Duration 13:3

How TikTok's Algorithm Figures You Out | WSJ

by Wall Street Journal

368 127 watched

10.3 K

Published 21 Jul 2021

The Wall Street Journal created dozens of automated accounts that watched hundreds of thousands of videos to reveal how the the TikTok algorithm knows you so well. A Wall Street Journal investigation found that TikTok only needs one important piece of information to figure out what you want: the amount of time you linger over a piece of content. Every second you hesitate or rewatch, the app is tracking you. Photo illustration: Laura Kammermann/The Wall Street Journal WSJ video investigations use visual evidence to reveal the truth behind the most important stories of the day. Inside TikTok’s Highly Secretive Algorithm This WSJ video investigation reveals how the video-centric social network is so good at figuring out interests you never expressly tell it. More from the Wall Street Journal: Visit WSJ.com: http://www.wsj.com Visit the WSJ Video Center: https://wsj.com/video On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/wsj/videos/ On Twitter: https://twitter.com/WSJ On Snapchat: https://on.wsj.com/2ratjSM #WSJ #TikTok #Algorithm

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Comments - 664

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@ludvigeh3 years ago We created 100 bots is a very creative way to describe 10 summer interns. 1833
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@chandramoulisarkar29353 years ago " we' re training them and they are training us" well said. 521
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@rooseveltsilver37533 years ago The youtube algorithm is as powerful as tiktok' s in landing me on this wsj report. 743
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@rbd58683 years ago Apart from the content itself, the visual and graphics of this video are incredible. 475
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@Gabrielgrassmayr3 years ago We made a bot who is 24. He is depressed. Haha yeah hes still kinda gen-z. 370
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@142motocross3 years ago I believe not enough people are discussing the dangers of algorithms that have been tasked with increasing engagement. 245
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@alexanderdunn92492 years ago This is super interesting but i would be curious to know how the automated bots were programmed to identify and interact with certain types of content. Id . ...Expand 121
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@mynameisosca3 years ago Man i feel depressed watching kentucky swipe. 206
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@chrischris53373 years ago One thing i like about youtube is that when i use a vpn, it changes a lot of recommended content. Having lived in different countries and speaking different . ...Expand 74
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@SteashEdits3 years ago We definitely need to see a trend of having algorithms aid the users rather than algorithms dictating the users.
youtube and instagram already . ...Expand 87
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@adobegr3 years ago In the past our personalities were shaped by the people we met, now personalities are shaped by algorithms. 14
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@julioduan71303 years ago Youtubes algorithm didnt work well. It always recommends me videos that i dont want to watch. 86
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@savannahlevy972 years ago The tik tok algorithm never seemed to figure out what i like. Even after weeks. It would show me some basic things like " foraging videos" which . ...Expand 20
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@royasher33493 years ago And by watching this video till the end, youtube will give more video from wsj (and topic about tiktok) 62
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@ypotanin3 years ago I' m kind of impressed by wsj' s technical capabilities. Right on. 40
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@logankessler2 years ago I personally feel that these algorithms should be designed to challenge the views and opinions of people, not further confirm their biases. 19
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@alvinmangera94983 years ago Youtube recommending this video like we don' t know they' re doing the exact same thing! 15
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@mirofeya2 years ago It is totally listening and detecting all it can on your phone. My tiktok knows my period cycle, it knows when i' m hungry and when i' m in the toilet constipated. It is incredibly accurate. This is scary. 12
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@mhtinla3 years ago Why does youtube serve me this video? I' m not even on tiktok. 9
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@matyasmatta3 years ago Awesome video! I really loved the data visualization, makes it just amazing! 17
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@trung1708013 years ago Wow. This is movie-level journalism. Great job wsj! 75
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@questionm27863 years ago I hate how the conversation has mostly been around tiktok when it comes to algorithms and the boxes social media puts us in, tiktok only has the best filters . ...Expand 233
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@ekananda95913 years ago I think the most consumed drug is not coffee. It' s the internet. 10
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@TomNook.3 years ago Not exactly rocket science is it? The more you watch, the more info you provide, the more accurate it is. 34
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@samheedy2 years ago Shares likes and saves play roles in what tiktok shows you.
tiktok also pays attention to how long you are over a piece of content, every second you are rewatching the video, the app is tracking you. 11
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@musicneverdie88742 years ago Thank you so much for the report related to this particular topic! 4
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@oktabramantio47093 years ago I still remember when we were talking about how dangerous youtube algorithm is. 6
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@sams85022 years ago Amazing journalism from wsj, thoroughly impressed. 3
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@ajbahlam3 years ago Everytime i watched a well-made video on a certain topic, youtube will recommend me tons of bad-quality stuff on similar subjects. 24
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@reddish_orange4 months ago Beautiful video!
yeah, it looks like our social media is a mirror reflecting how we see the world, and what are our most repetitive thoughts.
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@MatthPeder3 years ago After watching this i used a burner account and only liked " thirst trap" videos. Within 10-15 min i was on " country single mom thirst trap" . ...Expand 5
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@akshatjainbafna2 years ago Is it worth to store the engagement for each and every video? Like are the returns higher than the cost of storing the engagement of each user on each . ...Expand 1
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@martianmerit42853 years ago I dont know tiktok but fb is really scary.
i made a private call to a new person yesterday and right the evening i received a friend recommendation fb is creeping on us everybody. ...Expand 49
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@neveroddnoreven15533 years ago Good experiment. Some great insights. It' s highly concerning that the algorithm reinforces your interests or what content has the highest watchtime. . ...Expand 34
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@j.trulyrandom3 years ago Most users do indeed have more broad interests which prevent the algorithm from being overly curated on one topic. Obviously, the algorithm would eventually . ...Expand 11
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@CrossedSabresCOD3 years ago This video is only half of the equation. You need to demonstrate why data collection has consequences. Many people have no concept how this affects them personally. 8
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@homo-sapiens-dubium3 years ago Open algorithms is an important idea and good approach to tackle this situation, i hoped they would go deeper into it. 15
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@adiyatulizyan81922 years ago Hi wall street team, thank you for posting the video. It is scary to view that tiktok just needs to take mere seconds to recommend a user a video of their . ...Expand 1
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@jonasbiermann3 years ago What' s the name of the published paper or is the data available somewhere? Great video btw. 3
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@CaesarAugustus.3 years ago How does the algorithm know if something is a cat video, dance video, or depressed video? Its not like you have to hashtag or categorize what you post. 5
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@VenarioMoviola3 years ago I' m happy this app is not available in our country. 3
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@alexwintermeyer22653 years ago Sadness and depression are not the same thing. One' s a feeling the other an illness. 4
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@Carcosahead3 years ago Now im interested in how those bots work. 4
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@kbhasilast year One thing i noticed, not on tiktok but with tiktok videos reposted to youtube shorts, is that the person creating the video would put the end of the video . ...Expand
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@alixnight53183 years ago I can' t believe i just realized you could say you don' t like stuff on tiktok. 1
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@abaqus59463 years ago What are apps supposed to optimize for other than showing people what they like to see? 2
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@gamezswingerlast year Superb video! Eye opening. Thank you for sharing.
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@skyak44933 years ago Engagement focused ai is to train machines to prey on humans. 13
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@BenHuntsman3 years ago Excellent content yet again from joanna stern. 2
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@MsMrMaplelast year Recently, i checked my phone for battery use. The highest was tiktok! I never use it, and i did not install to app on purpose (i probably clicked something . ...Expand 1
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@KhanPiesseONE3 years ago The tiktok algorithm served me a video about this video and so i went into youtube to watch it. Ah, we truly do live in strange times. 9
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@Rizhiy133 years ago , this methodology seems so flawed. If you only vary one thing between accounts, then of course the algorithm will differentiate by this one thing. The algorithm might be picking up on a lot of different stuff, but because you only alter one piece of behaviour, that will be the only signal. .. ...Expand 5
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@asheru92543 years ago Advocating for tik tok algorithm transparency because its own by chinese company when google and facebook has been doing the same thing, colecting our data. 7
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@timyjoned77839 months ago Pausing + external keyboard data + microphone is a deadly combo.
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@Dwika343 years ago Did wsj really create 100 bots that is able to do all of this? Im really interested how they created and coded it. 5
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@Fingolfin3423last year If you use tiktok, stop. Delete the app and never touch it again. The sad thing is that too many people are literally addicted to it. It' s a drug. 2
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@cabilingchadrickjoshuav.51163 years ago I had the urge to double tap the screen while watching this video. 1
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@helloworld90443 years ago I would be interested to know how hard it is to exit from the rabbit hole. Like if you are overcomming depression, how much time will it take for tiktok . ...Expand 2
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@gold99943 years ago Person: watches dances
algorithm: this guy likes dances
person: surprised pikachu face. 3
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@scattagainlast year Recently, tiktok has updated their terms and conditions to allow them to track camera and microphone information to further optimize their algorithm id="hidden22"
for example, before this change, it would be a small struggle point for the algorithm to find out whichfunny content you like, but now by just tracking your reaction such as smiling or laughing, it can understand you more than you do yourself. ...Expand 2
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@anandbagaria94473 years ago Ironically, if wsj made a similar video about the youtube algorithm the video would' ve been taken down. 2
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@importantname3 years ago Great business model: give people what they want. 57
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@nathanaelmasuka76853 years ago Funny coincidence. I was on tiktok, and i decided to hit youtube to watch this video specifically but when i scrolled just one time before closing tiktok i saw a video about this video. 1
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@rawkrXbabee2 years ago I was happy with the niche content i was getting for a while in 2021, a lot of self-help, some astrology (even though i don' t really believe in it, . ...Expand 2
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@FilipeFBarbosa3 years ago Tiktok select content for me in more ways than hashtags or music they know what kind of people i want to see if they should have piercings or tattoos. They select content in more secret ways than instagram can. 1
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@posthocprior6 months ago A guess: when you sign up for a tiktok account, each user is assigned a random baseline based on age and ip location. That is, the model uses a poisson . ...Expand
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@Livingincoastalsandiego2 years ago Powerful. It' s all about money. The longer you stay, the more ads are shown to you.
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@MahdeeMushfiqueKamal3 years ago I had to watch an ad of tiktok before watching the video. 1
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@xdgaming43933 years ago Its hard to escape it but i managed to. 2
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@thetenyaiida3 years ago This is what i want people who hates tiktok for beingto know: you are what you consume. If the app still serves you cringey videos after using it for some time, then maybe you' re cringey yourself. 34
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@lukecwolf3 years ago I' d like to see more information about algorithm bias towards geographic location. Having used a vpn and lived in a few countries, i like how your . ...Expand 1
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@qwertyouriop2 years ago And then all that data is sold and you get the most personalised ads ever.
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@nickwey2143 years ago Dude, it' s just a machine learning algo, tiktok did the best because they got more data and hired more engineers to polish it. 12
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@NovelNovelist3 years ago I love tiktok because it' s algorithm is so good at showing me content i like, but absolutely you sort of have to moderate your own attention to keep . ...Expand 21
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@dunny22103 years ago I wish my wife knows me as well as tiktok. Smh. 5
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@rainysuggest42473 years ago Am i the only one who knew it already, and had from 200 to 50 followers on tiktok in 3 days? 3
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@mytexasdays15263 years ago Golden corral has all you can eat buffets. After a few times there you choose the same few items. No different than algorithms. 1
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@Peeps408363 years ago Ok, that dog video was actually pretty cute. 2
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@user-qi9wz6iu9x3 years ago I wonder how tiktok handles those date by the user.
we cannot dismiss this point so need to monitor from now on. 1
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@NextFuckingLevel3 years ago That kentuckyis a person. There' s no way a low code bot could be that advanced. 1
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@robsteele20873 years ago What do we want our robots to do if it' s not learn our preferences and cater to them? 1
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@pavelviltres3 years ago Interesting. But how is this different from the other social media, such as facebook? 1
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@jaredspencer33043 years ago Is the algorithm really that great? All my searches are for edm, psychedelics, and golden retrievers, yet my fyp feed is only ever 1) 20 year old blonde . ...Expand 2
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@ardentdfender41163 years ago Just imagine the social manipulation programing that can and will eventually take place as almost everything is eventually knows about you. 3
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@hawaii32312 years ago Doesnt every social media platform give you more of the content you interact with? Whether you like/comment or not.
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@aridoshi681163 years ago The algorithm doing very well it provides what i want to watch. 4