Hacker News Reader

TikTok is just way too “thirsty” — they try too hard to get me hooked which is a massive turnoff.

I have the app. I only open it to upload videos. Then I ignore it and its notifications.

Instagram works well for me. I have “trained” it to recommend fitness, football, & comedy. I go to search, watch what’s on the first page without scrolling, and then I’m out.

View on HN

Sometimes I feel like it knows which videos I'll like and don't like and it will purposefully show me 10 videos that are "meh" that I skip through quickly and then 1 or 2 videos that are spot-on (funny, intellectual, etc.) which makes it feel a LOT like a Skinner Box. Keep pulling the lever until you get something good, and all the bad stuff in between makes the good stuff seem that much better.

People think you get dopamine hits when you find cool stimulating things. You actually get a steady drip while seeking, it’s what keeps you transfixed looking for the next thing. And as this shows a variable reward gives you a stronger drip:

https://liveinnovation.org/dopamine-more-than-pleasure-the-s...

I figure a big challenge for TT is they must send you less good stuff to rate it. They probably hold off doing that until you appear hooked. You wouldn’t want a new user to get a bizarre/lame video with 5 views.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com