Didn’t know I want that

Didn’t know I want that. The emergence of TikTok has changed the way social media algorithms work. Instead of only showing content from accounts followed by the user, algorithms now show popular and engaging content from a broader pool of content on the platform.

This means that the content shared on social media is now more important than the fame or number of followers of the user. The trend of showing content from sources other than the user's own follow list is also seen on other platforms such as Twitter and Instagram. Instagram is reportedly testing a feature that would allow users to share other accounts' posts within their feed, which could give the algorithm even more data on what content is deemed good by users.

This shift towards content-driven social media feeds may also be impacting the way younger generations search for information. There are anecdotal reports that younger people are searching less on traditional platforms like Google, and may be searching on apps like TikTok and Instagram instead. One writer tested the search capabilities of TikTok and Google, and found that while Google is better for closed questions with a definitive answer, TikTok is capable of providing useful and entertaining answers for open queries.

If users continue to have good experiences with social media search, they are likely to use it more frequently, even if it is not the original design of the service..