TikTok ban: Can the algorithm educate?

Photo via Cyril Bagnost/Public domain/Wikimedia Commons

For many Americans, digital sources are becoming the largest means of obtaining news. Social media is a common source of news and current events in the bright age of technology. Although social media is an easy way to spread information, there is also a rise in the spread of misinformation. Pew Research Center shows in a study from 2024, “about half of TikTok users (52%) say they regularly get news on the site.” Data shows this is up about 43% since 2023. Pew found that over half of TikTok users follow politics and current events on the app and 57% of users see news articles and breaking news on their feed from reposts or from their algorithm, the “For You” page. 

Through TikTok, users build a community that interacts with one another by sharing similar opinions. With over 1 billion people on TikTok, thousands of communities and followers develop. For news and journalism teams, this is a great way to reach voters, to protest, understand, and in some ways perform the basic roles of democracy. Jess Zafarris discussed in a Ragan article how social media is an effective tool for engaging younger audiences in civic life. Zafarris mentions more than 35,000 new voters registered after Taylor Swift shared a link on her Instagram Story. To further show the vast community, users are calling their senators to state their beliefs on bills, bans, and legislation. 

TikTok assists in spreading content further and faster than most social media platforms due to its meticulously specific algorithm. To determine videos on a user’s for you page, TikTok analyzes the data signals from what a viewer watches, comments on, or shares, to understand the content a user wants to see. By utilizing data signals, TikTok constructs the perfect algorithm for each viewer. 

An NPR article by Bobby Allyn, Sylvia Goodman and Dara Kerr, deliberates about the problems involved with the use of TikTok’s data, one of the largest contributors to the potential ban. The authors mention the algorithm “pushes users into filter bubbles,” further concluding TikTok is aware and intentional of the “filter bubbles,” as it is the data used to create the algorithm. 

There are ways to train your algorithm to use it for useful information like news and educational purposes. TikTok uses the data consumed by a user, which allows for ways to use the app with a purpose. In place of mindless, entrapping scrolling, TikTok can be made into a helpful tool for discovering new ideas, using logic and reasoning, learning a new language, practicing and studying assistance with tutorial videos; in this case, TikTok can be deemed helpful and even beneficial.  

In an article for CNN, Harmeet Kaur wrote about TikTok influencer Kahlil Greene who uses his TikTok platform to fill the gaps in the American education system. Over many years, the United State’s education systems have vastly changed and can differ from each state. Greene used his TikTok account to teach U.S. history that is not formally taught in schools. 

Similarly, a creator named Julia created a TikTok account for her Spanish learning journey. Julia posts content like tips on how to develop Spanish fluency, slang words and verb forms, as well as the resources she uses that she recommends to help her followers. There are hundreds of accounts like Julia’s that post practice tips, mock lessons and videos like “Get Ready with Me in Spanish.” Viewers that spend time watching these videos, assist their algorithm in adding similar content, creating a great way to scroll on social media while simultaneously learning a new language. 

Despite the benefits of TikTok and other forms of social media, not everything seen is reliable and true; it is up to the individual to learn and develop ideas to determine what is trustworthy and credible.