I know this is satire, but the core point they’re making is that people being exposed to multiple viewpoints is a good thing, and I would agree—in general.
However, TikTok presents all viewpoints as being equal, and I think I’m not off-base in saying that the views of Nazis and conspiracy theorists are not on the same footing as the views of scientists and historians. TikTok doesn’t care about educating people or ensuring they have well-rounded perspectives; they want clicks and views.
So while it’s helped educate some people, sure, and provided plenty of entertainment, it’s also been a useful tool for bad actors to present incomplete truths in an effort to feed people into extremist pipelines. No social media can fully avoid people with harmful agendas, but TikTok and other centralized media make little to no effort to prevent it.
The fact that Trump unbanned it should have been clue #1 that it’s useful to people like him, and the fact that most users just glibly rejoined says volumes about the alleged value of TikTok’s “multiple viewpoint exposure.”
I know this is satire, but the core point they’re making is that people being exposed to multiple viewpoints is a good thing, and I would agree—in general.
However, TikTok presents all viewpoints as being equal, and I think I’m not off-base in saying that the views of Nazis and conspiracy theorists are not on the same footing as the views of scientists and historians. TikTok doesn’t care about educating people or ensuring they have well-rounded perspectives; they want clicks and views.
So while it’s helped educate some people, sure, and provided plenty of entertainment, it’s also been a useful tool for bad actors to present incomplete truths in an effort to feed people into extremist pipelines. No social media can fully avoid people with harmful agendas, but TikTok and other centralized media make little to no effort to prevent it.
The fact that Trump unbanned it should have been clue #1 that it’s useful to people like him, and the fact that most users just glibly rejoined says volumes about the alleged value of TikTok’s “multiple viewpoint exposure.”