Category Archives: Art/Style/Culture

Tik Tok

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By the time Tik Tok became a Big Thing (around 2018?) I had abandoned social media with the exception of the occasional peak at Mastodon. One of the little video clips shows up as a Short in my YouTube stream so I have some idea what people post on Tik Tok but the appeal was a mystery. With Tik Tok getting so much attention these days, I asked ChatGPT to explain the appeal.

TikTok’s massive appeal, especially among younger generations, can be attributed to several unique features and cultural factors:

1. Short, Snackable Content – TikTok specializes in short videos, usually 15 seconds to 3 minutes long (though longer videos are now possible). This format caters perfectly to shorter attention spans and allows users to consume a lot of varied content in a short period.

2. Advanced Algorithm – TikTok’s “For You Page” (FYP) is powered by an incredibly advanced recommendation algorithm. It quickly learns what each user likes and serves up highly personalized, engaging content. Users don’t have to follow anyone to start seeing relevant and entertaining videos, making the platform instantly accessible.

3. Focus on Creativity and Trends – The platform encourages creativity through its easy-to-use editing tools, music library, and special effects. Challenges, trends, and viral memes are constantly evolving, giving users something to participate in and replicate. This fosters a sense of belonging and community.

4. Music Integration – Music is a key part of TikTok’s DNA. Many videos are based on popular songs or sounds, and the platform has even been instrumental in propelling lesser-known tracks to global fame. This seamless integration of music makes the content more dynamic and engaging.

5. Low Barrier to Entry – Creating content on TikTok is incredibly easy compared to platforms like YouTube, where production quality and long-form storytelling can be barriers. With TikTok, anyone with a smartphone can create something engaging in minutes, regardless of technical skill.

6. Viral Potential – TikTok offers a real chance for “ordinary” users to go viral. The algorithm doesn’t solely favor accounts with millions of followers, so even a first-time creator has a chance to reach a large audience. This democratization is hugely appealing.

7. Community and Subcultures – TikTok hosts an enormous variety of “niches” and subcultures, from dance and comedy to book recommendations (“BookTok”), cooking tutorials, and even educational content. No matter your interest, there’s likely a community for you.

8. Informal and Authentic Atmosphere – TikTok’s vibe is less polished and curated than platforms like Instagram. Users often appreciate its raw, humorous, and authentic feel, which makes it more relatable, especially to younger audiences.

9. Instant Gratification – The combination of short videos, an endless scroll, and algorithm-driven content creates an addictive loop of instant gratification. It’s easy to lose track of time because the content feels endless.

10. Social Validation and Engagement – TikTok’s culture encourages likes, comments, and duets (a feature that lets users build on others’ videos). This fosters interaction, collaboration, and a sense of validation for creators.

For younger generations, TikTok offers a dynamic mix of entertainment, connection, and self-expression that fits seamlessly into their fast-paced digital lives. Have you been tempted to check it out, or are you just curious about the buzz?

Dog

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I can hear him out in the kitchen,
his lapping the night’s only music,
head bowed over the waterbowl
like an illustration in a book for boys.

He enters the room with such etiquette,
licking my bare ankle as if he understood
the Braille of the skin.

Then he makes three circles around himself,
flattening his ancient memory of tall grass
before dropping his weight with a sigh on the floor.

This is the spot where he will spend the night,
his ears listening for the syllable of his name,
his tongue hidden in his long mouth
like a strange naked hermit in a cave.

—Questions About Angels by Billy Collins

The Walmart Effect

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From The Atlantic: New research suggests that the company makes the communities it operates in poorer—even taking into account its famous low prices.

“In the 10 years after a Walmart Supercenter opened in a given community, the average household in that community experienced a 6 percent decline in yearly income—equivalent to about $5,000 a year in 2024 dollars—compared with households that didn’t have a Walmart open near them. Low-income, young, and less-educated workers suffered the largest losses.”

“..poverty increases by about 8 percent in places where a Walmart opens relative to places without one even when factoring in the most optimistic cost-savings scenarios.”

“When Walmart comes to town, it uses its low prices to undercut competitors and become the dominant player in a given area, forcing local mom-and-pop grocers and regional chains to slash their costs or go out of business altogether. As a result, the local farmers, bakers, and manufacturers that once sold their goods to those now-vanished retailers are gradually replaced by Walmart’s array of national and international suppliers. (By some estimates, the company has historically sourced 60 to 80 percent of its goods from China alone.) As a result, Wiltshire finds, five years after Walmart enters a given county, total employment falls by about 3 percent, with most of the decline concentrated in “goods-producing establishments.”

Cliché by Billy Collins

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My life is an open book. It lies here
on a glass tabletop, its pages shamelessly exposed,
outspread like a bird with hundreds of thin paper wings.

It is a biography, needless to say,
and I am reading and writing it simultaneously
in a language troublesome and private.
Every reader must be a translator with a thick lexicon.

No one has read the whole thing but me.
Most dip into the middle for a few paragraphs,
then move on to other shelves, other libraries.
Some have time only for the illustrations.

I love to feel the daily turning of the pages,
the sentences unwinding like string,
and when something really important happens,
I walk out to the edge of the page and, always the student,
make an asterisk, a little star, in the margin.

Happy Winter Solstice

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ChatGPT: “The solstice, the shortest day and longest night of the year, was celebrated in many pre-Christian cultures. Festivals like Yule in Scandinavian regions and Saturnalia in Rome marked this time with feasts, gift-giving, and decorations—elements that later found their way into Christmas traditions. When Christianity spread, many pagan practices were adapted to ease the transition and make the new religion more familiar. December 25th, chosen to celebrate Christ’s birth, aligns closely with solstice festivals, though the exact date of Jesus’ birth isn’t known.”

Thanks to James Nelson

DALL-E

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This is how ChatGPT describes DALL-E:

“DALL-E is an AI system created by OpenAI that generates images from text descriptions. Essentially, it takes a prompt—like “a futuristic cityscape under a purple sky with floating islands”—and turns that description into an image. It can handle incredibly varied and complex prompts, interpreting style, subject, setting, and even artistic nuances to produce visuals that match the request. […] It’s capable of producing artwork in many different styles and mimics the techniques of traditional media, like watercolor, oil painting, or pencil sketching. […] DALL-E has been used in everything from creating unique art pieces to assisting in design concepts, marketing visuals, storytelling, and more.”

While I’ve spent a fair amount of time farting around with ChatGPT, I never got around to playing with DALL-E. Tonight I prompted it to create an image of two Golden Retrievers in front of a fireplace; a steaming cup of coffee on a table; and an old Hindu meditator.


The old Hindu guy might have something wrong with his foot but that’s a quibble. I find this technology so amazing I have no idea what to say about it. A new sort of doodling, perhaps.