Tame your TikTok

Do you want to know how to “tame” the recommendation algorithm behind TikTok?

Almost everything we see on TikTok is recommended by an algorithm. What we like and do is subconsciously shaped by what the filter bubbles are showing us. One could even argue that we are being “tamed” by algorithms. But what if we can tame them back?

In this hands-on workshop, participants become the trainers who will tame the recommendation algorithm behind TikTok by using custom software that runs on a laptop that we will provide.

During the taming process, participants take on the role of a fictional persona, such as a melancholic person, and engage with TikTok in a way so that the algorithm will recommend more videos that this persona would like.

Through the training process, participants will observe how the recommendation algorithm is not transparent and how it can quickly become biased based on the data that you provide.

-The workshop will be conducted in English.

-No coding or technical experience is required for this workshop

-No TikTok account is required but is a good to have.

About the artist

Tomo Kihara works at the intersection of play, technology, and society, as an artist, designer, and developer. He creates playful interventions and toys for thought that provide a new perspective to complex socio-technical problems in an engaging manner. He holds an MSc in interaction design from TU Delft (NL) and has worked and collaborated with organizations like Waag, Mozilla Foundation on several design projects. His projects have been exhibited at places like the Ars Electronica and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.