TikTok and the Sorting Hat
Eugene Wei,
Remains of the Day,
Aug 09, 2020
The question considered here is "How did an app designed by two guys in Shanghai managed to run circles around U.S. video apps?" The answer, at least according to Eugene Wei, "in some categories, a machine learning algorithm significantly responsive and accurate can pierce the veil of cultural ignorance. Today, sometimes culture can be abstracted." But even more importantly, "The algorithm allows this to happen without an explicit follower graph." I think there's a lot more than that, and the detailed history of TikToK offered in this article supports that. But the algorithm is a big deal, a huge improvement over the "horrifying" algorithms of other services. See also Donald Clark, who explores some of TikTok's more interesting features.
Also, a quick news update from Metafilter: "Amid Microsoft's attempt to buy TikTok before a September 20th ban (which TikTok says shows "no adherence to the law"), Instagram launched its knock-off feature Reels, just the latest in a long line of Facebook's clones of competing products. Sarah Jeong says the "only question worth thinking about is why this matters to ordinary Americans — more specifically, should we be afraid of Chinese apps like TikTok?"
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