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Pages:
4 pages/≈1100 words
Sources:
8 Sources
Style:
APA
Subject:
Social Sciences
Type:
Essay
Language:
English (U.S.)
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MS Word
Date:
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Topic:

Algorithmic Controversy: TikTok

Essay Instructions:

In this assignment, you will analyse an episode of criticism on the use of algorithms by a media or communication platform of choice. By episode, we mean that it should be clearly situated in time. It can be a historical case, perhaps even years ago. This comes with the advantage that it is most likely better documented in literature/sources. It is not allowed to analyse anything Spotify-related in your report.
You will be required to respond to a set of five questions in a 750 to 1,250-word report.
The five questions to respond to:
1. What algorithm is criticised? > Describe the service and what the algorithm does.
2. Why is it criticised? > Describe the (potential) bias and its consequences (for whom)
3. What is the cause of the problem? > How could it happen, what is the root (i.e., where in the process?)
4. How did the platform respond? > Describe the public response and countermeasures/fixes
5. How do you evaluate the response? > Consider the efficacy of the response
Requirements:
• Use standard margins
• Do not include a cover page, do not include logos
• Add your name, your student number, and your tutor’s name at the top of your report’s first page
• Next, add in a bold title formatted as: ‘COMU1130 Assessment 3: ’. For example:
COMU1130 Assessment 3: Spotify
• Use Times New Roman, font size 12
• Justify the text, use 1.15 line spacing
• Include at least five to ten (or more if needed) substantial, reputable sources.
• You are supposed to draw on the lecture materials as inspiration for your discussion, but the lectures are not acceptable as references. Instead, use them as a starting point to find your own source materials.
• Use APA referencing style with in-text references (https://guides(dot)library(dot)uq(dot)edu(dot)au/referencing/apa7/in-text)
• Submit your work in PDF format (not as a MS Word or Pages document)
The specific Assessment criteria is uploaded in the following documents.
- Discussion/response questions is graded on its depth and rigour. Make sure your analysis has sufficient depth and covers a single specific algorithm/controversy (this can be historical)
- Referencing, source quality, and density comprises correct use of APA-style and the right number of high-quality sources. Quality goes over quantity. Every argument you include needs to be supported in some sort of evidence. Primary source materials are always better than secondary source materials. For example. Density means that there is sufficient coverage of sources: a paper that compares and integrates evidence is much stronger than a paper that writes paragraphs based on single sources.
- Text quality includes proper grammar, spelling, and flow. Make sure your text is intelligible.

Essay Sample Content Preview:

Algorithmic Controversy: TikTok
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Algorithmic Controversy: TikTok
The clips on your TikTok’s For You page are chosen using a recommendation algorithm. On their For You page, no two users will watch identical videos, and the videos you see may change over time based on your viewing choices and even your emotional condition (Mullery, 2022). Initially, social media platforms kept their algorithms a secret. This makes sense, given that the recommendation engine is a patented technology that contributes to the distinctiveness of each social network. Social networks use algorithms to get us in and keep us interested. TikTok does not want spammers and other sketchy individuals to be able to manipulate the algorithm to gain more popularity than they should.
The TikTok algorithm is based on a user's interactions with the app's content, much like the Instagram algorithm. What sort of exchanges? Anything that provides information about the type of content the user prefers or dislikes. The For You page suggests material based on several variables, including the accounts you follow, the creators you have hidden, and the comments you have left (Newberry, 2022). The algorithm also considers the videos you have liked, shared, or added to your favorites and the videos you have flagged as inappropriate or marked as "Not Interested." Longer movies you finish watching, content you upload on your own account, and interests you have shown by interacting with adverts and organic content are also taken into account.
Video information signals are based on the content you frequently look for on the Discover tab, as opposed to user interaction signals, which are based on how you connect with other users on the app. This may contain captions, noises, hashtags, effects, and popular subjects (Literat et al., 2022). The platform allows users to customize their experience in the settings. TikTok uses these variables to enhance performance. They do not, however, impact what you see on the platform as user interaction and video information signals do because they are based on one-time configuration decisions rather than ongoing interactions.
Despite the rise to success that TikTok has achieved, its algorithm has been the subject of numerous controversies. As soon as you register, TikTok begins gathering information on your location, age, gender, and—more controversially—your facial characteristics (Dias et al., 2021). The algorithm learns more about your likes the more you like videos, follow accounts, or watch TikTok films all the way through. How precise and current this For You page recommender system appears to be is what distinguishes TikTok. Because you never really conclude the content, it is quite difficult to interrupt that loop.
How TikTok's recommendation algorithm proposes new producers to consumers is being called into doubt following a little trial by an artificial intelligence researcher. The specific point is whether the algorithm is actively categorizing suggestions according to the creator's race, which TikTok maintains it is doing. However, it is just another illustration of the necessity for closer examination of how the app and other social...
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