Tag: Tik-Tok

Yet More Eerie Tik-Tok Shenanigans

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

So, a few days ago, I watched at YouTube vide of Christy Brinkley on the Howard Stern show where she talked about why she was never nude on film. I didn’t think anything more about this until I started thinking about her daughter with Billy Joel, Alexa Ray Joel.

I thought about how she obviously has gotten a lot of work done, probably because she had a chip on her shoulder about the iconic nature of her mother’s beauty.

So, today, there I was obsessively using Tik-Tok when I was pushed a video that dealt with this specific issue. It was as if Tik-Tok peered directly into my mind, made note of my stray thought about Alexa Ray Joel’s changing appearance and decided to push me a video about that subject.

Now, I suppose the case could be made that Tik-Tok is extremely intrusive and it noticed that I saw the YouTube video and it was THAT, not any sort of mind reading that caused me to get pushed the video.

This would be the logical explanation, but for the fact that this type of shit happens all the time. In fact, there is sometimes a nuance to whatever potential mind reading might be going on.

But, I’m not prepared to say, for sure, that Tik-Tok or Big Tech for that matter, has the technology to read our minds. Definitely something to think about. Because the other option — that a combination of being very aggressive searching into my apps and algorithms gives Tik-Tok, a Chinese company, the ability to figure out what’s going on in my mind.

Tik-Tok Did It AGAIN

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Now, this particular instance of Tik-Tok potentially…uh…reading my mind, is not nearly as clear cut as some others. But it’s still a very spooky co-incidence, regardless.

So, for some time now, I’ve been thinking about a weird incident that happened to me while I was working as an extra on the set of the movie Lincoln that shot in Richmond a few years ago. What happen was, my zipper broke in my costume and someone had to get way too personal with my junk to zip my zipper up. It was all very embarrassing because neither one of us wanted it to happen, but, lulz, it did.

I’ve been thinking hard about this incident the last few weeks for no particular reason other than I’m getting older and the past tends to linger in your mind more than it should.

Well, today I was flipping through Tik-Tok when what did I see but a video about — you guessed it — a person not only having a zipper stuck….but someone else helping them attempt to get it zipped up.

It’s all very random and weird. It’s extremely spooky, if nothing else.

Wait, What? Artists Can’t Release New Music Unless It Goes Viral On Tik-Tok?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

This is something that can’t be true, right? Pop stars are being told by their management that they can’t release new songs until they go viral on Tik-Tok. That is just crazy, crazy for real for real.

Just nuts.

I mean, who’s to say this or that song is going to go viral on Tik-Tok in the first place? It doesn’t seem to serve anyone. It’s a lose-lose situation. But here we are.

Tik-Tok May Have Read My Mind Again

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Now, as I keep saying, I’m well aware that I sound completely bonkers when I suggest that Tik-Tok and Big Tech can read our minds. And I only keep suggesting this because Tik-Tok keeps pushing me videos which are so specific to me that I struggle to figure out how it could just be its “algorithms” being responsible.

What’s more, the videos pushed make reference to thinks that I’ve not told anyone about.

The latest example is this — I am reading novel Project Hail Mary and I’m at a portion of the book that deals with the issue of gravity in space. Well, what was I pushed just now? A video about that exact thing.

I’m sure I’m reading too much into this, but, still. It’s very spooky.

Apparently, Tik-Tok Thinks I’m A Lesbian


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I have spent a lot of time speculating that Tik-Tok might have some not-so-limited ability to like, read our minds and stuff. And then it does something like this — it keeps pushing me videos that seem to imply I’m a lesbian.

It’s all very odd.

I don’t understand how this is happening, given that 80% of FYP is nearly-naked women running around, jiggling their bodies to the latest dance trend. But out of the last 20%, a good 5% is of very, very female-oriented information that makes my eyes pop out.

I mean, how many times can one man see an up close, graphic and personal diagram of the female reproductive system before you start to think Tik-Tok has you all wrong?

Anyway, no harm no foul. I can only assume something about what I like on Tik-Tok makes the “algorithm” go haywire.

Did Tik-Tok Just Come Of Age As A News Delivery Source?



by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Last night, as we were all processing the leak about the overturn of Roe, I looked at Tik-Tok. And, at least for me relative to Tik-Tok, we’ve now reached a moment where when there is big breaking hard news that a lot of people will get that news from Tik-Tok rather than somewhere else.

But I’m not totally sure yet.

It could be that while it will happen eventually, this is just the precursor for a coming new age. I have long thought that we needed a video Twitter. And I think we have it — Tik-Tok.

It’s not exactly what I envisioned, but it’s something similar.

Or, put another way, I think news consumption is about to undergo a vibe shift of sorts. It could be that within a year, it will simply be assumed that rather than turning to Twitter to learn about the news, people — especially younger people, will turn to Tik-Tok instead.

We’ll see.

Tik-Tok Consistently Pushes Me Videos That Make Me Think It Can Read My Mind


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Now, I’m the first to admit that the idea of Tik-Tok being able to read our minds is pretty fucking bonkers. It’s just not something the average person can process as a serious concept. If you broach such an idea, people are going to laugh at you or roll their eyes or think you’re nuts or all three.

And I honestly can’t say I blame them.

But, I don’t know, man. Some of the videos that Tik-Tok pushes me are very, very specific to me. And then happens all the time. The latest incident was when I got pushed a video about why it is that it’s easier to accidently fall asleep on the couch than to intentionally fall asleep in your bed. I sleep on the couch all the time and this is an eerie insight into my interior monologue.

In fact, just in the last few days, I’ve given the idea of sleeping in a proper bed a lot of thought. And, then, there you go, I get pushed a video about that very subject.

Spooky. Spooky. Spooky.

But I have no proof and there’s no reason to believe that all of this isn’t just co-incidence.

Why Is Tik-Tok So Addictive?


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Tik-Tok has seemingly come out of nowhere to become one of the most popular social media apps in use. I have to confess I use it a great deal and I’m an Old. But Tik-Tok is curious because it’s not nearly as utilitarian as Twitter or Facebook.

It seems to exist solely for the purpose of flinging off memes at an alarming rate. Most of the time it’s mindless fun. And, even more interesting, at least in my experience, it’s something of a “safe space” for attractive young women. If nothing else, it’s a very female oriented app.

What’s more, there’s very limited room for any sort of discussion on Tik-Tok. To the point that it’s rather useless. Though, I have to admit that Tik-Tok’s comment sections are even worse than YouTube’s which is saying something.

But back to the question at hand — why is Tik-Tok so addictive? Some of it is the app really knows its users really well. To the point that I sometimes think it can read my mind, but that’s just bonkers. I will note, however, that there may come a point when it becomes a running gag that instead of wanting some alone time with their boyfriend’s phone, suspicious girlfriends will just want access to their boyfriend’s For Your Page.

It is interesting that apps have devolved to the point that there is zero thinking involved now. Once Tik-Tok figures you out, you see video after video that you, personally, will like. And I think that’s why it’s so addictive. Most of the time, any video you’re pushed by the service is something you’re honestly interested in to the point that you spend way too much time on it because there never comes a point when you say, “Yeah, this is not for me.”

Not that there isn’t the occasional hiccup. Occasionally, I’ll find myself looking at a video that I absolutely hate. But that’s reasonably rare on Tik-Tok.

The successful of mindless Tik-Tok does make one wonder what comes next. I guess it will be something connected to the metaverse.

Of Tik-Tok, Big Tech & ‘Digital Telepathy’


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m very well aware that any suggestion that Big Tech can read our minds is demonstrably bonkers. It’s just not something any reasonable person can take seriously. And the only reason why I even mention it or keep thinking about it in a very conspicuous manner is how often Tik-Tok pushes me videos that are very, very specific to me personally.

If there was any reasonable explanation for how their “algorithm” knew something specifically about me, then I would dismiss the idea that digital telepathy was possible just like any one else.

But consistently since I started using Tik-Tok, I have been pushed videos that seem to reference specific things that I’ve thought about — and told no one else about. I have not written about it. I have not tweeted about it. I have no spoken about it. It’s something that’s been exclusively a part of my internal monologue.

I guess it seems so ridiculous on the face of it because it’s just something the average person is unwilling or unable to believe is even possible. We would know about it if they were doing it, right? For Big Tech and Tik-Tok to read our minds, it would be such a big technological advancement that they would tell us about it, right? Right?

But Arthur C. Clarke said once that, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” If Tik-Tok can read our minds, this is what I think is happening — it’s not granular. They can’t turn off any specific element of what your thinking about, so you only notice what’s going on when it deals with issues surrounding your body.

It’s things to do with the body that your most likely not tell anyone else about and, as such, when you get pushed videos by Tik-Tok that reference such things, you notice that it’s something you haven’t told anyone about.

Now, of course, you could say that it’s similar to how Target got in trouble once for sending to a young woman’s home coupons for pregnancy related things, even though she had not told her family yet. It think figuring out that someone is pregnant through what they do online is a lot different that being pushed a specific video about this or that thing about your body that has exclusively been a part of your internal monologue.

Another thing that goes against the idea of digital telepathy is someone, somewhere, would know the technology exists and, as such, it would leak out and we would know about it. It’s well known that Facebook and others have been looking into digital telepathy, but Facebook recently made a big deal about how they were scrapping the project.

So, I don’t know. For the time being, I’m just going to have to accept that I sound bonkers for even mentioning the possibility that Big Tech can read my mind through my cellphone.

Tik-Tok As A Female ‘Safespace’


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

One of the more curious developments in social media of late is how Tik-Tok of all things is now a female dominated social media service. Or, put another way, it’s either that or because Tik-Tok is actively reading my mind it knows I’m something of a male lesbian and as such I get a peek into what women are seeing on the app. (wink.)

Julia Fox, Tik-Tok lightening rod.

My “For You Page” is dominated by cats, some politics, a little bit of weird conspiracy theory, hot chicks and women talking about various aspects of being female. I’m very pleased that women, for once, can dominate a corner of the online world.

I just find it curious as to why this happened. I think some of it may be that one, younger women who have grown up with the Internet their entire lives are comfortable with being on camera and, even more importantly, because I’m male a sizable portion of the women I’m seeing are hot. They’re hot social media influencers who are already used to running around being salacious with not a lot of clothes on while on Instagram.

So, in a sense, Tik-Tik is a natural progression from what we’ve seen with photography for years on Instagram. Some of the very-female oriented content I’ve seen on my FYP has been rather eye-opening. Like, at one point, I kept seeing a video where a woman narrated a very detailed graphic illustrated depiction of the female genitalia. I’m all for such stuff, but it was rather unexpected on my FYP otherwise filled with the Green brother explaining this or that unknown part of the scientific world.

Anyway, this development with Tik-Tok is pleasant and unexpected. We’re so used to Incels attacking women for not having sex with them that it’s nice that women can do whatever the fuck they want on a social media planform and not feel like it’s a hostile environment for once.