The New Pornographers — THE BITTER SOUTHERNER

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the diverse and often strange content that can be found on the social media platform TikTok, including:

• "Viral" dances created by Black creators
• Niche communities like housewives who obsessively organize their homes and document it
• Unusual or entertaining content creators like attractive farriers, tree-chopping men, and masked chefs
• Sick or disabled people sharing their daily routines
• An endless stream of meme-like videos where people mimic or riff on popular trends
• The author's father, a technologically competent older man, introducing the author to Haitian TikTok content

The article also explores the power of TikTok's algorithm in surfacing content tailored to individual users, and how this has created a new digital economy where some creators achieve fame and success while many others struggle.

🙋 Q&A

[01] The Diversity of TikTok Content

1. What are some examples of the diverse and often strange content found on TikTok?

• "Viral" dances created by Black creators
• Niche communities like housewives who obsessively organize their homes and document it
• Unusual or entertaining content creators like attractive farriers, tree-chopping men, and masked chefs
• Sick or disabled people sharing their daily routines
• An endless stream of meme-like videos where people mimic or riff on popular trends

2. How does the author describe the overall nature of TikTok content? The author describes TikTok as "creative and sprawling and often strange and anarchic, which mirrors the internet more broadly." They note that there are "few rules" on the platform and that "chaos is inevitable."

3. What is the author's perspective on the prevalence of people seeking attention and fame through TikTok? The author notes that TikTok reflects "how we crave attention, hoping that if we make the perfect video, we might be catapulted to some version of fame." They find this "haunting" in how it reveals people's yearning "to be seen, to be understood."

[02] The Power of TikTok's Algorithm

1. How does the TikTok algorithm work to surface content for users? The algorithm collects data on what users watch, like, and share, and then uses that data to make "educated guesses about what we want to watch next." The author notes that the algorithm is "uncanny" in how often it gets this right, sometimes surfacing content the user didn't even know they would be interested in.

2. How does the author compare TikTok's algorithm to other social media platforms? The author notes that TikTok is not the first platform to use an algorithm to serve users content, citing examples like Vine, YouTube, and Instagram. However, they suggest TikTok's algorithm is particularly powerful in its ability to pull users deeper into the platform.

3. What are the implications of TikTok's algorithm-driven content curation? The author suggests that TikTok's algorithm-driven content curation has created a "new digital economy where a few lucky creators rocket to fame (sometimes niche, sometimes mainstream) and earn massive amounts of money while the rest of the creative class tries and fails to re-create the alchemy fueling the bright shining stars."