Are TikTok coincidences just the algorithm or something more?

TikTok collects data not just on what you watch, but on how long you hold your finger on a video, when you scroll past it, even if you don't like it. This lets the algorithm understand your interests way more accurately than you understand them yourself. Plus the platform sees what videos people with behavior similar to yours are liking, and that pattern affects your recommendations too.

But it's not just about the technical analysis - TikTok is just this massive content reservoir where there are already hundreds of videos for pretty much any thought or interest you have. If you were just thinking about moving to a different city and then you see a video about that city, it could be a coincidence that the algorithm just amplified by showing you similar stuff. Your brain notices coincidences way better than it notices regular recommendations, so they stick with you.

So in the end it's a mix: the algorithm really is incredibly good at predicting things, but our brain is also really good at finding patterns, even when they're not there. There's no actual magic, but the impression of magic is totally justified.

I've noticed this more than once: you're thinking about something, you open your feed - and there's a video right on that topic. But when I dug deeper, I realized it works both ways. The algorithm doesn't just show me what I'm already looking for - it actually plants interests in me through the recommendations. You watch a couple of videos about board games, and a day later your whole feed is about them, you start searching for new strategies, and then it feels like that was always your thing. The only mystery here is how effective the system is at reformatting your tastes, not some kind of algorithm telepathy.