The Dark $ide of TikTok

Episode 1 of the Backup Accountant podcast!

Audio for paid subscribers BUT listen to it FREE at The Backup Account!

The first episode of The Backup Account Podcast with Jacob Sperber*. Jacob and I crack the TikTok algorithm and how it’s set up like a drug dealer. Now the real money is in livestreams. Trends like NPC (non-playable character) are feeling like 70s peep shows and Depression Era spectacles. What does it say about us?

Excerpt:

Jacob: “One of the most popular live trends is this one of a person sleeping in a room. There are all of these devices around the sleeping person and some “automated system.” When you send a ‘gift’ it activates and a sound or zapping function which lets you try to wake them up. So…it's like torture, basically.”

Leo: “It's torture and porn lite. They're endurance tests that date back to the dance marathons of the Depression, the ultimate spectacle…they've been there for eight hours, and they're tired and still have to smile. Anytime we have economic strife in a culture, we end up figuring out how to make the poorest of people into entertainment.”  

*Jacob and I have been collaborators for almost two decades but this is our first time turning the mics on one another. Jacob has worked behind the scenes as producer for my most viral moments, from Brown Gay Jesus, to our Monkeypox podcast to this Substack!

Make sure you subscribe to The Backup Account, where he breaks down the latest viral trends.