TikTok Live Videos Are Destroy the App for Me: Here's Why

I enjoy my daily scrolling through TikTok, but lately I've had live videos recommended to my feed. Here are the reasons why this particular type of content is ruining the app experience for me.

1. They're Irrelevant

I'm not sure what criteria other than location TikTok uses to recommend live videos to you, since all of mine are irrelevant and only located in South Africa. My TikTok feed is filled with beast content and funny songs, as well as the occasional post about technology.

But for some reason, when it comes to Live videos, I've been recommended tarot readings, astrology readings, auto deals, random vlogs from people I don't know, and a whole lot of other content I would never willingly interact with.

If a TikTok Live video showed me a live camera of animals at a rescue center, or a live recording of a tech event, the feature would be much less unbearable. But now when I scroll through my FYP, I'm greeted with ads and low-quality live videos in between the actual content I want to watch.

2. They're Frequently in My Feed

For a while, I won't see any TikTok Live videos in my feed. Apart from the frequent ads, I was happy on my TikTok feed. However, by the end of August 2024, live videos had breathed new life into my feed and disrupted an otherwise pleasant experience.

I spend about 15 minutes a day on TikTok because I aim to avoid wasting too much time on social media. During this limited time, I am now greeted by several live videos, which greatly reduce my enjoyment. I quickly scroll past them to let TikTok get the message, but they still show up in my feed—especially around noon.

If TikTok's algorithm doesn't get the message soon, I may stop interacting with the app altogether.

3. There's No Way to Exclude Them

TikTok allows you to count certain content using keywords. This allows you to filter content with that keyword from your feed. But live vids are a order of content, not a keyword that appears in the description or title.

If TikTok had a way to filter certain types of content, such as reposts and live videos, I would use it to improve my TikTok FYP.

It seems like the only way to stop them is to fast forward the videos. But even for this article just taking screenshots and quickly leaving a video behind is enough to increase the number of live videos shown between days in my recommendations.

I am going to skip live vids in humorless the coming many days in expedients that this will ameliorate my feed. But if TikTok keeps force- feeding me this inapplicable, low- quality content, it might be time to take a break from the app.