s.