Completely anecdotal but here's a FB post from a friend's husband who started his side gig through TT. It goes longer but I snipped it for politics.
TLDR the TT algorithm helped an entrepreneur reach his intended audiences better than others, allowing for better sales.
Yeah.
Someone said the algo feeds you more of what you want. It's not just that. Every other one does that as well. You look at one video on Instagram of a girl dancing, every reel suggestion is going to be some girl dancing. That is not the reason TikTok became big.
TikTok, as I understand it, has a very democratic (ironic!!) process when a user posts a clip. It shows every clip to a few hundred users, and if they respond, the algo pushes it. You get more engagement after that, and you can go viral quickly. Once people realize they have a better shot going viral on TikTok as opposed to elsewhere, new creators flocked to it. That leads to more/better content, and suddenly TikTok is where everything is happening. Once people are following you, it's easier, etc, etc, but TikTok is the most noob-friendly SM. If you post something awesome, and no one follows you, you can STILL get engagement. Massive draw.
you think most other apps and websites aren't doing this?
I asked before about the detailed risks concerning China and TikTok, and I think, in general, people have been told this is a security risk-because China-and that sounds about right to people, without many people being able to really identify why it is riskier than other apps.
But I don't think that means there is no risks. It's dumb to underestimate what China is capable of, and if the NSA or the FBI doesn't want their IT guys walking around with TikTok on their phones, I am ready to believe them. Based on how China handles their business, and what happens to Chinese businessmen who defy the government, I always will assume if the Chinese government asks/tells ByteDance to do something, they are going to listen.
