Douyin: TikTok keeps Western kids dumber than Chinese kids

The videos that the Chinese version of TikTok, called Douyin, shows to children are much more educational and positive than TikTok videos.

TikTok, many videos about suicide, self-harm and practical jokes

TikTok is sometimes referred to as a kind of YouTube for ADHDers. The Chinese social media site focuses on short videos of less than 30 seconds. The format appears to be extremely popular, especially among young people under the age of 18. TikTok is also doing very well in terms of advertising revenue, with billions a year.

But there is also a dark side to Tiktok’s success. As it turns out, TikTok’s algorithm that determines which videos users see has some nasty side effects. For example, young users are often shown videos about suicide or self-harm. In an experiment conducted by journalists at the Daily Mail, where they pretended to be a 14-year-old depressed girl, they were shown clips about suicide within 3 minutes.

If you think about suicide, call the suicide prevention line. All problems are solvable.

Videos in which users make strange dances or do strange pranks are also the most popular.

Douyin much more positive

TikTok can only be used outside of China. But there is also Douyin, a version of TikTok that can only be used within China. What is remarkable about Douyin is that users see a completely different kind of videos here than the videos that are trendy on TikTok.

For example, films of children studying, children doing scientific experiments and helping others. This may, of course, be related to a difference in mentality between China and the rest of the world, but this difference is not nearly large enough to explain the radically different recommendations. It is more likely that deliberate steering is taking place within China and probably also outside China, as Chinese propaganda campaigns are very present on TikTok.

There is also a maximum per user of time you can spend on Douyin. That is missing at TikTok. In short, cause for concern.

All this was reason for conservative American Andrew Schulz to warn against TikTok.

TikTok, dangerous or not?

We humans are influenced by our environment. This applies even more to children. TikTok is less innocent than it seems and is used by the Chinese propaganda apparatus. Do you have children? Then keep an eye on what they post and what kind of recommendations they get. Especially if they are depressed. You don’t always see this though. Even as an adult it is better not to spend too much time on TikTok.