Overheard a guy at Starbucks say TikTok tricked him into buying a garlic press he didn't need

He was telling his friend that the algorithm kept showing him this viral garlic press video until he caved and bought it. Now I'm wondering how many of my own purchases are just me following the algorithm's lead without even noticing. Does anyone else track how often a trending video pushes you to buy something you never thought about before?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_alice12d ago

Well, I take slight issue with the idea that TikTok "tricked" him into buying that garlic press. The algorithm shows you things based on what you already watch and click on, so it's more like you tricked yourself by paying attention to it in the first place. I'm not saying it's not persuasive, but calling it trickery makes it sound like we have no say in our own choices. The real issue is that these platforms are very good at finding our weak spots, and a lot of us don't stop to think before we hit that buy button. I always wait 24 hours before buying anything I see online, and more often than not I realize I don't actually want it.

kimw5712d ago

Three kids and a garlic press is the least of your worries, lol.

the_viola12d ago

Oh man, I feel this so hard! I bought a mandoline slicer last week because I kept seeing it on my feed and now it's just sitting in my drawer collecting dust, exactly like @the_alice said about the waiting 24 hours thing.