Did you buy a Stanley tumbler? Have you ever made a viral pasta recipe? Tried an exercise or dance trend because a social media influencer suggested it? Visited a place because Instagram made it look irresistible?
If so, what happened then? What are the best things you’ve been introduced to on social media? The worst? Why?
In “I Let TikTok Tell Me Where to Eat. Here’s What I Learned,” Becky Hughes documents the highs, the lows and the middles from a week’s worth of influencer restaurant suggestions. Here’s how her piece begins:
TikTok is many things: a place for slime videos, a free therapy session, the leading source of information in America right now, and, for some, the ultimate restaurant resource. With a properly tuned algorithm, TikTok can become a never-ending scroll of rhythmic recommendations from critics of varying reliability, many of whom have been paid by restaurants for their P.R.-approved opinions.
How trustworthy are their suggestions, really? And what can a diner expect from these spots, when videos have promised them perfect vibes, hot singles and even religious enlightenment? To find out, I spent hours on TikTok, going down a digital rabbit hole of restaurant videos, then dined for a week at the whim of my For You Page.
Read on to learn about the restaurants, delis and stores she tried, and what she thought of them.
In another article, this one about how TikTok has changed America, a number of Times writers reflect on 19 ways it has become part of our lives, from spawning trends like looksmaxxing and bed rotting to promoting young artists like Olivia Rodrigo and Lil Nas X, who saw their popularity explode on the platform, to becoming “the new mall.”
Here is an excerpt from the section about how TikTok has changed our shopping habits:
Most months, when Kiara Springs posts on her TikTok account about mini skirts or linen tops she finds on Amazon, she earns $10,000 to $12,000 for getting people to buy what she suggests. During her biggest month, Ms. Springs, 25, raked in $50,000 for her posts.
TikTok is now a multibillion-dollar shopping experience — and companies have glommed on. The internet might have killed malls, but now it is one big mall.
Because the bite-size videos are addictive, and partly because advertising on the platform is relatively inexpensive for smaller brands, the app has become a core part of many companies’ marketing plans. Brands say that their videos populated with everyday people can more easily go viral than on, say, Instagram, where they often need to pay expensive influencers. And people who notice shopping-related content spend more time on TikTok, according to eMarketer.
Students, read one or both articles and then tell us:
On what social media platform do you spend the most time? What kind of content does the algorithm tend to serve to you? For example, what kind of things are on your TikTok For You Page?
What are some things you have bought because you saw them on social media?
What culture — music, books, TV, movies — have you been introduced to in this way?
What are some places you have visited after you learned about them on social media, whether a hot restaurant, a picturesque park or a live show?
What are some things you have made, whether a new recipe or a craft of some kind, thanks to a video that made it look appealing and achievable?
What trends have you followed after a social media influencer introduced you to them?
Of all the recommendations you have gotten this way, which have been the most successful or worth it?
Which have been the most disappointing? Why?
What do you like about getting recommendations from social media? Do you tend to search for suggestions on these platforms when you’re looking for a new outfit, a good place to eat or a vacation spot? How is finding recommendations there better than finding them elsewhere, in your opinion?
How reliable, in general, do you think the information you get on your favorite social media platforms is? How have you figured out who and what to trust?
Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.
Find more Student Opinion questions here. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate these prompts into your classroom.
