Another Reason To Dislike TikTok

Not all TikTok magic sucks, but holy shit, the majority of it does. I don’t think it’s an issue with TikTok magicians, and I don’t think it’s magic itself. I reckon it’s all down to the platform. We’ve discussed algorithm hacking in the past. The concept of riding algorithms has been around for a long time now.

Platforms keep their algorithms top-secret and continually tweak them. They tweak them, so the platforms don’t become boring. They keep them a secret because there’s a net negative to any algorithm being public.

Algorithms, if left untouched, can have disastrous consequences. They can lead to children being exploited, pranks being taken to illegal lengths and they can even lead to colossal misinformation, election meddling and insurrections.

At this point, It’s just a fact that if the public knows what the algorithms are pushing, they will misuse that knowledge with terrible consequences. It’s just one of those things that will always, always happen. A little like how if you give people the ability to draw, they shall draw dicks.

TikTok has gamified social media more than any other platform, even Facebook, were prepared to do. Besides creating an addictive culture for their passive users, swiping through endless videos like they would at a Las Vegas slot machine, they’re making the app addictive for their posting users too.

Every week a new user goes viral and has their five minutes of fame. Posting content feels like entering a lottery. If you win, you’ll be the next Lil Nas X or D’Amilio twin — worth millions and millions of dollars.

As you can read, I’m not the biggest fan of the platform. It’s not the magicians on there; a lot of them I like, and some I enjoy working with. My angst is with the platform itself. It doesn’t reward good magic. In fact, it’s doesn’t reward good anything, really.

My friend Anna DeGuzman sent me a TikTok this week that I’d seen before. But when I saw it the first time round, I couldn’t fully articulate why TikTok always weirded me out so much. Now that I see the app as a casino luring people away from good work and into the pits of algorithm waves, I saw the video in a new light. I like how it illustrates so linearly the dangers of choosing to chase algorithms over choosing to make good content.

Oh, btw — if you care about clout and money, ignore all of the above and sign up to TikTok today. There are ways to succeed without falling for the lure of the algorithms, but I gotta tell you: it’s hard not to fall for the algorithms.

The Algorithm Hack

Pro tip: whenever a platform adds a new feature, they’ll tweak their algorithms to boost users who use the said feature. So when you see Instagram adding a new sticker you can add to your Instagram stories, you’ll get more views if you use it.

Replies are not necessarily a new feature on TikTok. But they’re underused, and we’ve seen a massive boost in content that uses replies. Essentially it allows users to highlight and respond to replies within their videos. It’s good for TikTok as a platform because it encourages comments. It also helps cross-promote videos as you link back to the original video and others in the series of responses.

Why are comments good for TikTok? Well, people who engage via comments are more get hooked. When you build your furniture, you become more attached to it. There’s a similar psychological vibe going on here. You’re playing a part, your comment might get chosen, and you’re giving yourself a digital feeling of human connection. All those hormones create a positive feedback loop.

There have been some fun and entertaining uses of this comment feedback loop, including replying to fan questions and, more recently, challenging the creator.

Comments challenge creators to do the same stunt, but in a different location, with a different object or collaborator. A good example is this dude…

I like this video. I think what I enjoy the most about it is that it does not feel like challenging the viewers to figure out how it is done. It more feels like he’s encouraging them to challenge him to repeat the stunt in more and more amazing ways. In many ways, it’s very similar to the “will it flip” challenge in which people comment more complex objects progressively to flip without breaking.

Here’s where things go south.

Magicians have started toying with this algorithm hack and are totally missing the point. They’re challenging people to figure out how their tricks are done on TikTok.

It’s not like they’re putting a coin in a bottle and saying “what object should I put inside a bottle next?” — they’re actually encouraging people to guess how the trick is done. Annoyingly, Kyle Marlett did pull this off quite well the other week with a seriously fooling and obscure old ring on rope trick.

But this comes with obvious risk… what if magicians challenge people to figure out tricks that require no skill? Tricks they only bought the day before from a shop? Tricks you can find available to purchase with one quick google search?

Can you see where this is heading? Anyways, I said this was a story in three parts, and here it is. Below I will present to you a TikTok tale in three silent GIFs.

Part One - Kody Hildebrand Performs This Shop Bought Trick Maybe Thirty Different Times On TikTok

Part Two - Hildebrand Starts Replying To People Trying To Figure Out The Trick’s Method

Part Three - Someone Rises To The Challenge And Stitches With The Video Exposing The Secret

Oh, btw — that final exposure video has 3.8 MILLION LIKES. One final kick in the teeth comes when the dude tells viewers where to buy the trick and names a website selling illegal copies of the trick. Now that at least 3.4 million people know the method it’s probably time to stop performing this trick. There you go then, another reason to dislike TikTok.