A very, very, very h-appy app

We came across an article in Sunday’s FT Weekend Magazine’s Tech World section on TikTok – a short-form video app with a difference. We never heard of it before so we decided to download it and wander round. FT said it’s unique because it’s investing in AI PLUS human curators (editorial content managers) who make sure the app:

“plays a positive role in curating content… weeding out abuse, political manipulation and other nasties found in other social media sites”.

Its content is a mashup of You’ve Been Framed! and America’s Funniest Home Videos and the curators, whether human or otherwise, make sure it remains this way. For us it was more Candy Crush Saga meets the cat video side of Youtube – or pop rocks for the eyes. It IS light, fun, colourful, weird and entertains but it’s only the backstory. Its (expensive) investment in moderating and curation speaks of a future where positive role video (via app) is a product of “balancing user-generated content with something akin to traditional programming”. Its aim is somewhat neo-nostalgic – offering up “good old-fashioned, wholesome light entertainment”.

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