{"slug": "tiktok", "name": "TikTok", "category": "communication", "category_name": "Email and chat", "description": "", "recommenders": 1, "commenters": 10, "warners": 6, "score": -3.784, "rising": 1.0, "first": "2025-11-05", "latest": "2026-09-23", "why": "My socials (FB(not much)/Insta/TikTok) have fantastic algorithms, I they uplift my mood", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 3, "compare": 0, "warn": 6}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0], "listed": false, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "My socials (FB(not much)/Insta/TikTok) have fantastic algorithms, I they uplift my mood", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["TikTok"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 788276305, "item_id": 49267269, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49267269", "by": "slopinthebag", "date": "2026-08-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "My socials (FB(not much)/Insta/TikTok) have fantastic algorithms, I they uplift my mood", "excerpt": "My socials (FB(not much)/Insta/TikTok) have fantastic algorithms, I they uplift my mood, have been responsible for positive changes in my mindset and life, etc. When I used X or bluesky or Reddit they have a noticeable negative impact on my mental state. Hackernews is 50/50. So I think social media which is content/image based can be more positive than the discussion based media. However we're getting more and more A", "context": "", "use_case": "social media feed", "switched_from": "", "story": "Bluesky's active user base is shrinking as its focus expands beyond the app"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 797009920, "item_id": 49813120, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49813120", "by": "modo_mario", "date": "2026-09-23", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I deleted tiktok because i have an addictive personality", "excerpt": ">Again as mentioned above I'd strongly recommend using an LLM to search for some info from this era. These systems were all considered extremely addictive. Which is so relative it's meaningless. Cigarettes are also extremely addictive but i'm not about to compare it to TV >I'm certain it increases addiction Then what's the discussion about? Companies incentivised and given the technological means to create a more add", "context": "has an addictive personality", "use_case": "short video", "switched_from": "", "story": "Teen Social Media Bans Miss the Point"}, {"id": 790077184, "item_id": 49379824, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49379824", "by": "tamimio", "date": "2026-08-20", "stance": "warn", "quote": "after an hour or so of using it I get nauseous like how you might get on a boat", "excerpt": "I don\u2019t have tiktok now, but years ago I downloaded it (i think before it was called musically), I used it for a day or two, and I remember after an hour or so of using it I get nauseous like how you might get on a boat, not severe enough to puke but still not comfy that you need to go for a walk or something to feel better. I deleted it and never used it again. And I don\u2019t use any mainstream social media either sinc", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Scientific study reveals TikTok videos deactivate key cognitive brain regions"}, {"id": 789721763, "item_id": 49357610, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49357610", "by": "frabcus", "date": "2026-08-18", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Instagram and TikTok are vacuous and useless to me", "excerpt": "Yep - some emotional core of my being (not rational) hates ML recommendations. I'm a happy paid user of Spotify and just ignore the recommendations (I'm not looking at a screen), and I use YouTube heavily with a browser plugin that hides recommendations (which kills the end of video loop). I get recommendations from people, and use the products for curation, bookmarking and subscriptions. They're good. Whereas Instag", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Meta's blockbuster trial draws parallels to big tobacco"}, {"id": 782516273, "item_id": 48907267, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48907267", "by": "RIMR", "date": "2026-07-14", "stance": "warn", "quote": "sites like Instagram and TikTok cater directly to pedophiles and do absolutely nothing about the predatory behavior", "excerpt": "This whole article just boils down to the argument \"If badly-behaved adults are allowed to have cameras, why shouldn't well-behaved children have access to for-profit social media platforms designed to addict them and feed them misinformation?\" It's complete nonsense. The conversation in the UK right now isn't about whether or not teenagers should be allowed to own cell phones; it's about whether they should be allow", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kids (With Phones) Are Alright"}]}], "who": [{"by": "tstrimple", "context": "parent", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46530252", "date": "2026-01-07"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["short video", "social media feed", "social video", "music discovery", "social media for children"], "compared": [{"slug": "youtube", "name": "YouTube", "co": 5, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "instagram", "name": "Instagram", "co": 4, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "x-twitter", "name": "X (Twitter)", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "bluesky", "name": "Bluesky", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49775700", "title": "Teen Social Media Bans Miss the Point", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49378630", "title": "Scientific study reveals TikTok videos deactivate key cognitive brain regions", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49355825", "title": "Meta's blockbuster trial draws parallels to big tobacco", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49263461", "title": "Bluesky's active user base is shrinking as its focus expands beyond the app", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49146696", "title": "How China Keeps Tabs on Foreigners", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48930454", "title": "The lost joy of music piracy", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"warn": 1}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"warn": 2, "neutral": 1}, "2026-08": {"neutral": 1, "recommend": 1, "warn": 2}, "2026-09": {"warn": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 797009920, "item_id": 49813120, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49813120", "by": "modo_mario", "date": "2026-09-23", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I deleted tiktok because i have an addictive personality", "excerpt": ">Again as mentioned above I'd strongly recommend using an LLM to search for some info from this era. These systems were all considered extremely addictive. Which is so relative it's meaningless. Cigarettes are also extremely addictive but i'm not about to compare it to TV >I'm certain it increases addiction Then what's the discussion about? Companies incentivised and given the technological means to create a more add", "context": "has an addictive personality", "use_case": "short video", "switched_from": "", "story": "Teen Social Media Bans Miss the Point"}, {"id": 790077184, "item_id": 49379824, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49379824", "by": "tamimio", "date": "2026-08-20", "stance": "warn", "quote": "after an hour or so of using it I get nauseous like how you might get on a boat", "excerpt": "I don\u2019t have tiktok now, but years ago I downloaded it (i think before it was called musically), I used it for a day or two, and I remember after an hour or so of using it I get nauseous like how you might get on a boat, not severe enough to puke but still not comfy that you need to go for a walk or something to feel better. I deleted it and never used it again. And I don\u2019t use any mainstream social media either sinc", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Scientific study reveals TikTok videos deactivate key cognitive brain regions"}, {"id": 789721763, "item_id": 49357610, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49357610", "by": "frabcus", "date": "2026-08-18", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Instagram and TikTok are vacuous and useless to me", "excerpt": "Yep - some emotional core of my being (not rational) hates ML recommendations. I'm a happy paid user of Spotify and just ignore the recommendations (I'm not looking at a screen), and I use YouTube heavily with a browser plugin that hides recommendations (which kills the end of video loop). I get recommendations from people, and use the products for curation, bookmarking and subscriptions. They're good. Whereas Instag", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Meta's blockbuster trial draws parallels to big tobacco"}, {"id": 788276305, "item_id": 49267269, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49267269", "by": "slopinthebag", "date": "2026-08-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "My socials (FB(not much)/Insta/TikTok) have fantastic algorithms, I they uplift my mood", "excerpt": "My socials (FB(not much)/Insta/TikTok) have fantastic algorithms, I they uplift my mood, have been responsible for positive changes in my mindset and life, etc. When I used X or bluesky or Reddit they have a noticeable negative impact on my mental state. Hackernews is 50/50. So I think social media which is content/image based can be more positive than the discussion based media. However we're getting more and more A", "context": "", "use_case": "social media feed", "switched_from": "", "story": "Bluesky's active user base is shrinking as its focus expands beyond the app"}, {"id": 786376816, "item_id": 49148551, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49148551", "by": "glenstein", "date": "2026-08-02", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use Tiktok as much as the next person, and go through cycles of installing and uninstalling it from my phone", "excerpt": "To try to contribute some real discussion of the actual content of the article, the data revealed in the database is impressively organized, almost indulgently futuristic in its graphic design choices, and the way they source photos in particular is quite resourceful. Anything from immigrations customs photos to photos of foreigners taken from traffic cameras, markets and businesses. There's extensive records of the ", "context": "", "use_case": "social video", "switched_from": "", "story": "How China Keeps Tabs on Foreigners"}, {"id": 782950833, "item_id": 48934427, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48934427", "by": "shadowtree", "date": "2026-07-16", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "TT is now my #1 music discovery service, not great, just the only one that actually works.", "excerpt": "Tangent - I still mourn the death of WeAreHunted. What a great music discovery site that was, unmatched in its ability to give you a curated feed of new artists to check out. WeAreHunted was sold to Twitter at the time to launch as Twitter Music! What an idea, music discovery, right in your big feed. Brilliant. Twitter #Music (https://abcnews.com/Technology/twitter-music-app-launches-iphone-web-listen-bands/story?id=", "context": "", "use_case": "music discovery", "switched_from": "", "story": "The lost joy of music piracy"}, {"id": 782516273, "item_id": 48907267, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48907267", "by": "RIMR", "date": "2026-07-14", "stance": "warn", "quote": "sites like Instagram and TikTok cater directly to pedophiles and do absolutely nothing about the predatory behavior", "excerpt": "This whole article just boils down to the argument \"If badly-behaved adults are allowed to have cameras, why shouldn't well-behaved children have access to for-profit social media platforms designed to addict them and feed them misinformation?\" It's complete nonsense. The conversation in the UK right now isn't about whether or not teenagers should be allowed to own cell phones; it's about whether they should be allow", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kids (With Phones) Are Alright"}, {"id": 781825873, "item_id": 48864117, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48864117", "by": "_the_inflator", "date": "2026-07-10", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I suspended TikTok, because it is of low value.", "excerpt": "Hm, I use Facebook twice a year, to thank folks for my b-day greetings and for checking my account. Some with Insta. I am not the least addicted to it. I suspended TikTok, because it is of low value. YouTube is useful - only with the subscription to get rid of all the ads. Sorry, addictive design is once again another strawman. No one forces you to use these crappy apps. Same with the iPhone. Need free time? iPhone w", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "EU Commission: addictive design Instagram and Facebook in breach of the DSA"}, {"id": 744484032, "item_id": 46530252, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46530252", "by": "tstrimple", "date": "2026-01-07", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "My children aren't tiktok zombies despite them being allowed to use tiktok as long as they want during the day.", "excerpt": "I've had a lot of luck with this approach as well. So much so that I struggle to relate at all with the paranoid posts I see constantly on HN. My children aren't tiktok zombies despite them being allowed to use tiktok as long as they want during the day. It turns out they have lots of other things they would rather be doing including reading and playing instruments and hanging out with their friends online and in per", "context": "parent", "use_case": "social media for children", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What kind of setup do you run for your children?"}, {"id": 733169059, "item_id": 45823066, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45823066", "by": "unionjack22", "date": "2025-11-05", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I highly recommend dropping the dopaminergic doomloop apps like Reddit/Bluesky/X/tiktok/IG.", "excerpt": "If anyone wishes to use this study as a catalyst to shift one\u2019s attitude, then I highly recommend dropping the dopaminergic doomloop apps like Reddit/Bluesky/X/tiktok/IG. Your life will be better for it. Snapchat can stay\u2026for reasons.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Optimism associated with exceptional longevity (2019)"}]}