Over the past week, I've spent several hours scrolling through Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok also owned by ByteDance. Both apps are governed by a central algorithm that recommends videos to users based on their interests and behavior. Here is what I saw one morning...
The content I watched on Douyin was often maximized for shock value, but it was also frequently funny or insightful. In other words, it largely mirrored what can be found on the American version of TikTok, although notably, I didn't see political videos or criticism of the Chinese government.
“In China, TikTok has a comparable product that promotes educational videos on math & science to kids. In America, they're promoting videos on eating Tide Pods,” Republican Senator Ted Cruz wrote on X in March.
“China's version of TikTok celebrates academic achievements, athletic achievements, it's all science projects,” Joe Rogan said on his podcast in 2022.
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