Someone posted a World Cup theory on Instagram and TikTok and got wildly different responses: TikTok was supportive, Instagram called it bullshit. They think the algorithms rank comments differently, amplifying agreement on one platform and disagreement on the other.
So yesterday I did an experiment where I posted my theory about the World Cup final across two platforms. It got a lot of attention on both Instagram and TikTok, but the responses were drastically different. Everyone on TikTok seems to be really supportive of my theory, but the Instagram comment section is pissed. People on Instagram are calling it bullshit all around, which I understand. It was a theory, although with a lot of evidence. We'll see the results in 12 hours. But what really caught my attention is why the responses were so different. I'm assuming it has something to do with algorithm, who it pushes my videos towards, and maybe something about how each platform ranks the comments as well. Maybe the more supportive comments get surfaced the most on TikTok, which pushes it towards more people similar to those accounts. And then when people see the comments, they'll be more likely to agree if they see a lot of likes on these comments. Leading to increased polarization on the two platforms. I couldn't really find a definitive explanation from the platform's ends, and because I just started posting and have like no followers, I can't really make assumptions about my own audience group. But this was such an interesting social experiment. We'll see if I end up being right tomorrow. I actually hope I'm not because otherwise that would be just way too crazy.
