Tiktok and 'Seeing Like an Algorithm'

09/18/20 • 37 min

In one of our special "2x" episodes of 16 Minutes (32ish minutes;) -- our show where we quickly cover the headlines and tech trends, offering analysis, frameworks, explainers, and more -- we cover the algorithm that powers TikTok, the short video-sharing platform that grabbed massive marketshare in cultures and markets never experienced firsthand by the engineers and designers in China, beating out other apps in the United States. Now, with talk of U.S. ownership/partnership for TikTok, what happens if the algorithm isn't included in the deal? And what can we learn from the "creativity network effects" flywheel of TikTok; for "algorithm friendly" product design; and more broadly, about the future of video?

The news: Given the U.S. government calling for TikTok's business to be sold to U.S. owners last month, and several bidders coming in since, the latest news was that Oracle Corporation and Bytedance are hammering out an agreement for the former to be TikTok's "trusted tech partner" in the U.S. This could include (as reported by Axios) their exclusive ability to oversee all tech operations for TikTok in the U.S., including access and control of U.S. user data; ability to review source code and all updates to software for security vulnerabilities; and separate boards and entities for ensuring compliance with CFIUS/ U.S. policies (and for allowing ownership stakes for Oracle, with Walmart). The deal hasn't been approved yet [as of September 18, 2020].

The episode: But since this show is focused on where we are on the long arc of innovation, and what's hype/ what's real when it comes to tech trends & the news, where does the source code (and more specifically, the "For You Page" algorithm) -- which may or may not be included in the deal due to China's revised export controls -- come in? Yet it's not just about if TikTok is really TikTok without it, or whether "the algorithm" and machine learning training data can be recreated... the real question is: How does the "creativity network effects" flywheel work between video creation and distribution -- from origination to mutation to dissemination? It boils down to the idea of "algorithm friendly design", observes Eugene Wei, who has written a series of deep dives on TikTok, and formerly led product at Hulu, Flipboard, and video at Oculus, among other things. So what does TikTok, regardless of deal outcome, suggest about the future of product development, and more broadly, the future of video? All this and more in this 2x+ long explainer episode of 16 Minutes.

image: Eliza Petersen

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image: Eliza Petersen

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Previous Episode

Apple and the 'Doctor’s Office on a Wrist'

We cover the latest coming out of Apple's event yesterday, focusing on their new watches (including a lower price model); new sensors (including blood oxygen); and services for healthcare. Is always-on, (relatively) low-cost, passive monitoring for fitness and mainstream consumers really, finally the wedge into data for clinical applications as well? What features -- cost, efficacy, battery power, convenience, data, business model -- do and don't matter when it comes to filling in the gaps between the doctor's office and our mobile selves, families, home care?

We take an, ahem, "pulse check" on where we are when it comes to the idea of the "doctor's office on a wrist". To help tease apart what's hype/ what's real here, as is the premise of this show, a16z bio general partner Vijay Pande and Rachel Kalmar chat for ~16ish minutes with host Sonal Chokshi. Where do Singapore's initiatives with wearables (which we discussed in a previous episode) come in? What about data use by providers; what are the policy considerations? Data scientist (and former Berkman-Klein Center for Internet & Society fellow) Kalmar actually holds the world record for number of wearable sensors worn continuously, has been wearing all kinds of watches and wearables on her wrist for a long time, and has seen the industry evolve first hand, so shares her vantage points there as well.

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In this episode of our news analysis show, we go beyond the current headlines and focus on the deeper questions -- and longer history of computing innovation -- behind what a potential merger like this could mean for the industry. Given the various tech trends involved here -- from cloud-native and mobile-first to "ML inside", as well as computing going more and more to the edges -- where do and don't the (seemingly) inherent low-energy, low-cost advantages of the RISC architecture, or rather, Arm vs. Intel chip designs come in? Wherefore open source, could a consortium work? If value is always moving up the stack -- and the divisions between hardware, software, firmware, applications, etc. don't remain stable for a very long time -- who are the players that are really changing the game here... And what if it's the entire gameboard that's changed? Former Microsoft Windows president and a16z board partner Steven Sinofsky and a16z operating partner Frank Chen share their thoughts on all this and more with host Sonal Chokshi.

image: Adam Greig / Flickr

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