Tiktok was one of my most used apps at the time, but I stopped using it because the algorithm was horribly designed for retention purposes. They then proceed to "market" videos that have already received a large number of views, by first showing you such videos rather than those of the people you follow and want to see their videos.
So when you open the "app," it takes you to the "for you" section, and before you click on the videos of the people you actually follow, you will realize you have spent hours watching the suggested videos. It is a wicked thing to do, but it is clever and essentially how life works.
The algorithm understands that in order for a video to receive a lot of "views," it must have something unique, marketable, or catchy about it, which is why they will recommend such a video to you, even if you do not end up liking it, because you will eventually view the video and it will count as a view, just like it does for everyone else.
If a video on tiktok has 2 million views, it is possible that 1.5 million of those views came from people who never liked the video and only watched because it was suggested to them, implying that it added no value or purpose to the primary reasons they joined tiktok in the first place.
When you create an account, they will most likely record what you want to see, not because they want to show you the type of videos you want to see, but because they are probably using that data to rank videos by popular demand.
So, if you open tiktok to learn about cryptocurrency, there is a 90% chance you will only see dancing, meme, and funny videos, because it is widely assumed that no matter what your interests are, everyone wants to be entertained to feel relaxed, so funny, memey videos are always the most appealing.
It is generalized and popularized, and at the end of the day, you get to see what is popular and what you really want, and the ironic part is that you will not even feel this tricky at all. It is 21st century web2 diabolical algorithm sophistication, and it may not be long before YouTube and Facebook fully adopt it.
However, there is something I want you to take away from this.
People are minded similarly to web2
The reality of our world is similar to web2, even though we now have web3, which we are all becoming accustomed to.
Hive & Other Chain
Today, I saw coingecko released a list of the fastest chain, and just like you're also thinking Solana is topping the charts, and there was no space for Hive. What I noticed was that most of the chains listed there were already running smart contracts, whereas Hive was not. I also noticed that the majority of the chains are well-marketed and have a lot of money. I spotted Tron, the chain owned by our dear Justin Sun.
This was the same Tron that the Hive community opposed merging with. If Tron was that good, why did the Hive community oppose the Hostile takeover? Sit down for a minute and process that. It only tells you one thing: the space is primarily filled with products that are 90% packaging and marketing and 10% product. We could also say it is a collective effort to ignore Hive, but I believe it is more of the former.
If we invest more DHF funds in meaningful and intentional marketing rather than the previous type, the results will be predictable. I would also like to look at it from this angle.
No One Cares Untill You Make it
In real life, no one really cares what you are doing unless it starts to pay off. Before others can boast about you as their friends, associates, business partners, and so on, you must first do well for yourself or have a track record of success to ensure you get more exposure. People want to see what others have witnessed. Life is based on metrics, and you will not be able to rank until you start meeting them.
People want to be associated with the most popular thing available, which is why marketing is the essence of life.
In Conclusion
I do not believe that a good product will sell itself. We are in a saturated industry where you need hype to sell what is even good. People are selling what is not up to standard with hype because the audience is driven by popularity bias; it is difficult to appeal to this bias if there is no intentional effort to join the ranks of this bias.
Interested in some more of my works
Is it Easy To Make Money?
Nigeria: A Unique Business Market & Industry
Virtual Bank Apps In Nigeria: An Experience Of Gamification
How To Find The Next "BIG" Meme Coin
Personal Finance: Achieving Intentional "Saving" Goals
Playing The Survival Game: Human Nature In Introspection
"Un-PAYING" The Debt You Owe
