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TikTok has turned culture into a feedback loop of impulse and machine learning

(www.thenexus.media)
292 points natalie3p | 1 comments | 10 Sep 25 16:08 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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keiferski ◴[10 Sep 25 16:33 UTC] No.45200147[source]▶
Too simple of a narrative. At the same time, YouTube videos are getting longer, and people are watching more YouTube videos on TVs than on mobile devices:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2025/02/12/launched-...

So I think we're seeing more of a bifurcation: in-depth longform videos are becoming 30, 40, 60, even 90 minutes long, whereas anything shorter than 10 minutes is being compressed to 30-60 seconds. The most popular video creators are doing both; even MrBeast routinely has videos over 30 minutes long.

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crazygringo ◴[10 Sep 25 16:35 UTC] No.45200188[source]▶
Came here to say exactly this. People also listen to individual podcast episodes that clock in at 2 or 3 hours, and are hugely popular.

Movies are getting longer at the cinema too -- what used to be 85 minutes is now 150 minutes.

TikTok has not "won" at all. There's a place for content of all different lengths. The death of the attention span has been greatly exaggerated.

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1. koolba ◴[10 Sep 25 16:46 UTC] No.45200386[source]▶
> The death of the attention span has been greatly exaggerated.

Spend 15 minutes with the median 7-30 year old and you’ll think differently. Yes it’s not everybody. But it’s clearly most of them.