There Are No Girls on the Internet - Is TikTok becoming a dystopian QVC？ (w⧸ PrettyCritical)

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00:00:34.940 I survived nine months in captivity,

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00:01:03.280 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

00:01:06.760 Do you feel like you are in control of your life or do you feel like shopping is running you?

00:01:16.400 There Are No Girls on the Internet is a production of iHeartRadio and Unbossed Creative.

00:01:24.640 I'm Bridget Todd, and this is There Are No Girls on the Internet.

00:01:30.100 So I love TikTok, but lately it kind of feels like the vibes are off.

00:01:35.740 What I've always liked about TikTok was that it feels like watching kind of user-generated Netflix.

00:01:41.240 Regular people telling interesting stories or doing interesting things in ways that feel genuinely captivating.

00:01:46.660 As opposed to Instagram, where eventually for me, it kind of came to feel like, you know, good-looking people, pretty polished people selling me something.

00:01:56.540 Like those are the people that I felt like were taking up the most space on Instagram.

00:02:00.600 Comparatively on TikTok, it didn't feel like I had to wade through a ton of intrusive ads to use the platform.

00:02:06.920 When you did encounter an ad, it just said sponsored at the bottom, you swiped up, and that was that.

00:02:12.260 But lately, I feel that that has changed.

00:02:14.820 Now you scroll alongside regular ads, but near those, you also get these TikToks that

00:02:21.220 look kind of like normal TikToks, but they say eligible for commission on the bottom.

00:02:26.320 They're not exactly ads ads, but the person in them who was talking to you like a friend

00:02:31.300 does just happen to be telling you about a product that they maybe get a cut on if you

00:02:37.460 pull the trigger on buying.

00:02:39.480 TikToker Grace Bricell recently called out how dystopian this all feels, saying TikTok

00:02:44.540 feels like Shein and AliExpress had a baby. There's links everywhere. There's 100 ads.

00:02:50.160 Why is there a 17-year-old girl trying to sell me $0.35 ring lights? Now, none of this is entirely

00:02:55.980 new. There was always stuff to be bought and sold after folks hyped it up on TikTok. You know,

00:03:01.520 there was that expression, TikTok made me buy it. But now, to me, it feels different. So what's

00:03:06.820 going on? Welcome to TikTok Shop, TikTok's affiliate creator program that was officially

00:03:12.160 rolled out in September after months of testing. TikTok describes it in their September 12,

00:03:17.700 2023 press release when it launched. Quote, TikTok shop empowers brands and creators to

00:03:23.180 connect with highly engaged customers based on their interests, and it combines the power of

00:03:27.440 community, creativity, and commerce to deliver a seamless shopping experience. So here's how it

00:03:33.200 works. Creators with 5,000 followers or more can get a cut of stuff that they sell on the platform.

00:03:38.860 TikTok takes a 5% cut as well.

00:03:41.480 We've talked about fast fashion like Shein on the podcast before,

00:03:44.560 but when you add in that same powerful TikTok algorithm

00:03:47.620 and the way that it can quickly boost videos to millions of people on consumerism,

00:03:52.340 well, that feels like fast fashion meeting fast selling.

00:03:55.860 So what does this all mean?

00:03:57.440 How did we get here?

00:03:58.620 Is it here to stay?

00:03:59.440 And how is it shaping the platform? 0.94

00:04:01.980 To get into all of this, we're joined by the most successful TikTokers that I know,

00:04:06.240 Tamika, also known as Pretty Critical on TikTok, who uses her platform to have frank and funny

00:04:12.120 discussions about wellness, beauty, consumerism, all with a critical eye. Tamika, thank you so

00:04:18.380 much for being here. I cannot think of a person that I would rather be getting into all of this

00:04:22.680 with than you. Thanks for being here. Yeah, thanks for having me. So your platform is at once like

00:04:28.740 a celebration of one of my favorite hobbies, which is buying things, but also doing so in this like

00:04:35.300 critical lens, with a critical eye, how did you come to be making content like this?

00:04:41.020 Well, I think it's a really natural reflection of my favorite hobbies, which are,

00:04:45.320 yes, buying things, but also personal finance. I've just been really into personal finance

00:04:51.140 since I was very young. It was something my mother really instilled in me. And of course,

00:04:56.380 there's always been that tension between I love to shop and I have all these future financial goals.

00:05:02.080 and before I ever started making TikTok content, I was watching it. So consuming this content,

00:05:08.400 I really started to see there's people making great content around beauty, around fashion,

00:05:13.280 around wellness. And at the same time, there's also people, sometimes the same people that very

00:05:19.720 clearly have some kind of overconsumption problem. And, uh, and that social media itself just kinds

00:05:27.880 of opens the door for overconsumption and normalizes it. You know, you think of like

00:05:32.520 hauls and all of these different ways of showing like how much you bought, not necessarily

00:05:37.660 what you bought. Was it, was it smart asking those kinds of questions? It was just like here,

00:05:43.880 volume. You know, I am a creative and most of my career has spent freelancing or being

00:05:50.840 self-employed. And so I didn't do any kind of saving. I wasn't saving for retirement or

00:05:56.980 putting together a 401k or any of that, nor did I really know anybody who did.

00:06:03.280 And it was your content that really got me thinking more seriously about it.

00:06:07.500 I am embarrassed to admit that it wasn't until I started seeing your TikToks that I started

00:06:14.220 thinking more about, oh, my own personal finance journey.

00:06:18.400 Like you made a lot of content about 401ks and like, what are we doing for retirement?

00:06:23.820 we're not all like it's maybe it seems funny or cute to pretend like none of us are saving but

00:06:29.420 honey save like don't you want to go shopping when you're when you're a little older like

00:06:34.120 save your money so you definitely are someone who makes these conversations sort of accessible

00:06:40.460 but also critical because like I don't know I do think that TikTok is the kind of place where

00:06:45.760 over consumption is perhaps not as questioned as it should be like the halls where you have bought

00:06:52.320 so many things that you could not possibly use all of those, you know, water tumblers in one

00:06:58.580 lifetime. Like that's not really questioned the way that maybe it should be on platforms like

00:07:03.080 TikTok. Yeah. I think part of the issue is that it's entertainment, right? No one wants to be

00:07:11.360 the scold that comes in and is like, why did you buy so many Stanley cups? And because it's

00:07:17.060 entertainment, it also kind of normalizes your own shopping. You're like, well, she's doing it. I'm

00:07:22.320 People on these platforms seem like regular everyday people, just like you.

00:07:26.960 It kind of obscures the fact that they have a reason to be buying these items, right?

00:07:32.620 They are selling these items back to you.

00:07:35.200 They're getting commission off these items.

00:07:36.840 So it's definitely a platform that makes your shopping feel very normal, even when it's

00:07:45.680 very out of control.

00:07:47.560 What has it been like kind of walking this balance of somebody who, you know, likes to

00:07:53.340 shop for quality goods and make content about shopping and consumerism, but in a way that

00:07:58.620 has that critical eye?

00:07:59.860 Like, what has that been like for you?

00:08:01.540 It's definitely a tough tightrope to walk because I think that there's a certain point

00:08:06.360 where you're like, am I really being honest with myself?

00:08:09.320 So I like to shop.

00:08:10.920 I don't want to say that shopping is part of my identity because that sounds so sad,

00:08:15.920 but it's something I really like to do. I really enjoy doing. And I would say that beauty and

00:08:20.460 fashion are parts of my identity. That being said, I have all of these financial goals that

00:08:27.300 I'd like to reach. And by participating in my hobbies, I'm immediately taking away from my

00:08:33.400 ability to reach those. And so making the content is hard because I think of that for other people

00:08:39.660 as well. If I'm telling you this sweater from Ralph Lauren is amazing quality, I think it'll

00:08:47.580 last you. The design is amazing. At the end of the day, you don't need this sweater. And if

00:08:52.320 people go and buy this sweater, nine times out of 10, I'm not getting a kickback out of anything

00:08:57.500 I'm selling, quote unquote selling. I'm just sharing what I like. And so if I'm just sharing

00:09:03.560 what I like, they're buying it when they're maybe not in a position to buy it. I'm not making money.

00:09:09.220 They're not making money. They're losing money. It's like, who really won at the end of the day?

00:09:13.240 Just Ralph Lauren. And I love Ralph Lauren. No, no shade to Ralph Lauren. But it's a tough,

00:09:19.200 weird space to be in because I do want people to make smart choices. I want to make smart choices.

00:09:24.000 I've been very honest on the platform about my own struggles with overconsumption,

00:09:29.320 where I'm in a weird space where being personal finance obsessed, I am not in any trouble with

00:09:37.340 money. I'm on track for retirement. I have my emergency savings. Like I'm right where I should

00:09:42.060 be. But at the same time, my shopping can feel out of control. And so I've been very honest in talks

00:09:48.940 on the platform with my followers around the emotional aspect of shopping and it being about

00:09:56.980 more than just what you can afford. It's like, do you feel like you are in control of your life

00:10:03.500 Or do you feel like shopping is running you?

00:10:05.960 Yeah, that's something I've had to really get honest with myself about, that when it comes to shopping, the mix of shopping with social media consumption, they're two things, they're like, you know, two evils in my life that have now been like merged, where I feel like with social media, it really encourages me to compare my life to others.

00:10:27.760 and then shopping is like, oh, you feel insecure in this way? Here's the solution. Buy this thing.

00:10:34.460 This will make you feel better. Yeah. You feel insecure. You feel sad. You feel lonely.

00:10:40.800 You know, like any of these negative feelings, like shopping is there to fill the void.

00:10:46.060 It's not any different than binge eating, you know, any sort of thing that's just

00:10:51.220 tamping down your emotions. And at the same time, shopping is essential in a very similar way to

00:10:58.960 eating is essential, right? You're not going to stop shopping altogether. You will need new clothes

00:11:03.800 at a certain point. You will need a water bottle at a certain point. You may not need 40 Stanley

00:11:09.420 tumblers, but like you are going to have to make decisions about your shopping. So like me, have

00:11:15.680 you seen these like TikTok shop videos taking over your FYP? Oh, it's been astronomical. There

00:11:23.040 are so many every time I swipe through and I almost feel like I'm not in a position to be

00:11:28.820 able to critique them, even though I'm so tired of them because I've made like two or three. I made

00:11:34.300 two. I was supposed to make three because how it works is that TikTok gives you a certain amount

00:11:41.480 of credit to spend in the TikTok shop. So you can get free credit. I got two lip glosses and

00:11:47.860 a cream blush for free. And I think I got $60 worth of credit. And then you have to make videos

00:11:55.300 about whatever you bought through TikTok shop. And so I made one video, didn't do great,

00:12:01.680 made another one, did do great. And I was like, I don't even want to make the third one. Like

00:12:06.800 the lip gloss I got is fine it's not amazing this color the first one I got was like a nice color

00:12:12.040 this color doesn't look as good on me I was like I don't want to make this content but you have to

00:12:16.040 and I didn't make it so I have like a mark against my account so I feel for I feel for the people

00:12:23.220 who are making their required videos the people that are making like video after video after video

00:12:31.500 and they don't have the requirement, they bug me. But I get them because I get them.

00:12:38.820 You have all these followers. You probably don't make that much money at your job because who does

00:12:45.000 these days? You have a platform that you can monetize. It's easy to do. TikTok is boosting

00:12:51.540 some of those videos with the algorithm. Why wouldn't you do it? This is why I love you and

00:12:57.060 I love your content because I feel like I can trust you. You keep it so fucking real. I didn't 0.78

00:13:04.220 know any of what you just said, but it makes so much sense. Is being an influencer, somebody who

00:13:10.820 is trying to get people to buy things at odds with being somebody who is fundamentally honest

00:13:15.720 and critical? Because I see you as both. How does that work? I mean, how it works is that I don't

00:13:21.220 make very much money. You're like, I have another job. Yeah, I have a full time job. And I've gone

00:13:28.880 through some of the economics of being a TikTok influencer before on my account, where there's

00:13:38.180 essentially three different ways you can make money. It's probably more income streams that

00:13:44.600 are available to certain people. But these are the three ways that are available for me. One,

00:13:49.940 you can do an ad with, um, an outside company, right? So you'll create a Tik TOK. They'll pay

00:13:56.400 you for it. I've done one ad before. You can also do affiliate links. So you show something on

00:14:05.740 Tik TOK. You have a platform like, like to know it, or like shop my, I have a shop my page

00:14:11.740 personally. And so they go and they click through on the page and they can click through what you

00:14:16.260 were talking about and if they buy through your link then you'll get a kickback from that you'll

00:14:21.280 get commission same with the amazon storefront it's the same exact idea except for the platform

00:14:25.920 is amazon so through my shop my page i've made under a hundred dollars through my amazon storefront

00:14:34.180 i made a couple thousand because i was um i had made a video about a walking pad

00:14:40.740 i'm the incline walking pad i'm i'm possibly about to pull the trigger because of you on

00:14:48.220 that walking pad by the way i still recommend it especially as the weather's getting colder and you

00:14:52.340 don't want to do your walks outside but because that's a more high dollar amount item i was able

00:14:57.640 to get a bigger commission back which is why i've made a couple thousand through amazon which is

00:15:02.160 that was just a short period of time that's definitely slowed and then the third way you

00:15:06.460 make money is the creativity program so there's the creators fund and then there's a creativity

00:15:11.380 program beta and I think they're kind of trying to move people to the beta but if you make a video

00:15:17.640 over one minute long then it's eligible for a kickback based on how many people view the video

00:15:26.320 so and that is I mean it depends I guess how many views you're getting people that are have like

00:15:32.180 way, way, way high views all the time are going to make, can make so much money. But I mean,

00:15:37.380 I have like 40,000 followers. I probably have like one or two viral videos a month. And that

00:15:44.340 comes out to a couple hundred dollars. It is much harder to be honest when there are a bunch of

00:15:49.220 brands knocking down your door. I did a empties video. For those who don't know, an empties video

00:15:56.700 is your skincare, makeup, empties, things you finished.

00:16:00.340 You go through and you talk about them,

00:16:02.120 what you liked, what you didn't like.

00:16:03.860 This video was all about ones that I repurchased.

00:16:06.840 So I liked them so much, I bought it again.

00:16:08.900 And I said, I tend to stick with my same old skincare,

00:16:13.000 same old makeup.

00:16:13.880 I try a couple of new things, but I buy what I like.

00:16:17.260 Realistically, if another brand comes knocking down my door,

00:16:20.740 I say, I've been using this retinol to hide serum

00:16:23.000 for three years now.

00:16:25.220 And you come knocking down my door and you're like,

00:16:26.700 I want you to sell this retinoldehyde serum for me.

00:16:29.920 That's a tough position to be in.

00:16:31.940 Someone's offering you like a couple thousand dollars

00:16:34.800 to try their retinoldehyde serum.

00:16:38.280 And here's the thing, it could be a great serum

00:16:39.700 and it's not a lie.

00:16:40.760 I'm not saying you're going to be tempted to lie,

00:16:43.660 but you are kind of pretending that this item was so good

00:16:49.340 that it broke you out of your routine,

00:16:51.260 that the whole reason you tried a new item was just because.

00:16:54.420 And it's like, no, this company came to me and said, try this.

00:16:57.160 And here's the thing.

00:16:58.220 If a company came to me and said, try this, I would try it.

00:17:00.960 If I liked it, I would talk about it.

00:17:02.980 But more likely than not, you're going to see me come back to my old products.

00:17:06.780 And that's the part about being an influencer where it's so tricky and so murky.

00:17:10.800 It's like, okay, you like the product, but did you like it?

00:17:13.540 Like it?

00:17:13.980 Did you love it?

00:17:14.640 Love it?

00:17:15.200 Should I really buy it?

00:17:19.560 Let's take a quick break.

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00:19:16.780 and we're back. So I do feel like that tightrope of, like, am I watching a friend who is just

00:19:25.620 genuinely giving me a tip, genuinely just giving me advice about a product they loved,

00:19:30.300 or is this, like, they have a financial incentive or a little bit of both? I think that's something

00:19:36.480 that makes TikTok a little bit unique because on Instagram, it is full of, like, pretty people who

00:19:43.960 look polished and perfect who are obviously getting paid and they probably don't use these

00:19:47.740 products i know that when i'm scrolling instagram so if i get taken and i buy something it's kind of

00:19:53.440 on me i get that on on tiktok it feels a little bit different because the vibe the nature of tiktok

00:20:00.600 i don't know it just makes it a little hard to resist i think like it's like there is a vibe

00:20:05.840 where it's just someone who seems like a friend chatting with me about a product they found that

00:20:11.840 they really love. And it kind of mixes what I think makes TikTok good in the first place,

00:20:18.240 right? Like this aspect of like an interesting person that I can sort of see myself in

00:20:22.920 telling me something. On Instagram, it's like very aspirational, right? The person that I

00:20:29.340 aspire to be on TikTok, it's like the person that I aspire to be is like polished, effortlessly

00:20:35.240 beautiful. On TikTok, it's the person who I actually am, right? Like lazy and easily entertained

00:20:40.860 by novelty. And that is what gets me. There is something about TikTok that I think

00:20:45.580 is uniquely poised to make me want to buy shit that I don't need more than other platforms. 0.95

00:20:52.120 Do you ever find that? Oh, absolutely. I think one thing that people will sometimes say to me 0.99

00:20:58.960 in my comments is it feels like we're just friends chatting on FaceTime. And I think that's kind of

00:21:05.360 what you're getting at, where it's so lo-fi. People are just very casual. It's like you're

00:21:12.300 talking to a buddy. And of course, you're going to trust your buddy. Why would your buddy lie to

00:21:17.520 you? And I think that that piece of it not being polished is what makes it so dangerous because

00:21:28.000 everyone seems just like you. But one thing that I feel like nobody really thinks about when

00:21:35.240 they're watching these creators is that to be a creator in a lot of instances you have to come in

00:21:44.240 with a certain amount of money right like you need money to buy the items that you are then reviewing

00:21:49.860 and recommending you need money to buy the clothes that you're showing off and so you look at this

00:21:56.380 person and you're like oh you're just like me you're buying this I could buy this you can afford

00:22:00.960 this. I can afford this, but chances are they're not. Like even if they are not making a bunch of

00:22:09.060 money on TikTok, they are probably in a cushier financial situation than you. And that's why

00:22:15.000 they're able to make such varied content. Yeah. They're not necessarily showing their like rich

00:22:20.680 partner. And I'm thinking like, oh, we're in the same income bracket. And it's like, no,

00:22:26.660 We are actually not like, you are actually making a bad financial decision right now.

00:22:31.120 So from my own unscientific anecdotal experiences, TikTok shop content is taking over the platform

00:22:38.260 and increasing the overall amount of ad content on the platform.

00:22:42.080 I'm not alone.

00:22:43.040 Business Insider actually looked into it.

00:22:45.020 They had one of their reporters watch 500 videos on TikTok.

00:22:48.860 One found that about 72% were regular TikTok videos, while 30% were ads.

00:22:54.800 Another found that 64% of the content was normal content and 36% was product related.

00:23:01.860 So it does seem like there is more and more of this kind of content on TikTok right now.

00:23:06.500 The products that I'm seeing, they range from like fitness products, which always get me, 0.98

00:23:12.040 electric bathroom scrubbers, which like in your face TikTok algorithm, I would never buy a fucking 0.99

00:23:18.240 like bathroom cleaning product. So you're off on that one. Like this chair that you can 0.99

00:23:24.220 sit however you want, which like speaks to me as a queer person because the internet supposedly

00:23:30.360 says that like queer people love to sit in chairs in unusual ways. We like won't sit in a chair

00:23:35.920 a normal way. Two products that I have to say I did buy on TikTok shop. One was a set of

00:23:41.300 watercolor paints that I am perfectly happy with. I saw it everywhere and I was like, I got to buy

00:23:45.740 this. So another purchase from TikTok that I'm a little more embarrassed about was this jar of

00:23:50.900 perfumed body oil. Keep in mind, I have never worn perfume in my life. I am not a perfume person.

00:23:57.120 So it's this TikTok that shows a woman who bought this body oil, she puts it on, and then she has

00:24:03.140 a hidden camera that I guess is meant to show her partner his genuine reaction to her wearing this

00:24:08.880 body oil. He comes, he hugs her, and he kind of, upon smelling this body oil, scoops her up in this

00:24:16.680 warm, loving, seductive embrace. I don't even wear perfumes. I am kind of bothered by scents,

00:24:22.240 but even I was like, I want to be scooped up lovingly and seductively. I got to buy this

00:24:27.540 body oil. So it just goes to show that TikTok's algorithm we know is so good at getting a sense

00:24:35.300 of and projecting back to you your own triggers, your own weaknesses, your own tension spots,

00:24:40.900 the things that you maybe have a little bit of a hangup about. And then when you add in this

00:24:45.740 consumerism aspect of TikTok Shop, it then adds in that knowledge about us all and reflects back to

00:24:52.400 you this product that purports to like fill the need that that weak spot opens. And when that

00:24:58.400 happens, well, then you're like me and you're pulling the trigger on a jar of perfumed body oil

00:25:03.820 when you don't even like perfumes. I do want to say that TikTok Shop is available for both small

00:25:10.360 businesses and also fast, big retailers as well. So you could be getting like a lovingly created

00:25:18.080 small artisan piece that, or you could be getting like a piece of crap that might not even be 0.98

00:25:24.740 legit. In a piece called The Junk is Winning for The Atlantic, Amanda Mull argues the quality of 0.94

00:25:30.820 items that are being hogged on TikTok might be a little bit questionable. Plastic junk that will

00:25:35.580 immediately break or even counterfeit goods. And this might actually be a feature of the program

00:25:40.760 itself. Mull writes, because like Amazon, TikTok shop uses a marketplace model which aggregates

00:25:47.420 listings created by more than 200,000 third-party sellers into a single shopping portal with a single

00:25:53.160 checkout system. This system allows retailers to offer lots of products without taking the

00:25:58.080 financial risk of buying and managing inventory up front. Amazon, Walmart, Target, among both

00:26:03.700 other major retailers and upstarts use variations of this marketplace model for a significant chunk

00:26:09.120 of inventory. Sellers buy the inventory, create the listings, and in many cases ship the orders

00:26:14.220 themselves, assuming most of the risks and doing most of the work. The platform takes a cut of

00:26:19.040 their sales in exchange for access to their audience of potential buyers. This model has

00:26:23.420 become popular because it allows wannabe retailers to spin up the online equivalent of a big box store

00:26:28.560 relatively quickly and with less investment.

00:26:31.600 An obvious downside of this model

00:26:33.220 is that the inventory just has less hands-on management

00:26:36.680 so it can be misleading, unreliable, or even dangerous.

00:26:40.180 Amanda Moll, an Atlantic journalist,

00:26:41.680 spoke to a TikTok spokesperson

00:26:42.980 who said the algorithm plus human moderation

00:26:46.280 is supposed to weed out bad products

00:26:48.620 that do not meet their standards.

00:26:51.060 However, this does not always account for problem listing,

00:26:54.840 saying, quote,

00:26:56.020 sometimes problems go unnoticed

00:26:57.800 until people start reporting issues,

00:26:59.760 like listings that will use stock images

00:27:01.680 that do not depict the product they're actually selling

00:27:04.080 or omit important details on sizing or material composition

00:27:07.860 or offer counterfeit and potentially unsafe products.

00:27:11.800 Even legitimate listings from scrupulous sellers

00:27:14.100 can make for a confusing

00:27:15.560 or scammy-feeling shopping experience

00:27:17.720 because sellers create a lot of duplicate listings

00:27:20.360 for the same products.

00:27:22.120 That is especially common on TikTok

00:27:23.980 where sellers rush to meet demand

00:27:25.840 for the handful of products

00:27:27.180 that have captivated the platform at any particular moment.

00:27:31.260 So if you've ever thought that like shopping on TikTok

00:27:34.620 or just like being on TikTok felt kind of scammy,

00:27:38.200 this is probably partially why.

00:27:40.080 And I think that there's like just something about this

00:27:42.600 that feels a little bit scammy.

00:27:43.820 This journalist, Amanda Mull, describes being served an ad for a hairbrush

00:27:48.580 where some places advertise it for $5, some people $2,

00:27:52.780 some people $15, some people $10.

00:27:54.140 And it makes people wonder, is this a counterfeit hairbrush? Is this an ad I can really trust?

00:28:00.440 Then other people go on and they're like, no, no, some people are selling scammy counterfeit

00:28:05.340 hairbrushes. I will give you the real hairbrush at this price. And it just creates this experience

00:28:11.820 where it just doesn't feel good, let alone feel like a place where you want to add in your

00:28:17.960 financial or credit card information. Who wants to hang out in a digital place where it feels

00:28:23.460 like there's a scam behind every corner.

00:28:28.540 More after a quick break.

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00:29:33.340 pop culture obsessives, and anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse.

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00:30:11.100 you're in the right place listen to pro society on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever

00:30:17.580 you get your podcasts. See you between the pages. Let's get right back into it.

00:30:29.680 So also with how quickly TikTok has rolled this out, it feels like moderation

00:30:34.800 is kind of becoming an issue. NBC News' Kat Tenbarge found last month that young people,

00:30:41.860 like minors are cashing in on selling stuff on this newly rolled out TikTok shop. In a statement

00:30:49.140 responding to questions about the presence of teens on TikTok shop, a TikTok representative said,

00:30:55.200 as TikTok shop rolls out in the US, we continue to evolve our safeguards and are taking steps to

00:31:00.600 address this issue. TikTok asks users for their age when they sign up for an account, but there's

00:31:05.880 an obvious like easy to evade loophole, which is like people can just lie about their age and

00:31:11.380 pretend to be older than they are. There's also this big issue of counterfeit products. Now,

00:31:18.040 you and I both know TikTok is big on dupes. Like they love being like, oh, you want this product

00:31:25.040 that's really pricey? Here's a dupe where they show a similar product for less money. But this

00:31:30.400 could also include products that are illegal counterfeits. TikTok says they ban, quote,

00:31:37.060 the advertising and sale of all counterfeit products.

00:31:41.020 By ensuring the safety and authenticity of products sold on our platform,

00:31:45.080 we create a positive shopping experience that users can have confidence in, the policy ads.

00:31:50.200 But a report by The Guardian back in April suggests that maybe the rules are not being

00:31:55.620 super effectively enforced, with illicit beauty products routinely being promoted to users

00:32:01.000 via their content feeds and search results.

00:32:04.020 Since TikTok takes a cut, they're kind of essentially profiting off of the sale of counterfeit goods.

00:32:09.400 The Guardian report reads, nine out of the first 12 results shown to people searching, quote, perfume in the TikTok shop section of the app appeared to be counterfeit.

00:32:19.360 The products included variations of Dior's Sauvage Perfume, I'm probably mispronouncing

00:32:25.680 that, Sauvage Perfume, with names such as Suave or Savage, and a copy of Victor and

00:32:32.520 Rolf's Flower Bomb Perfume, which looks the same at first glance, but was actually called

00:32:37.040 Mark Invictor.

00:32:38.700 So I don't think that buying counterfeit goods is great, but I'm not crying tears for

00:32:45.220 Dior, they have plenty of money.

00:32:46.400 But it's not just that these products can be fake and scammy and maybe illegal.

00:32:51.000 They can also be harmful.

00:32:52.720 TikTok bans the sale of prescription-only medicines such as acne skin creams and skin

00:32:57.820 whitening creams that contain banned ingredients.

00:33:00.400 But when the skin cream tretinone was taken off on TikTok, for instance, which you need

00:33:04.660 a prescription to buy, you could also buy it on TikTok Shop.

00:33:08.420 So there is a reason why this is prescription-only.

00:33:11.280 it contains products that might interact with medications and cause fetal abnormalities if

00:33:16.880 you're pregnant. So it's generally recommended to use under medical or doctor supervision.

00:33:23.240 The Guardian spoke to Dr. Jane Ravencroft of the British Association of Dermatologists who said,

00:33:28.800 the illicit sale of skin creams was a major concern and a major public health risk.

00:33:33.140 She said, unfortunately, people selling these prescription products illegally

00:33:36.640 are preying on people's insecurities and naivete.

00:33:40.340 Social media adds fuel to the fire.

00:33:43.200 Now, I should say that TikTok eventually did add a block for searches for this product

00:33:48.520 and then removed listings from third-party vendors that, you know,

00:33:52.120 referred to this ingredient in their posts after this report was published.

00:33:57.480 So it does seem like the rollout of this has maybe been a little bit iffy.

00:34:02.820 But the question that I want to ask is, like, is it here to stay?

00:34:06.640 From the research that I have seen, the answer is maybe, question mark.

00:34:12.220 This kind of shopping platform functionality, it's much more common in places like China

00:34:17.280 where TikTok is based with brands like Timu.

00:34:20.480 And I think that TikTok is kind of betting that it's going to take off in the United

00:34:23.440 States too.

00:34:24.520 So like imagine if Amazon and TikTok were to merge into one super app where you consumed

00:34:29.540 content, made content, but also shopped every day.

00:34:32.360 It's kind of like an everything app.

00:34:34.240 The kind of thing that I think that Elon Musk is hoping to turn Twitter or X into.

00:34:40.040 But so far, I do think it might be a bit of an abrupt cultural shift to bring that kind of app to the United States.

00:34:46.600 Facebook and Instagram both tried out live shopping functionality, only to later face them out.

00:34:51.780 In Indonesia, one of the countries where TikTok first rolled out TikTok shop, TikTok shop has now been banned and shut down after the country banned commerce on social media platforms.

00:35:01.940 According to the New York Times, the rules essentially mandate the separation of e-commerce

00:35:05.860 and social media, and they're meant to protect local merchants, prevent algorithms from dominating

00:35:10.880 the market, and stop the use of personal data for business purposes.

00:35:15.200 So to be clear here, I am not trying to demonize people who make content on TikTok shop to

00:35:22.300 make money, because on the one hand, I kind of respect it.

00:35:26.000 Making money from platforms like TikTok is difficult as a creator, especially considering

00:35:30.340 what you said that like TikTok is kind of shying away from their creator platform, you know,

00:35:36.100 this billion dollar pot of money that was meant to be doled out to people who make viral TikToks

00:35:40.160 and such. Like I understand that people need to make money. I've also heard reports of small

00:35:44.800 businesses saying that they really find success from TikTok and like it will blow up their

00:35:51.280 businesses. And I think that's great. So I don't want to demonize the people who are,

00:35:55.580 you know, making money, get your check. I I'm with you. However, I do think that it's fair

00:36:02.360 to be critical of the way that Tik TOK shop is being rolled out and how it's impacting the

00:36:06.880 platform. You know, if we're seeing more and more ads on Tik TOK and it's feeling like

00:36:11.480 walking around a scammy flea market, it is a problem. Maybe it's one of those, like,

00:36:18.520 hate the, don't hate the player, hate the game kind of things where it's like,

00:36:21.940 yeah, don't demonize individual creators, but do ask questions about why and how one of the

00:36:29.760 biggest social media platforms in the world, why their end game is ultimately to become this like

00:36:35.080 massive e-commerce app, you know? And I also just think it's like tiresome that like all we can

00:36:42.300 expect from our digital experiences is being told to buy more stuff. I can understand why people

00:36:48.700 feel this is like almost dystopian. You know, a teenager taking breaks in between classes to tell

00:36:54.960 me, a grown woman, what kind of bathroom scrubber to buy does feel fundamentally kind of bleak.

00:37:01.880 And I think especially in this moment in time that we're in right now, that feels like genuine,

00:37:07.780 you know, social and political upheaval, having our largest communications platforms

00:37:15.460 turning toward feeling more like digital scammy flea markets rather than places to find

00:37:21.800 information, connection, and community does feel weird. I feel like I would rather open TikTok

00:37:27.960 right now and find information about what's going on in the world, not like, hey, buy this

00:37:33.820 whatever. It might fall apart in three days when you open it. I get why people are expressing that

00:37:42.260 it feels dystopian or weird. And I also think it feels like a fundamental lack of imagination that

00:37:49.120 we can't have better because I do fundamentally think that we can have, I mean, I think that you

00:37:56.240 embody this, that like we can have consumerism, we can buy things that we like, we can save for

00:38:02.080 things, we can make smart financial decisions and make intentional choices about where and how we

00:38:07.020 spend our money and also be critical about consumerism, be critical about how we spend

00:38:11.820 our money, where we put our money, where the platforms that we make purchases on, like

00:38:16.620 their practices, I think it's possible that we can do both, like have there be buying

00:38:22.940 things that we like while also being critical of the system in which we buy them.

00:38:28.180 Absolutely.

00:38:29.100 I think that it's definitely difficult to hold both of those, but it's definitely essential

00:38:35.620 to as well.

00:38:36.900 These platforms take up a ton of our time and our attention and now a bunch of our money.

00:38:45.180 And I think it's important to be really reflective and really critical of why you're shopping, where you're shopping, who you're shopping from, and if you're shopping is putting you in a good financial position.

00:39:01.340 Yeah, I mean, the over-consumerism part, I think, is so important that you bring up.

00:39:06.260 On TikTok, things move so quickly, including trends.

00:39:10.560 So one week, the trend is one thing.

00:39:12.340 The next week, the trend is something else.

00:39:14.440 No one could possibly keep up with how quickly these trends come and go on TikTok.

00:39:19.720 So one week, the trend might be everybody's buying this pastel mirror.

00:39:24.040 The next week, it's going to be something else.

00:39:25.520 It creates this digital churn and burn where you're constantly buying.

00:39:29.000 The algorithm itself is inflaming that, keeping us all locked into this never-ending cycle of

00:39:34.840 digital-fueled consumerism. And at the heart of it is really this empty idea that if you buy the

00:39:40.360 exact right thing, buy the thing that's going to make your house look exactly a certain way,

00:39:45.000 you will be happy. This need inside of you will be fulfilled. But it keeps you locked into this

00:39:51.020 algorithmically generated cycle of never-ending consumerism. And that cycle just keeps you away

00:39:57.380 from the fact that maybe your house is fine the way it is. Maybe you don't need to buy a million

00:40:02.080 things to make your house look a certain way for you to feel fulfilled and happy. Yeah. I think

00:40:06.940 once you hit the point where you're emptying out your spices into different spice jars so that they

00:40:12.300 all match, like you're too far gone. Like you got to reel it in. And I've caught myself like,

00:40:18.620 I'm like, oh, wouldn't that be nice? And it's like, no, that's honest. That's like psychotic.

00:40:23.820 and like, I'm pulling, pulling myself, pulling myself back to reality. Um, I think it's a reality

00:40:30.160 check is something we could all use when it comes to social media. Definitely. The spice thing is a

00:40:35.940 good one. I saw somebody's fridge on TikTok and I was like, I should dump all my eggs into a clear

00:40:42.360 plastic thing and then write eggs and cursive. But I was like, wait, no, I would never use them.

00:40:47.520 This would be like, this is a setup for me to have all my food items go to waste. I would never

00:40:53.240 use that. So if you really, really are listening to this and you're like, I hate TikTok shop,

00:41:00.860 what can I do? If you never want to see it again, you actually can turn it off. You can go to your

00:41:05.800 profile, open the menu in the top right, hit settings and privacy, and then content preferences,

00:41:12.080 filter video keywords, and then add hashtag TikTok shop. And you will never see it again.

00:41:17.440 if you really are like over it, you're welcome. Tameka, thank you so much for like explaining

00:41:23.900 all of this to us and just helping us understand that you can enjoy shopping, enjoy being pretty,

00:41:30.240 enjoy buying things while also being critical. Tell us where folks can find your content and

00:41:35.960 what you're up to. You can find me on TikTok. It is at pretty critical. And then I am to a lesser

00:41:44.380 extent but working on it on instagram which is at pretty critical underscore you are one of my

00:41:50.120 favorite social media follows if you want someone who will tell you what to buy but also like give

00:41:56.320 you a sense behind the curtain of like what's going on with how we spend how we decide what to

00:42:01.640 buy definitely follow tamika you are a real one thank you so much for being here this was so fun

00:42:07.120 thank you for having me it really was

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There Are No Girls on the Internet - November 15, 2023

Is TikTok becoming a dystopian QVC？ (w⧸ PrettyCritical)

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