通过机器人测试发现,TikTok算法在200条视频内大幅强化用户兴趣内容。
Dynamics of Algorithmic Content Amplification on TikTok
- 用机器人模拟不同兴趣用户,测试内容推荐机制。
- 前200条视频内兴趣内容被显著放大,强度因主题而异。
- 个性化越强,新内容探索越少,存在反馈循环风险。
智能算法日益塑造我们在线接触和互动的内容。TikTok的「推荐首页」是高度算法驱动的典型,几乎完全根据用户显性和隐性行为定制视频流。尽管关注度上升,但其内容放大的动态仍缺乏量化研究。本研究通过部署具有不同兴趣的机器人进行‘傀儡审计’,考察内容如何随用户兴趣被放大。结果显示,与机器人兴趣匹配的内容在观看前200条视频内即出现强烈放大,且放大强度因兴趣主题不同而异,揭示出特定话题偏差。时间序列分析与马尔可夫模型识别出推荐动态的多个阶段:持续的内容强化及内容多样性随时间逐渐下降。虽然算法仍保留一定多样性,但放大程度与探索意愿呈强负相关:兴趣内容被放大越多,对未见标签的互动越少。这些发现有助于理解数字时代社会-算法反馈回路及其在个性化与内容多样性之间的权衡。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Intelligent algorithms increasingly shape the content we encounter and engage with online. TikTok's For You feed exemplifies extreme algorithm-driven curation, tailoring the stream of video content almost exclusively based on users' explicit and implicit interactions with the platform. Despite growing attention, the dynamics of content amplification on TikTok remain largely unquantified. How quickly, and to what extent, does TikTok's algorithm amplify content aligned with users' interests? To address these questions, we conduct a sock-puppet audit, deploying bots with different interests to engage with TikTok's "For You" feed. Our findings reveal that content aligned with the bots' interests undergoes strong amplification, with rapid reinforcement typically occurring within the first 200 videos watched. While amplification is consistently observed across all interests, its intensity varies by interest, indicating the emergence of topic-specific biases. Time series analyses and Markov models uncover distinct phases of recommendation dynamics, including persistent content reinforcement and a gradual decline in content diversity over time. Although TikTok's algorithm preserves some content diversity, we find a strong negative correlation between amplification and exploration: as the amplification of interest-aligned content increases, engagement with unseen hashtags declines. These findings contribute to discussions on socio-algorithmic feedback loops in the digital age and the trade-offs between personalization and content diversity.
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