Regardless of how involved in social media you are, there’s no denying the growing impact TikTok is having. Since its merge with Musical.ly in August 2018, it has become a worldwide phenomenon with over 800 million active users worldwide. With the creative freedom the app gives users, the content has no limits, from music and dancing to cooking, comedy videos, artsy montages, and of course, political content. And the impact that TikTok is having on politics is significant. Take, for example, how a few viral TikToks telling viewers to register for a Trump Rally and not show up resulted in large unfilled seats in the amphitheater and made national news.
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy1i2LXuraU
However, thanks to TikTok’s algorithm, there’s a good chance you’d have no idea this movement was even happening, even if you spend hours every day on the app. The TikTok algorithm is quite mysterious- no one knows exactly how it works- but it general it takes into account the videos you watch, interact with, the hashtags on those videos, your location, in addition to other factors. We see this reoccurring idea of filter bubbles, where different factors, controllable and uncontrollable, play a role in what content we see. But because TikTok so heavily relies on its “For You Page” or FYP, it allows what you see to be solely based on these filter bubbles, not people you follow. So, unlike Facebook, Instagram, or other social media channels, the majority of what content you see isn’t from people you know, but instead handpicked by the algorithm. Beyond this, the filter bubbles TikTok creates has led to some pretty alarming allegations- click here to read more.
From my own personal experience, I can see just how differently the TikTok FYP can be based on these filter bubbles. When talking to my very conservative friend and his girlfriend about what kind of politics that showed up on their TikToks, we all had vastly different answers. His TikTok’s were filled with very conservative creators and other creators making fun of Biden and liberals as a whole. His girlfriends feed was more mixed, with mostly conservative views but not exclusively, and often included conservatives “duetting” or essentially posting reactions to liberal posts. My posts definitely were more left focused, but still has a mix of all political views. Even though we might see the same comedy vids, our political videos are vastly different, which speaks to just how receptive the algorithm is.
We already understand the dangers that filter bubbles possess; they allow us to not see balanced arguments, not fully understand certain situations, and mostly feed and foster our personal biases. But what does this mean for TikTok? The biggest thing to note is the demographic of TikTok users is much younger than other social media platforms. Young minds who are still figuring out their own political beliefs can be heavily swayed by content created on TikTok and create filter bubbles towards biases that they don’t even know they have. The content is also being created by kids who look like them, not politicians or parents, so kids and teens may be more apt to listen to political content on their FYP. It’s a risk TikTok is clearly willing to take but may give this one app huge political sway. Until the political filter bubbles TikTok creates are addressed by the company, we all must to our part to recognize them in our TikTok usage and understand just how they got there.
For more info check out these links:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/28/style/tiktok-teen-politics-gen-z.html
https://www.ft.com/content/c4c09793-993e-4ffd-9e46-2c609f98b79d