My first day on TikTok, I closed the app and almost never went back

I avoided getting sucked into TikTok for as long as I could. I'm easily distracted, especially when I'm anxious, and I knew the endless feed of videos at my fingertips might run the risk of derailing my productivity in a way I could not afford.

But my curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to see for myself what all the hype was about. I knew about the TikTok algorithm and, as long as you showed it what you liked, it would start showing you videos you wanted to see fairly quickly.

But it's not an instant guarantee. Which is how I found myself first intrigued by all the animal videos -- interest that quickly turned to horror.

There are some types of content that are fairly popular that I try to avoid at all costs, and sad animal videos is near the top of the list.

This wasn't always the case for me. Marley & Me used to be one of my favorite movies (I even read the book). Then I lost my first cat. Then I got a dog. And maybe it's because my dog has been with me through the most trying moments of my adulthood, but anything that reminds me that I'm going to outlive her is extremely difficult to engage with if I have the choice not to.

So when TikTok started feeding me sad animal videos (you know the ones), I very quickly closed out of the app and almost didn't go back in. At this moment, I needed videos that comforted and entertained me. Not videos that made me sad.

But the power of the TikTok algorithm is that if you come across videos you don't like, you don't have to engage with them. Don't like them, don't watch them all the way through. Just scroll past them. Eventually, TikTok will figure out that sad animal videos are not your vibe, and it will (mostly) stop showing them to you.

I haven't seen one in a while, and for now, I'm much better off for it.