Alright Friends, Let’s Talk about TikTok

[F] Alright Friends, Let’s Talk about TikTok [Meta] [Over Explaining] [Platform Discourse] [12:08]

If you’re listening to this and are like“Who the hell is this?” Hi, I’m  Betty LaFlame, I’ve made some mediocre content for GWA and you can mostly find me being a Simp in the comments for men with deep voices. I’m making this audio because I thought that maybe people wouldn’t really understand what was going on or why or even how TikTok really works in general. Since I’m pretty familiar with both GWA and TikTok, I thought that I might have at least a perspective and can hopefully give some insight. I’ve been on the internet for pretty much the entire time I’ve been socially conscious. In fact I would cite the Internet as the catalyst for making me thus. You know, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, YouTube, Vine, Ao3, you know FanFiction.net, 9Gag, iFunny, and TikTok. As the great philosophers the Beach Boys once said “I get around.” Which means I’ve seen a lot of online drama both as a minor and as an adult.

So I’m here to tell you that TikTok… is functionally not any different than any other social media platform. I know it’s a bit of a buzzword right now because the Chinese are taking our data, meanwhile FaceBook is literally swaying US elections but whatever. You follow people and topics and it’s curated for you on the homepage, just like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or Reddit. But before we get into the why, we need to talk about the what. So TikTok is a short form video sharing app, relatively short that is compared to say YouTube or Twitch. It’s conceptually very similar to Vine, The videos are a minute or less and range from recipes to dances to rants to pretty much anything you can cram in one minute. Except porn, but we’ll get to that in a second.

The other two things that really distinguish TikTok that pertain to the current situation that I’m talking about are how the homepage is (Known as the For You Page) is curated as well as the relationship to audio on the app. Firstly the For You Page’s Algorithm is similar to the YouTube Algorithm if you know anything about that. It will lift up and support content that is deemed “desirable” and then suppress and push down content that is the opposite, that is undesirable.  But what really sets apart the TikTok algorithm from the YouTube algorithm is just how curated it is, how accurate it can be in regards to what it shows you and what you like. For instance, I always joke a lot that the people who do the Spotify Weekly Discover playlist need to get in the same room with the people who do the TikTok algorithm because I have found more music through TikTok than I ever have through this place that’s supposed to give me new music. And there’s this constant running joke that they [people on TikTok] will say “Wow, when they say ‘For You’ they really mean it.” because of just how tailored and curated it an be. This thing knows how long you’ve been watching something, whether you give a like or not, if you comment, if you share, if you follow the person and it shows you stuff you like based on that. You end up creating this bubble for yourself of stuff you will enjoy. That’s where the idea of “Sides of TikTok” comes from; it means the videos some creates / sees are being shown to groups of people with similar bubbles.

The other distinguishing thing that I want to talk about is the relationship to sounds on TikTok. So because TikTok is a visual / auditory medium, it likes to push the boundaries of that and use everything for its advantage. Much the same way YouTube does, people will react and share and mix different audio tracks and videos. But what really distinguishes TikTok is that people can create several videos with the same audio track. So for instance, let’s say Cardi B uploads 60 seconds of her WAP music video to TikTok, she will automatically create a “Sound” when she does that. And then people can watch the video, and then use that WAP to make their own videos and other people can watch every single video made with the WAP sound. Now, if you’re a Meme-ster, you might be thinking to yourself, “This would create endless meme potential.” And you’re right. Because after all, a meme is just a recurring joke on the internet, so if you’re able to make a funny audio and people can use it, people can look at all of them. It creates this very unique relationship with audio. Unlike that of YouTube or Twitch.

So why are we talking about this? Why does this matter? You’ve been going on for like ever, what’s going on? Well… if you haven’t heard, certain GWA performers, who shall remain nameless, have had their content shared on TikTok. And this is very problematic. Firstly, I would like to mention, because it means their content is being shared without permission in a way they can’t control, which is grossly disrespectful.Which does bring us to the big issue: TikTok’s demographic is primarily minors. I would like to say that there are a lot of adults on there now, as of recording I follow close to 4,000 people, most of whom are adults. That doesn’t make the situation any better, but bears mentioning.

So now that we’ve explained what TikTok is and what the issue is, I think it makes sense why this happened. You know, TikTok’s unique culture with sounds and curation means that people can easily react and share sounds and those videos will reach more and more people with similar interests to those people. Meaning more people will react and share it and it creates a whole cycle. And you know, this is kind of just an example of Rule [34] run amok. Like horny people gonna horny. Obviously, TikTok wouldn’t let like literal Pornos on their app, and they do censor certain words. Like you can’t say things like “Cock”, “Vagina”, or “Sex” on TikTok but like sexy moaning? Euphemisms? Dirty talk? Those are not as easily detectable. So through this method of selective censorship combined with the culture of the app makes audio porn a prime target for virality. Ver-ilaity? Vie-rality? For being popular.

So what do we do? Well, really just what we’ve been doing. Making it clear that this is an adult community with adult performers. I know I personally was pretty lackadaisical about putting the disclaimer on my content, like I’d put it on the Pastebin but not the post, you know? But after all this all my posts say “This is an 18+ fantasy created by an adult for adults.” I’ve made all my Soundgasm posts private so I can better control who has the links. And I know that no one is coming for my content, sixteen year olds are not logging onto Reddit.eduto share my monotonous midwestern drawl on TikTok unless it’s to be like you know “Get a load of this bitch, she thinks she’s being sexy.” But I’ll do my part, and that’s what I can do. And I’m making this audio so people can better understand it hopefully. You know the ones who actually have lives and don’t just sit around in their pajamas with their faces glued to phones. God, wish I could be part of that world. And, likely the trend will die out on its own and be replaced with something else. It’s the Internet, a day is like a year, a week is like a decade and a month may as well be a century. I haven’t seen as many videos about it in the past few days, even though I’ve been actively looking for them to understand what was happening better. That doesn’t mean that GWA content won’t still get shared or consumed by minors. If they want to find porn, they will. God knows I did.

So to wrap up, if you’re a minor, and you’re still listening to this. Thank you. And I know it probably feels like you listening and sharing and talking to your friends about this doesn’t really mean anything. The snowflake never has to feel responsible for the blizzard. And in a way, you’re right. But it’s not really about personal responsibility. Neither TikTok nor Reddit wants to be responsible for providing porn to minors. I don’t know if you know about the Tumblr Sex Ban due to COPPA, but that has been a net negative for sex workers and victims of abuse and I’d hate to see something similar to happen on either platform. Also, the creators whose content you’re sharing are some of the most popular and best here in my opinion, and I would hate to see them go over this. But this isn’t something you want to mess with; and they have lives outside of Reddit. They don’t make content with you in mind. And I think I speak for the whole community when I say it isn’t that we want to alienate you or even to patronize you, but age really does bring some perspective.

So that’s it. Thank you for listening all the way through. I’d be interested to see what you guys have to say. I probably won’t be doing this sort of thing again, it’s just a very specific scenario where I feel people could benefit from my two cents. But I’m always on my bullshit about something, so if you’d like to hear me rant about literally anything else my DMs are always open. I would just like to end by saying if you really liked this audio, please don’t give it any awards. Instead donate to the Louisville Community Bail Fund to support the protestors. The link is in the post. Black Lives Matter. I hope you guys are doing well, staying safe, wearing a mask, drinking water. Take your pills, call your grandmother, and don’t steal from local stores. Alright, have a nice day you guys.