Video-sharing sites are all about personalized and curated content to pique people’s interest. Well, it appears that the EU isn’t a fan of that, and this compelled TikTok to introduce a new non-personalized feed on the platform. It’ll also bring another change to the platform, according to a new blog post (via Phone Arena).
The EU has been fighting to make the Internet a better place for all. Last year, it brought the Digital Services Act (DSA), which defines rules for social media platforms, search engines, and online shops to follow. If a company does not follow these rules, then it risks being banned from the EU.
TikTok brings a new non-personalized feed
So, when you’re scrolling through TikTok, you’re seeing videos based on your activity on the platform. If you like a lot of cooking videos, you’re more likely to see videos of people making yet another form of cheesecake; if you’re into cars, then expect a lot of Teslas and Lamborghinis on your feed. This is how the company keeps people on the platform.
However, the EU does not like the platform collecting data on its users in order to curate the content for its users. Thus, the EU urged TikTok to make some changes.
So, because of this, TikTok announced that it was introducing a non-personalized feed. This means that, instead of seeing videos tailored toward your tastes, you’ll see mainly popular videos in your area. It will be a smattering of random videos that have picked up the most steam. While this might sound like a terrible idea, don’t worry, it’s an optional feature.
That’s good because a lot of people on the internet don’t like feeds full of algorithmically curated content. Popular doesn’t necessarily mean good.
Along with this, TikTok is also bringing another change to comply with the new ruleset. This next one is targeted at minors. Users between the age of 13 and 17 will no longer receive personalized ads on the platform. People receive ads based on their activity on the platform, but they can also be based on their activity off of it.
Since this was targeted at several companies in the EU, then you should expect changes to come to more platforms.