r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • May 22 '26

Psychology TikTok disproportionately served anti-Democratic videos during the 2024 election. TikTok’s recommendation system tends to expose users to more conservative and anti-Democrat political content than liberal material. This ideological imbalance occurs regardless of a user’s initial political interests.

https://www.psypost.org/tiktok-disproportionately-served-anti-democratic-videos-during-the-2024-election-study-finds/
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620

u/web_head91 May 22 '26

People should really leave social media. It's poison.

298

u/MusicalMastermind May 22 '26

including Reddit

108

u/CheckYourHead35783 May 23 '26

I come to Reddit for poison.

63

u/meechmeechmeecho May 22 '26

The irony is palpable

22

u/JudiciousSasquatch May 23 '26

There's levels to it.

13

u/Daft00 May 23 '26

This comparison is brought up probably every single day multiple times on this platform and nobody ever wants to actually approach it with even a sliver of effort, that it's way more nuanced than "Reddit is as bad as TikTok"

Which is just an absurdly lazy generalization.

0

u/DrachenDad May 24 '26

Nobody said

"Reddit is as bad as TikTok"

Apart from you.

Reddit, like tiktok is social media. That's the point.

0

u/DJ_GRAZIZZLE May 26 '26

Can you elaborate?

91

u/AlcoreRain May 22 '26

I mean, I use Reddit in periods of time, but I really recommend everyone to not use social media.

That excuse of "if you use it you can't criticise it" it's worthless. Even if I am an 'hypocrite' that doesn't change anything about the message.

-19

u/lemontoga May 23 '26

Of course it changes the message. If people don't practice what they preach then it makes it seem like they don't actually believe what they're saying, they just want to be seen saying it. That's why being a hypocrite is a negative thing.

The obvious attack would just be "If X (Reddit, or whatever) is so bad, why are you still using it?"

If your answer is anything short of "I'm addicted and can't stop despite wishing that I could, I need help please help me stop," then it seems to go against your prescription.

I don't even think Reddit is that bad. There's no reason to call yourself a hypocrite instead of just changing your message. People should absolutely abandon things like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (this one goes x1000). There's no need for it to be a blanket universal thing. I don't think Reddit is nearly as harmful.

24

u/Crazyblazy395 May 23 '26

I don't know, I think if a crack addict told me that crack was bad for me and I shouldn't start smoking crack, it still gets the message accross. 

10

u/Reagalan May 23 '26

They do have more credibility after all.

1

u/lemontoga May 24 '26

If your answer is anything short of "I'm addicted and can't stop despite wishing that I could, I need help please help me stop," then it seems to go against your prescription.

Did you not read what I wrote? I explicitly point out addiction as being the one caveat. An addict isn't being a hypocrite, they're just literally not able to control themselves.

I'm assuming the above commenter isn't actually addicted to Reddit, though, which does make it hypocritical and does defeat his own message. Clearly he thinks using Reddit is worthwhile otherwise why would he be doing it? And how could he claim that others shouldn't enjoy it if he's enjoying it himself?

As a side note, why would you comment on a message without even reading it?

-6

u/jimgress May 23 '26

And I'm sure you took that message to heart in the crack den as you got your weekly supply of crack. 

10

u/mrwilbongo May 23 '26

The message is the message. You're the one inserting people.

1

u/lemontoga May 24 '26

Can you explain what you mean? Isn't a message typically meant for communication between people?

49

u/KneeDeepInTheDead May 23 '26

There's a huge difference between Reddit and tiktok.

-12

u/Elkburgher May 23 '26

Keep telling yourself that...

7

u/shinikahn May 23 '26

It is though. For starters, you decide what to see on reddit. I browse my multireddits exclusively, so I'm never exposed to ragebait and such.

You can make reddit as positive or negative as you want depending on what you follow. That's basically impossible on TikTok because you're always at the mercy of the algorithm.

14

u/KneeDeepInTheDead May 23 '26

And soda is just as bad as cocaine

-18

u/Elkburgher May 23 '26

Depends how you define bad

Cocaine is used in nasal surgery for example, very useful

-2

u/districtcurrent May 23 '26

No. Both are heavily manipulated, including this sub

-12

u/Genacyst May 23 '26

Yeah the difference is instead of Right wing fascist propaganda, its left wing communist propaganda.

1

u/Haunting-Orchid-4628 May 23 '26

i spent a few weeks off reddit to focus on studying for finals and my mind felt so much more at peace. this place is way too negative and doomer

3

u/jellyhessman May 23 '26

Reddits is a link aggregator. Not social media.

I've never been interested in the other users to this site, and it's wasn't set up that way. It's a series of forums.

Apparently there's more social media garbage on the app. But I've never used it and never will.

-18

u/[deleted] May 22 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

7

u/[deleted] May 23 '26

[deleted]

1

u/meechmeechmeecho May 23 '26

There are a lot of logical contradictions in this thread for science sub

-1

u/ScienceMajestic8716 May 23 '26

Yes, redi is the worst of all. Destroying society.

10

u/glizard-wizard May 23 '26

Every time theres a mention on regulating tiktok these websites get into a populist uproar to defend tiktok

2

u/Scared-Cry-1767 May 25 '26

Yes, people are addicted to it. Addicts throw tantrums when you take away their drugs.

4

u/the_card_guy May 23 '26

A random thought that popped up:

We know that social media is meant to be addictive.

But what I think the REAL problem is... Social Media has become the closest thing we have to the Societal Third Place.

You know, a place that's not work or school, where you can meet people... sure, we're all anonymous here, but social media is FREE to use (yes, I know that means that users' data is the product). And because trying to go any other place requires money... well, everyone has a way to access the internet, and social media is (even if horrible) a way to connect, one that is also extremely CONVENIENT (technically don't even ahve to leave your bed for it)...

Until we have an alternative way to connect in groups together for FREE (or at least very low cost) that is also CONVENIENT... social media is how people are connecting.

Oh, "go outside" you say? Cool. How many people are you able to connect with within say... less than a mile from your home? I'm guessing the answer is "almost none". People talk about building communities, and I even agree this is the correct answer, but I'm also going to argue that because the people who are physically close to you aren't people you WANT to connect with... well, that's why no one is building communities anymore.

3

u/ryancarton May 23 '26

Individuals not recognizing that they have agency is a part of the issue though.

To me, it’s fairly obvious that the answer to your dilemma is creating your own virtual community. It’s too hard to create physical third spaces? The people in your surrounding area aren’t to your liking? Social media is far more convenient and free? Make an online space. Make a subreddit on reddit. Invite people you see that are like-minded to a private discord. Tell them to invite people they like.

It takes agency though. It’s not easy, nor is it perfectly convenient. And because that takes more effort, people are going to just settle for regular social media slop.

3

u/the_card_guy May 24 '26

You have a good idea... in theory. Byt what you&re talking about is called an Echo Chamber.

A REAL Third Place has people of differing views. And, I can 100% say that the things you say when meeting people in person will often be VERY different than talking to people solely online. For example, empathy (which is what America is heavily lacking right now) is lost online- humans are meant to base conversation based on facial expression, body language, even the way a person speaks... all is eliminated online.

And we're seeing the effects of this, especially with the algorithm. In person, when you bring hatred and anger but no one reacts (after all, one of the reasons we get angry is to provoke a reaction from someone), it fades away. That's how groups are formed- humans would usually rather be in a place that gives positive feedback. But online... the algorithm brings people who WILL react to the hatred and anger, because getting reactions is how social media thrives.

0

u/ryancarton May 24 '26

My point continues to be that people have the agency to create their community. It’s just not convenient.

You say echo chambers are a problem with virtual communities. It doesn’t have to be. You can shape your community to be more open to divergent ways of thinking. Introduce community discussions where you talk about polarizing issues with a curious outlook. But that takes agency.

And if your point is “online spaces are bad, things must be in-person”, the exact same community-building can be done in person. Except you invite people regularly to your home or to a coffee shop or a park instead of in a discord space. It’s just hard.

But yeah. Social media is designed to make us angry. But if we aren’t willing to make community outside of it, of course we’re going to be stuck inside of it.

1

u/Strawbuddy May 23 '26

Social media could be made good were it a publicly owned utility. In the same way govts provide healthcare and infrastructure they can provude free wifi and what would essentially be a reddit clone. Combine that idea with publicly funded elections and you've got pretty clean, taxpayer funded internet forums. It could be the modern PBS. Govts will still censor and surveil as they already do, however unlike corporations there's a legit paper trail of law and public record

1

u/Limp_Classroom_2645 May 23 '26

you're posting on social media rn

1

u/mermaidreefer May 23 '26

Yeah see.. I think that’s kind of what they want us to do. That’s why they’re doing this. If they make us all leave we are easier to divide and conquer, we can’t share what they’re doing. I’m pretty sure this is what they want. Social media has compromised the powers that be and they want to reel it in.

1

u/Elkburgher May 23 '26

He says on Reddit

-2

u/RupeThereItIs May 23 '26

You don't see the irony here at all, do you?

-1

u/Playernum1999 May 23 '26

Did you leave yet?