There’s sooooo much disinformation on TikTok, super worrying if younger generations are turning to there first for their news. It’s algorithm makes it really easy to fall into an echo chamber
this post was submitted on 14 Jun 2023
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There's so much disinformation here. There's so much disinformation on Reddit. There's so much disinformation on Facebook. On Youtube. On Google. What's your point?
The point is that you should get your news from real news websites that employ real journalists
Why not?
Is your argument that “There’s misinformation everywhere, so I should just get it from an algorithm that’s so good that I only really see what I want to see.”?
Because if so, you’ve already ended your argument, whether you realize it or not.
Oh cupcake. No, you've ended the discussion by calling it an argument and tipping your hand as to what you're looking for. Thank you for showing me I'm dealing with an uneducated neckbeard looking to start fights.
Do not insult others when you have a disagreement, if you want to participate on beehaw, you have to be nice
How refreshing to see people getting called out for bad behavior. I am pretty new to Lemmy, is there a mechanism in Lemmy to treat repeat offenders? It probably is up to the instances, how is this treated on beehaw? Inform the admins?
“Oh cupcake” lmao You’re very welcome, and do take care!
Like a pigeon playing chess.
They stated their point in the last sentence: “Its algorithm makes it really easy to fall into an echo chamber.” Did you read their comment?
The amount of horrible medical advice on tiktok is awful. It's bad in a few places, but working in healthcare, i've never had to deal with as much "please do not take x or do y to try and treat your disease" as I did when tiktok became popular. I've seen lots of things that promoting lying to your physician, or ignoring medical advice in favor of advice of someone who recommends some other improper or unsafe thing instead. It's insane.
How many people who are horrified by this get their news through reddit or Twitter? Getting news via social media isn't weird.
How many tiktok users cite their sources?
How many people actually click on the cited sources on reddit and Twitter?
If I said over a million users on each platform, what would you do to prove me wrong?
I'd request you cite your sources. I might even click on them.
That still wouldn’t prove me wrong, there could be users the sources don’t cover.
The burden of proof nevertheless lies with you.
So I can claim that over a million people on both platforms run their due diligence and actually click on cited sources, disregard your demand for proof, and you still won't have done anything to prove me wrong? Do I have that correct?
Exactly. The issue with TikTok isn't that it's somehow inherently less trustworthy, it's that it's so aggressively algorithmic. I use it (mostly because my SO sends me comedy and pet videos), and my algorithm reflects my interests and my tolerance for bullshit, which is little to none. The misinformation on TikTok is fed to people with an appetite for it. That's dangerous, yes, but these people already had horrible media literacy, and TikTok is a platform that allows creators to prey on that, even if the algorithm is "neutral."
This is why there is a legitimate concern about state control of the algorithms. They can choose to amplify stories that serve their propaganda goals, and silence stories that do not - all while making it look organic.
I think it's okay to get some news from social media, but mostly it isn't good. No one should be getting all of their news from social media. So often the news shared is sourced from complete dogshit propaganda and view farming rags. If you're in the US at least, you should be getting most of your news from the associated press. If you really need to watch the news, rather than read it then your only halfway decent options are nightly news broadcasts. If you need to listen to news, NPR is the only halfway decent source that comes to mind.
I don't trust none of yall
I know it's "cool" to hate on TikTok, but honestly it can be a very good tool as well as fun. I follow a bunch of news, baking, social posters and feel like I get a lot of info without much bias (there is always bias). The people that complain have only themselves to blame. The algorithm is so good you only really see what you want to see. So they're really just calling themselves out. They're watching exactly what they bitch about.
100% the algorithm is next level, tiktok is something that removed the sting of reddit’s demise for me. I am meticulous with liking and following content as well as saying not interested on anything that I don’t like. I think for a lot of haters of Tiktok they’d be shocked to see my feed composed of DND stories, science channels, history channels, cooking, hobbyists, and workout content. Tiktok is a super diverse place if you know how to interact.
All I fear is that TikTok is purely pre-enshittification and it will get much worse when it feels like it.
Make sure you copy link to things you like. You don't need to share, but just copying the link will put it into your history.
Your position is a techno-elitist. Saying that people should be aware of the biases in an algorithm (that they can't review and is subject to arbitrary change). People shouldn't have to work to find unbiased and high quality content. Hell, I did a deep dive the other weekend on the moon and my YouTube feed is filled with flat earther videos.
I am not saying that some people want the content, just that the algo selects for the controversy. It takes work to avoid that. Again, my YouTube feed has the world ending tomorrow because I watched a few moon videos.
And for the record, I tried really hard to find reputable sources and non-aliens-created-the-pyramids content.
Oh my gods you sound painful to be in the same room with.
Just a reminder, treat people nicely on beehaw
The problem is always, how do you know when you aren't fed the wrong thing? The algorithm is a black box. What if one day they they subtly altered it to favour specific viewpoints or similar? Or to hide some other event, or viewpoint, or whatever?
This applies to all media, of course, but I think it's especially vulnerable when it comes to a social media algorithm like this.
Yes exactly! I follow (and stumble upon) some wonderful people who are sharing their knowledge, experiences, etc. it’s another great source of community and education
Yeah, mainly for 18-24 year old demographic, most of whom don’t seem to care much about the news, anyway. Interest in news generally seems to increase with age, though neither of these two statements is strictly true.
Gotta be honest here ... if I was 18-24 I wouldn't be listening to anyone either. They've been lied to more than I ever was when I was that age 45 yrs ago.
It's not that we don't care about the news, it's that the current news landscape doesn't offer any options that are trustworthy and accessible. I can't compare sources and alternative perspectives on an article if 90% of the news websites throw up a paywall at me. That leaves the free websites to public service and the most sensationalist junk. That's why I use link aggregation sites a lot, because the news is curated by humans and there will always be nuanced discussion from multiple perspectives in the comments. Of course, this places trust in the link aggregation site to be powered by humans and not advertisers or influencers.
I'm 38 and get news on TikTok. It's mostly about following and engaging people you trust. Like https://underthedesk.news/ https://www.erininthemorning.com/
My feed is news, us politics, autism, adhd, lgbt and science content
This article isn't saying much imo, and isn't really indicating a greater trust in other media sources (in fact it even says, "56% of people say they worry about identifying the difference between real and fake news on the internet"), so much as relying on them over older forms. This isn't surprising as more people have moved away from cable/satellite tv to relying primarily on the internet for media.
Similarly as news outlets have struggled to maintain any semblance of revenues with this increasing shift to the internet, they've been practically forced to a race to the bottom in pricing, hammering their audiences with an overwhelming amount of ads to try to stay in business. This has made more folks inclined to get news from them through social media rather than visit their sites/apps, thereby reducing that revenue stream even more.
At the same time, the few outlets that appeared to better adapt to social media have been continually screwed by being at the whims of their algorithms which can seemingly change with the slightest sign of trouble or greater profits.
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