November 27, 2023

"TikTok Live is an especially chaotic section of the app, where people work nonstop to keep the audience’s attention."

"Livestreams that feature recurring actions done over and over seem to do particularly well. They’re simple and easy to understand.... In some cases, the videos seem to deepen people’s appreciation of the skills and dedication that can go into these jobs. When a user on Reddit posted a TikTok Live recording of an Amazon factory worker grabbing various items to ship, they noted that the video made them more appreciative of that labor...."

"Employers seem to have mixed feelings about behind-the-scenes footage being posted on TikTok. Some bigger brands have hoped to capitalize on the attention offered by the platform: Chains like Dunkin’ have gone so far as to hire employees to post videos of themselves on the job as a form of marketing.... But... workstreaming could also be seen as a symptom of 'influencer creep'... pressure even noninfluencers feel to post thoughtfully and curate an online persona...."

24 comments:

robother said...

I could just watch Althouse approving comments all day!

mccullough said...

Andy Warhol approves

Tim Sisk said...

I do miss Althouse’s vlogs.

Whiskeybum said...

The Truman show x a million

Oligonicella said...

Good. Most young people don't have a clue what work is. They think writing a 200 word "article" for online is work.

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

Is it an online version of what Italians call Umarell?

Wikipedia quote: Umarell (Italian spelling of the Bolognese Emilian word umarèl, Emilian pronunciation: [umaˈrɛːl]; plural umarî) are men of retirement age who spend their time watching construction sites, especially roadworks – stereotypically with hands clasped behind their back and offering unwanted advice to the workers. Its literal meaning is "little man" (also umaréin). The term is employed as lighthearted mockery or self-deprecation.

The modern term was popularised in 2005 by local writer Danilo Masotti through three books and an associated blog. In 2021, the word was included in the Zingarelli dictionary.

Narayanan said...

YouTube street food artists tuna cutting etc are attention catching

ChrisC said...

Tik Tok is chinese spyware.

n.n said...

Chaos is an indiscernable order. TikTok, YouTube, etc. are virtual labor camps.

FullMoon said...

"...are men of retirement age who spend their time watching construction sites, especially roadworks – stereotypically with hands clasped behind their back and offering unwanted advice to the workers. Its literal meaning is "little man" (also umaréin). The term is employed as lighthearted mockery or self-deprecation."

Sidewalk Superintendent

mikee said...

So no regard for the brave feminists who advertise their monetized OnlyFan channels using X, Instagram, Youtube? The OF "ads" on other media consist of short videos where the woman is wearing some clothes, but they are either see through or water soaked or skimpy or being changed while filming. I have heard, second hand from anonymous friends, that they know some other people who reportedly have spent hours and hours watching such videos.

madAsHell said...

I think TikTok is a lost Twilight Zone script. It does not end well.

gadfly said...

I eat breakfast three to four times a week at a small reasonably priced restaurant specializing in eggs, where I sit at a long counter three feet behind a 3 person cook line. Omelets, scrambled, scrambled-soft, over-easy, over-medium, and over-hard eggs are cooked in a skillet. The eggs are flipped into the air and caught back in the skillet about 500 times a day. My over-easy eggs are delivered directly off the line perfectly cooked with the whites completely cooked with a runny yellow and with no burned edges. It is fun to watch and amazing to see how fast the cook line can prepare meals even in the busiest of times. If they break the yellow, you get an extra egg.

Clyde said...

"Ow, My Balls!" coming soon to TikTok.

wild chicken said...

Sidewalk Superintendent

Or Stupidvisor

Iman said...

Spies like them.

tommyesq said...

More of a YouTube guy than Tik Tok, but I have watched a considerable amount of guys putting logs on a sawmill and planking them out, then showing what the wood grain on the planks looks like. There is something soothing about it.

Mutaman said...


Why is Althouse citing The Atlantic when Trump had this to say about it?:

"It’s so good to see how badly the THIRD RATE MAGAZINE, The Atlantic, is doing," Trump wrote in the post. "It’s failing at a level seldom seen before, even in the Publishing Business. False and Fake stories do it every time!"

The kind of quote Althouse says "doesn't feel like mental derangement to me. It feels like a strength".

Just asking questions (Jaq) said...

It's pretty funny to see a purported liberal, or even a leftist, defending a neocon rag like The Atlantic, which has never seen a place to send US boys to die that it didn't like.

Iman said...

Mutt or man?

Embrace the power of “and”.

Assistant Village Idiot said...

It isn't new. In NH we had the legendary Spider Osgood. Fascinating.

https://assistantvillageidiot.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-legendary-spider-osgood.html

Mutaman said...

Iman said...

"Mutt or man?

Embrace the power of “and”.'

Oh those halcyon days of middle school.

Leora said...

I love work. I could sit and watch it for hours.

Mutaman said...

tim in vermont said...

"It's pretty funny to see a purported liberal, or even a leftist, defending a neocon rag like The Atlantic, which has never seen a place to send US boys to die that it didn't like."

Head of RT Margarita Simonyan predicted that Russia's demographic crisis will be resolved in the future, when streams of Americans will flood to Russia—even if they have to work fixing toilets. Russia will choose only the best and send the rest back home.
piped.video/oUwcGI9F4QQ

Tiny Tim is in the middle of packing.