9.2 Pre-Class Exercise: Submission Preview

The submissions for this assignment are posts in the assignment's discussion for this group. Below are the discussion posts for Kimberley Campbell, or you can view the full group discussion.

Kimberley Campbell

Hi everyone :).

For this experiment, I looked at TikTok. I used the tag “#COVID 5G” and scrolled. What I found was a link at the bottom of each video that prompts users to “Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines,” which takes users to an information page with common questions and their respective answers. Interestingly, when looking at all the videos under the hashtag, I found that the app did not really organize the videos based on specific criteria. I would scroll and find a video with over 100 thousand likes, with many comments and shares, and then the following videos would have less than 500 likes or views, varying in values, popularity, and the individuals in the video speaking. It became hard to find videos that seemed to share the same views or ones that all had the same amount of views or engagement with users of the app. TikTok has been known to ‘shadowban’ its users for content that they deem inappropriate or against community guidelines, so perhaps what I am seeing is a censored version of the videos accompanied by the specific hashtag. However, what it means for the stories or content that is told with the #covid 5G tag is that the videos shown could be disorganized or even strategically disordered to showcase unbiasedness or solidify the notion of mainstream free speech.

TikTok is very quick to take down videos and censor certain hashtags or video movements that cause unwanted attention or outcry. Personally, I think that TikTok can be a way to gain information and gauge conventional and popular opinions on controversial or highly sensitive matters globally. However, I do feel like TikTok’s attempts to regulate content can be helpful in reducing negative connotations and foot traffic but it can also be harmful as users would not be getting the full picture and raw evaluations of the topic and the judgements of such.

I feel like some apps have certain content expectations and content they want their platform to be known for. I think that TikTok is no different in wanting their ‘brand’ and connotations towards the app to be steered towards more positive and inclusive principles, both in content and the users of the app.

Hi everyone :).&nbsp;
For this experiment, I looked at TikTok. I used the tag “#COVID 5G” and scrolled. What I found was a link at the bottom of each video that prompts users to “Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines,” which takes users to an information page with common questions and their respective answers. Interestingly, when looking at all the videos under the hashtag, I found that the app did not really organize the videos based on specific criteria. I would scroll and find a video with over 100 thousand likes, with many comments and shares, and then the following videos would have less than 500 likes or views, varying in values, popularity, and the individuals in the video speaking. It became hard to find videos that seemed to share the same views or ones that all had the same amount of views or engagement with users of the app. TikTok has been known to ‘shadowban’ its users for content that they deem inappropriate or against community guidelines, so perhaps what I am seeing is a censored version of the videos accompanied by the specific hashtag. However, what it means for the stories or content that is told with the #covid 5G tag is that the videos shown could be disorganized or even strategically disordered to showcase unbiasedness or solidify the notion of mainstream free speech.&nbsp;
TikTok is very quick to take down videos and censor certain hashtags or video movements that cause unwanted attention or outcry. Personally, I think that TikTok can be a way to gain information and gauge conventional and popular opinions on controversial or highly sensitive matters globally. However, I do feel like TikTok’s attempts to regulate content can be helpful in reducing negative connotations and foot traffic but it can also be harmful as users would not be getting the full picture and raw evaluations of the topic and the judgements of such.
I feel like some apps have certain content expectations and content they want their platform to be known for. I think that TikTok is no different in wanting their ‘brand’ and connotations towards the app to be steered towards more positive and inclusive principles, both in content and the users of the app.&nbsp;