the way in which TikTok enables creativity and community building by supporting the reuse of soundtracks, stitching, and dueting, leading to cultural phenomena founded on collaboration

Reels — or TikToks — are a more elaborate, harder-to-make format, where creativity, talent, and effort matter much more. The intended audience, at least on TikTok, isn’t really your friends or existing followers, but really the chance of hitting it big through the app’s algorithmic recommendation engine. It has become a creative scene, more like Yo... See more

TikTok’s feed is not based on any social or follower graph. Instead, videos pop up based on an algorithm that prioritizes engagement, irrespective of who users follow. This dilutes the identity of creators, resulting in very weak network effects. However, it has remained viable because of its high CTC ratio — about 34% of daily active users in the ... See more