Some news! A short piece I wrote about musicians complaining on TikTok about having to make TikToks just went up on Dirt, a great newsletter that I highly recommend. Check that out here! As always, if you have not yet subscribed to this newsletter please consider doing so:
I have something to admit. The algorithm has compelled me to be cringe on main. You see, for the past year or so, I’ve been on an Andy Warhol-“life as art” journey on TikTok. The prospect of virality seemed so achievable on the algorithmic app, the steps for how to get there, so formulaic, that I was inspired to do some research and try my hand at influencing. I thought, if I can learn how to master a 5 paragraph essay, I surely can film myself performing some marginally cute dance moves for these here internets.
When one of my first TikToks went viral, I knew that this was a repeatable process. My first viral TikTok was about the popular YouTube Yoga guru known commonly known as “Yoga with Adriene.” Adriene had become incredibly popular during the pandemic and millions of people were practicing yoga with her every day. But she was not a widely talked about public figure. My hypothesis for virality was this: if people recognize something they are passionate about, but is not talked about often, they will be motivated to comment and share because they feel “seen.” All of this is a methodical way of telling you that this was my TikTok. Now my grandparents are dedicated readers, so Steve, I am letting you know that this is recognizable hyperbolic humor typical of Gen Z and I am not, a disturbed young man, Okay?
The hyperbolic, ironic note of my video was part of the ummm magic. Pairing a beloved, under-discussed internet personality with an absurd admission of outright obsession provoked a large response in the comments, where other enjoyers of “Yoga with Adriene” shared their passion. They were also excited to share the video with their friends who feel similarly. The video has been shared 1,800 times.
TikTok is deceptively simple. Once someone gets the jist, they truly can go viral whenever. That’s because TikTok is primarily algorithmic, not social. Unlike Instagram or Facebook, where the experience revolves around your “friends” or “followers,” TikTok will show you an endless stream of videos they (and by they, I mean their algorithm) expect you will like. Now of course, you probably will follow your friends, or be shown your friends videos because, you know, surveillance. But the thrust of creating on the app is not about how to posture for your IRL community, but how to optimize your content so the algorithmic masses out there will enjoy your video. And not just enjoy but crucially 1. finish the entire video 2. comment on it and 3. share. That’s because people doing those three simple actions boosts a video in the algorithm, leading to even more people seeing a video as the algorithm learns that it must be “good content.”
With this, certain attributes and formal strictures emerge. First, the video should be short, because the amount of people who finish a video is a huge part of TikTok’s way of determining what is “quality.” But then what makes someone comment? Well something that makes them mad is likely to do it. Something relatable too. Something absurd. Something dramatic. Something salacious. Pairing these attributes with the short form that is encouraged on that app, you end up with the most extreme, curt forms of these attributes imaginable.
This is all to say that TikTok is implicitly encouraging you to be, well, kinda shitty! My most viral TikTok are genuinely my stupidest. For 3 months, I actively tested all this out, posting dumbed-down “relatable” queer content, catty content, politically inciting content and so on. It all worked so well. I got literally millions of views. Even though I now have a more earnest, tailored TikTok, I still post TikToks where I simplify and exaggerate the arguments I make on this substack to promote what I hope is my thoughtfully considered writing.
It may be an obvious point, but I think it’s incredibly important to express: social media platforms encourage us to act in very specific ways. I explored this a lot recently, specifically how this all affect musicians. But beyond music, so much of what we struggle with today, from extreme polarization, to the most craven online “pile ons,” to what can often feel like the decreasing quality of so much music, to even TV shows which are often written with the intention of trending on Twitter. More and more of our culture is beginning to move towards the powerful gravity of platforms.
While platforms can seem neutral and one could think “well, it’s up to people to decide what they post,” I hope my TikTok example can help show you that yes that’s true, but these apps signal to their users all day long what folks should post if they want to do well. Those little algorithmic incentives compound over time. And that’s how you get whole masses of folks emerging with just insane opinions, seemingly out of nowhere. Like thousands of young people dunking on a young girl for saying she enjoys gay male porn. Or all the people online who are extremely comfortable with sharing their extreme trauma on the internet, with no remorse. Or all those that dox and harass people they disagree with, over, like, minor points? All of this, from polarized, strange, niche opinions, to extremely harsh, reactionary behavior is implicitly encouraged by platforms who reward users for their high-engagement behavior with likes and attention. The crazier the content, the more it often spreads. And thus we all are spiraling.
I want us to be aware of our agency in this; we choose to let the platforms sway us in extreme directions, but I also want us to humble ourselves and admit: we are pawns. We are being swayed by technology and culture as meditated through it and its changing our actions and worse: it’s changing us.
Try to remember: was there a time when you just got so mad about something you saw online? Something that may have felt relevant and valid and just, but when you took a breath and considered, you realized was the opinion of a stranger? It probably happened yesterday. Am I right? That anger is your own, and it is up to you to negotiate how internet content effects you, but you are also being bombarded with content curated to make you react from various platforms all day, and it’s okay to admit that we were a bit beholden to that dynamic.
I’ve been saying a version of this now for maybe a month or so, so maybe this will be my last time making the point for at least a while, but I wanted to expose myself, because if you read this, hopefully you have a sense of my thought process and my generally reasonable vibe. But I will come clean: the internet has made me do and say crazy things! And I’m just like you!