everything is tiktok and my brain is rotting
when you open tiktok for the first time it analyzes your behavior and witin the first 15 minutes, begins tailoring your feed specifically to your interests.
it formulates the perfect concoction of feel-good chemicals for your brain chemistry.
then it spaces out your doses in a way that keeps you hooked. you'll see a few high interest videos interspersed throughout less relevant videos in order to keep you hooked till your next "fix".
this groundbreaking 'tiktok' algorithm is being replicated across the internet. surely you've seen it.
the fact that you're reading this on an indie micro-blogging platform means you're probably well informed on the issues it brings and hate it as much as i do.
the algorithm makes it so you can feel this high with zero user effort. you dont have to search a topic of interest when the algorithm spoonfeeds it to you.
when you watch stimulating videos, you become desensitized and in turn need a higher level of stimulation to feel the same amount of satisfaction.
with the introduction of short-form content, this feedback loop is becoming increasingly small. it's how many of us went from comfortably watching a 30 minute video essays to watching "brainrot" slop on tiktok. it's a bait + switch. nobody actually wants to watch this stuff.
we have become so desensitized to 'average' (read: boring) forms of entertainment that we need things to be faster, brighter, weirder, to get any sort of emotional reaction or enjoyment.
im sick of downloading thousands of short-form videos into my head. tired of viewing hundreds of images against my will each time i open my phone.
im tired of opening an app to message a loved one and somehow watching a video that makes me irritated, one that makes me sob, one that makes me laugh until my guts hurt, and then wonder why i opened the app in the first place.
our emotions are being taken hostage and played like a flute.
this just isnt fun anymore.