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What studies have actually found about short-video feeds. Every record names its source, its study design and its limitations, and keeps the source’s finding apart from our reading of it.

Studies on algorithmic recommendation

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  1. Viewing personalized video clips recommended by TikTok activates default mode network and ventral tegmental area

    Su, C.; Zhou, H.; Gong, L. et al.
    NeuroImage, 237, 118136

    Researchers scanned the brains of young TikTok users in China. Videos picked for each person by TikTok's recommendations lit up parts of the brain linked to reward and self-focused thinking more than videos not picked for them. In a survey, users with more signs of problem use reported less self-control. Brain activity alone does not show addiction or harm.

    Design
    Controlled experiment
    Year
    2021
    Where
    China
    Topics
    Addictive design, Algorithmic recommendation, Digital behaviour
    Limitations recorded

A study is published here only after its source is identified and verified, its design classified, its finding checked against the original, and its limitations recorded. How we judge evidence