How TikTok's Algorithm Figures You Out | WSJ
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ก.ค. 2021
- The Wall Street Journal created dozens of automated accounts that watched hundreds of thousands of videos to reveal how the the TikTok algorithm knows you so well.
A Wall Street Journal investigation found that TikTok only needs one important piece of information to figure out what you want: the amount of time you linger over a piece of content. Every second you hesitate or rewatch, the app is tracking you.
Photo illustration: Laura Kammermann/The Wall Street Journal
WSJ video investigations use visual evidence to reveal the truth behind the most important stories of the day.
Inside TikTok’s Highly Secretive Algorithm
This WSJ video investigation reveals how the video-centric social network is so good at figuring out interests you never expressly tell it.
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#WSJ #TikTok #Algorithm
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“We created 100 bots” is a very creative way to describe 10 summer interns.
more like 5 "unpaid interns"
@@notarussianbot1701 source? Or speculation? Because that would seem like an illegal internship in the US at least
interns are like a free workforce, i need to work? nah.. ill "hire" interns instead ;) ;)
@@azioprism3635 depends on your countries laws, I guess? Internships are usually paid
@@TheFalseHuman There are both paid and unpaid internships here in the United States, however it is typically clear for those that are applying for the internships whether they can expect monetary compensation or not.
"We're training them and they are training us" well said.
Well said
well said well said
Apart from the content itself, the visual and graphics of this video are incredible
I thought the same thing!!
The visualuation of Tiktok's topics graph is🤌🤌🤌
WSJ bot
The youtube algorithm is as powerful as tiktok's in landing me on this WSJ report.
I subscribe to WSJ.
I think the TH-cam Algorithm is kinder. It wants us to grow. I trust the algorithm.
Ikr
I hate how in yt algo when you just go to watch like a specific genre of video (guns, football, planes,...) it bombards you of suggestions you don't want and you literally have to ignore annoying thumbnails for days of go to say I'm not interested to like all of them
@@robertrostad3930 it wants to make money dude.
Man I feel depressed watching Kentucky swipe
🚀🚀🚀🚀
“We made a bot who is 24. He is depressed.” Haha yeah he’s still kinda gen-z
Funny enough to read bots relate about bots
Their username is Kentucky_96, so they probably have a late birthday and are actually 25 this year. In other words, another depressed Millennial 😂
I believe not enough people are discussing the dangers of algorithms that have been tasked with “increasing engagement”
yeah honestly
Isn't that every algorithm? Genuine question
@@scorpiiiondude3327 you’re right. That’s the point brotha man
@@scorpiiiondude3327 feel like it has to be every single one, otherwise the artificial intelligence doesnt learn right?
New to the party here and I can't agree more with you.
This is super interesting but I would be curious to know how the “automated bots” were programmed to identify and interact with certain types of content. I’d imagine that if these bots were only looking at hashtags for example to identify a specific kind of content, this could bias the results.
Yeah, but what they re trying to say is that if you stop more frequently for a certain type of video, it sets you on a path to overload. But it turns out people stop at the sad ones more often
@@sidekick3910 Exactky^ You actually got the point, over Alexander with the initial comment.
maybe speech to text, music used in video, filters, comments, text used in video, maybe even clip interrogator
Tiktok listens to you. An programmer told me that. Also they can see you on camera, and also create sinfull adiction
😮
Sounds like any other algorithm
Tiktok is more addictive though
clearly a national security threat for obvious reasons - WSJ tried its best to imply
@@LarryLiu77 they want to make it look bad because its owned by Chinese, but American companies do the exact same if not worse
@@1LIFEtoWIN is it? I spent half an hour on it a few months ago and never came back
@@shway1the people i ask to try it and only tried it for a few hours said the same thing. the people who tried it for about a week say it's now their favorite app. it takes a few days to figure you out
One thing I like about youtube is that when I use a vpn, it changes a lot of recommended content. Having lived in different countries and speaking different languages, that is a way to stop it from pushing only one language material on me. Now as far as tiktok goes, it's algorithm is a sticky demon, if it learns something about you, it will almost never let it go
That's interesting. I've lived in 4 countries in the past year and TH-cam keeps pushing the same content. It must know that I only speak English.
I do not agree with this, youtube has been pushing the same content even if I cross international borders for me at least.
TH-cam recommends me more content in various languages depending on the frequency of what I videos I watch in what language. I get a lot of Korean content in my recommended as well
@@aadityarajbhattarai46 Did you use a vpn?
I call bull on this . I mean I am an Indian and it recommend mostly American content to me. And that too from far right nutcases. Wether or not I am in US. Even when I use VPN. So yeah this isn't true.
I hate how the conversation has mostly been around TikTok when it comes to algorithms and the boxes social media puts us in, TikTok only has the best filters for finding interest but social media companies have influenced us way more than we realize by pushing everyone to the extremes of their interest. While they build these systems to make the most amount of money people are push more to content that sometimes has no basis in actual reality and when that is the only content you are seeing its not hard to see how that can seem exactly like reality to the user.
Yeah, facebook leaded the way for year, but it was based on a continuos infinite scroll of posts. Tiktok videos are way faster and the algo is facilitated because it can push everything he wants to test. The same can be said by explore section in instagram, but not many people use that. Tiktok made the opposite, algo before subscribed content. I know also instagram is algo based, but that is to create a more engaging feed for occasional users. Unlike tiktok
@@superandreanintendo tiktok is also a part of social media company...
CUZ CHINA BAD
Yea I kept finding myself in extreme sides of tik tok or echochambers. It definitely altered my world view. Thankfully though, tik tok makes me depressed, so eventually uninstalling it and living in the real world for a couple of week helped me become more rational and independent.
@@milantarika7219 but the fact that like TH-cam will promote any informational the advertiser want if you are the target customers. I mean if the engine could figure out why my interest to but not what my interested by. I would prefer it.
We definitely need to see a trend of having algorithms aid the users rather than algorithms dictating the users.
TH-cam and Instagram already has me addicted deeply in their platforms that it could be my fulltime job to use their platforms while rationally I would never choose that.
chicken or the egg
what does it mean to aid a user
Good news, you can change your own viewing habits.
And by watching this video till the end, youtube will give more video from WSJ (and topic about tiktok)
ain't that the truth👀
I mostly select videos to watch from channels I subscribe to. Recommendations are just endless, truly a waste of time.
TH-cam recommending this video like we don't know they're doing the exact same thing!!!!!!
😂😂
TH-cam’s algorithm didn’t work well. It always recommends me videos that I don’t want to watch.
Thats what I love about it, but it does get it right 60% of the time
Same as Instagram explore. The more I report “not interested” the more content shown to me related to it. Stupid algorithm then🤦🏻♂️
It is totally listening and detecting all it can on your phone. My tiktok knows my period cycle, it knows when I'm hungry and when I'm in the toilet constipated. It is incredibly accurate. This is scary.
Wow. This is movie-level journalism. Great job WSJ!
Define Movie-Level Journalism?
@@robertrostad3930 Gotta be a WSJ bot lol
In the past our personalities were shaped by the people we met, now personalities are shaped by algorithms
you aren't wrong about that but this is just the way the earth is progressing, like it or not 🤷♀️
Even more so today. No one can think for themselves or form an opinion through evidence. They go with what the algorithm says.
I personally feel that these algorithms should be designed to challenge the views and opinions of people, not further confirm their biases.
I don’t think such algorithm will be accepted…… customer will not come back if you challenged them.
that would create cognitive dissonance and most people would never open the app again
This is America bro 😂
Yh people don't wanna be challenged😂😂
Someone needs to create this kind of app!!!
I'm kind of impressed by WSJ's technical capabilities. Right on.
I suspect the French guy was the mastermind behind the technical part.
Hi guy just CT 2
Not exactly rocket science is it? The more you watch, the more info you provide, the more accurate it is
🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀
some people just wanted to know.
editing level is on other level...🔥
I dont know Tiktok but Fb is really scary.
I made a private call to a new person yesterday and right the evening I received a friend recommendation of that person. The funny part is that he is not my friend. I called him personally for dental appointment.
Fb is creeping on us everybody
I went to an optical shop at a remote place using mobile Google maps in an afternoon, and when I was surfing Facebook on laptop that evening, I got recommended a restaurant near that remote place.
That's because you called him and Facebook knows his phone number.
Did you allow the app to access your contacts?
I was in a field trip one time and we talked to this person that works there. Later, he popped up on my friend recommendations...
Why does TH-cam serve me this video? I'm not even on TIKTOK.
because you're subscribed
The tik tok algorithm never seemed to figure out what I like... even after weeks. It would show me some basic things like "foraging videos" which are kind of interesting to me, but nothing that really hit me and made me feel "at home" which I wager is what it's trying to do. At some point it started showing me animals getting abused??? Which is what made me delete it and not want to go back.
Thank you so much for the report related to this particular topic!
Shares likes and saves play roles in what TikTok shows you.
Tiktok also pays attention to how long you are over a piece of content, every second you are rewatching the video, the app is tracking you.
Everytime I watched a well-made video on a certain topic, TH-cam will recommend me tons of bad-quality stuff on similar subjects.
why was this comment so funny to me?
you're absolutely right man.
Awesome video! I really loved the data visualization, makes it just amazing!
but maybe its more eye candy than real new input, to get more ENGAGEMENT for visual appeal ?)
@@ludi4u visualizing the topology of an algorithm's data output is actually a very useful tool in data analysis, so spare us the sophistry
Amazing journalism from WSJ, thoroughly impressed
After watching this I used a burner account and only liked "thirst trap" videos. Within 10-15 min I was on "country single mom thirst trap" TikTok. The scary thing is I couldn't even get out of the rabbit hole since no new content was suggested. Even going to the explore page did nothing.
this is what I want people who hates tiktok for being 'cringe' to know: you are what you consume. If the app still serves you cringey videos after using it for some time, then maybe you're cringey yourself.
absolutley
I think the most consumed drug is not coffee. It's the internet
great business model: give people what they want
Lol, no kidding. Guess they'll figure out a way to complain about it and then ruin it for everyone.
have you not seen this generation of kids?
@@AspenFrostt it's embarrassing.
Beautiful video!
Yeah, it looks like our social media is a mirror reflecting how we see the world, and what are our most repetitive thoughts.
I still remember when we were talking about how dangerous TH-cam algorithm is
This video is only half of the equation. You need to demonstrate why data collection has consequences. Many people have no concept how this affects them personally.
🚀🚀🚀🚀
Open Algorithms is an important idea and good approach to tackle this situation, I hoped they would go deeper into it.
Doesn't twitter have an open algorithm, like when you choose your interests after creating an account?
Most users do indeed have more broad interests which prevent the algorithm from being overly curated on one topic. Obviously, the algorithm would eventually give you what you want but not before trying to give you popular videos
ive tried to get it to pigeon hole me into gaming videos but i cant get them even if i make a new account and only watch n like gaming videos. Its like only certain things get pushed heavily but idk cuz idk exactly how the algorithm is programmed
Hi Wall Street team, thank you for posting the video. It is scary to view that TikTok just needs to take mere seconds to recommend a user a video of their interest and 90% prove that it is effective. One thing I find interesting is that by just programming a bot TikTok can track the interest of the bot via the time spent lingering on the particular video, identifying the user and audio, and the use of hashtags in the particular video. However, based on the video I notice that the use of hashtags enables TikTok to understand their viewers better and compile videos based on the hashtags mentioned. The use of hashtags enables users to discover the content easier and allows them to participate in the conversation. In the case of TikTok, hashtags are used to gather information about the user and use the information to recommend videos that are similar to the hashtags being used. Overall, I find this video interesting about the platform analyzing their user’s behaviors and patterns to help cater to them based on their interest.
Good experiment. Some great insights. It's highly concerning that the algorithm reinforces your interests or what content has the highest watchtime. More depressing content might not be what you need if you're depressed. But at the end of the day these algorithms are built to keep users on the platform. Social responsibility needs to be affirmed
Though tbf most #depression content is actually motivational speeches to help with depression.
@@wedmunds well there u go that's brilliant
amazing work of journalism!
Recently, I checked my phone for battery use. The highest was Tiktok! I NEVER use it, and I did not install to app on purpose (I probably clicked something by mistake on twitter). Seems to me tiktok is gathering info even when you are not using it. I did scroll tiktok for about an hour a couple of years ago on my browser on my laptop. I decided it was going to be too distracting for me, so I just didn't do it. I did not knowingly install it on my phone, and never opened the app on my phone!
What's the name of the published paper or is the data available somewhere? Great video btw
How does the algorithm know if something is a cat video, dance video, or depressed video? It’s not like you have to hashtag or categorize what you post.
It doesnt need to. Algorithm has internal identifiers that analyze videos and its content. Thats why some videos can be accidentally categorized in a category its not supposed to... You see this alot with youtube videos that are labeled "for kids"... Scenes from The HBO show "The Wire" are not for kids, yet some videos get categorized under it.
It uses data clustering to sort the videos. It doesn't know what each cluster means, but it knows that a certain group of users like this certain cluster of videos.
Superb video! Eye opening. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for this amazing video
That 3D representation is amazing!
What are apps supposed to optimize for other than showing people what they like to see?
3:06, this methodology seems so flawed. If you only vary one thing between accounts, then of course the algorithm will differentiate by this one thing. The algorithm might be picking up on a lot of different stuff, but because you only alter one piece of behaviour, that will be the only signal.
One thing I noticed, not on TikTok but with TikTok videos reposted to TH-cam Shorts, is that the person creating the video would put the end of the video at the beginning, which I believe is done so that one view would instead count as two if the views are counted at the beginning of the video instead of halfway through.
Advocating for Tik Tok algorithm transparency because its own by Chinese company when Google and Facebook has been doing the same thing, colecting our data
Pausing + external keyboard data + microphone is a deadly combo
Great piece of work 👍
Just imagine the Social Manipulation programing that can and will eventually take place as almost everything is eventually knows about you.
Is it worth to store the Engagement for each and every video? Like are the returns Higher than the cost of storing the Engagement of each user on each video? Or does it directly store all the Hashtags of the video that the person watched for longer time? It might also delete the first entered data after for example some 100 hashtags but I am intrigued, can anyone explain the data modeling of tiktok?
Did wsj really create 100 bots that is able to do all of this? Im really interested how they created and coded it
Engagement focused AI is to train machines to prey on humans.
I don't think it's that deep.
Now I’m interested in how those “bots” work 🤔🤔🤔
Excellent content yet again from Joanna Stern
TH-cam recommendations just ain’t it. Too many uninteresting videos. It just feels like they don’t have enough data on you.
the medium is slow and we're used to fast paced. that's all
I can't believe I just realized you could say you don't like stuff on Tiktok
Deleted the app long time ago
Very informative video 💯
Great research.
its hard to escape it but i managed to
Person: Watches dances
Algorithm: This guy likes dances
Person: *surprised pikachu face*
Very well done!
TikTok select content for me in more ways than hashtags or music they know what kind of people I want to see if they should have piercings or tattoos. They select content in more secret ways than Instagram can.
Never downloaded it and never will.
I would be interested to know how hard it is to exit from the rabbit hole. Like if you are overcomming depression, how much time will it take for tiktok to stop showing you depressing videos. Or if you no longer believe in Q-anon
The easiest way would be to use the “not interested” option and quickly swiping until you get a video from a different topic. Watch that video fully then repeat.
I almost never leave my FYP.
I'm happy this app is not available in our country
The Tiktok algorithm served me a video about this video and so I went into youtube to watch it. Ah, we truly do live in strange times.
I was happy with the niche content I was getting for a while in 2021, a lot of self-help, some astrology (even though I don't really believe in it, its fun), fashion, and makeup. But then I got a new phone and didn't download the app so I was off of it for about 6 months, I just got it again and I hate it. I'm on filter tiktok? Like just a bunch of people using different face filters. I deleted it last week, honestly best thing you can do if you have any mental health issues or are just trying to better yourself is to delete it.
There are ways to improve your feed although I 100% agree with your uninstalling mindset. at least for a few months.
PRINCESS CAROLYN
Informative video
I love TikTok because it's algorithm is so good at showing me content I like, but absolutely you sort of have to moderate your own attention to keep it from sending you down rabbit holes you don't want. Like on TH-cam I watch a ton of science, politics, and social issues videos -- but I don't want ANY of that on TikTok because I'm just there for lighthearted entertainment, so I make it a point to swipe away from those topics as soon as I identify them even if I'd otherwise be interested elsewhere.
lol, now I want to try Tic Tok
Funny coincidence... I was on TikTok, and i decided to hit TH-cam to watch this video specifically but when i scrolled just one time before closing TikTok i saw a video about this video🤯
I wonder how tiktok handles those date by the user.
We cannot dismiss this point so need to monitor from now on.
But youtube algorithm always push me to watch anti china stories. I don't know why.
i had the urge to double tap the screen while watching this video🤣
Recently, TikTok has updated their terms and conditions to allow them to track camera and microphone information to further optimize their algorithm
For example, before this change, it would be a small struggle point for the algorithm to find out which "type"of funny content you like, but now by just tracking your reaction such as smiling or laughing, it can understand you more than you do yourself
That would be contrary to what was said in this video, can you provide source of your claim?
@@arvcalculator4148 source: trustmebro
I don't have a TikTok account and I never will
Ironically, If WSJ made a similar video about the TH-cam Algorithm the video would've been taken down.
I wish my wife knows me as well as TikTok. SMH
Highly impressive content.
is this not common knowledge? that they analyze your reactions and fit content for your needs? I feel like I spent 15 minutes and discovered 0 valuable information
My reaction too lol. Most social media apps do this
Interesting. But how is this different from the other Social Media, such as Facebook?
Am I the only one who knew it already, and had from 200 to 5000 followers on tiktok in 3 days ?
Dude, it's just a machine learning algo, Tiktok did the best because they got more data and hired more engineers to polish it.
I'd like to see more information about algorithm bias towards geographic location. Having used a VPN and lived in a few countries, I like how your geographic location can change my TH-cam and Twitter recommendations. Snapchat and TikTok have been a sticky trap, I can't seem to get out of certain kinds of recommendations
suprises me that VPN's actually work that well
Wow...so Tiktok is watching US! Thanks God we are very blessed with Google, Facebook and Instagram who are respecting our privacy and never ever try to watch US at ALL!!!!!!!
And same applies to Twitter, Microsoft, WhatsApp, Apple....etc
Hint: if the one who spy on you are from US or allies in Europe...its cool and Normal but
If its Russia or China....they are the Devil himself!
I had to watch an ad of tiktok before watching the video
Don't get me wrong, but I believe TH-cam works in the same way.
A guess: when you sign up for a TikTok account, each user is assigned a random baseline based on age and IP location. That is, the model uses a poisson point process model that assigns each user a random covariate vector which has a normalized coefficient. This covariate vector correlates to the coefficient of each video's covariate vector. Success in the algorithm, then, is defined as narrowing the range of the user's experience on TikTok so that each video use is within the maximum parameters of the covariate vector. This is done by a recursive algorithm that randomly assigns videos based on what the users watches and stops to look at it. The random process of selecting videos, then, should be narrowed and correlated with the coefficient of the covariate vector. (This means, I think, each video needs an enormous amount of data on how it relates to each other video in this correlation matrix. This is the key -- not the algorithm -- and I'm not sure how TikTok does it well enough to insure accurate results.)
This is qhy people say that the "for you" page has gotten too personal
Action speaks louder than words
What an excellent video
Golden corral has all you can eat buffets. After a few times there you choose the same few items. No different than algorithms.