Artifact wants to become a news TikTok with a powerful personalized algorithm. The platform is not yet available to everyone, unfortunately.
Whether we like it or not, there is no denying that there is something very exciting about TikTok. What makes the platform so exciting is not necessarily the quality of the videos, but rather an algorithm that learns what you like accurately and very quickly in order to offer you videos that are always up to date. While many internet users today follow the news through TikTok and other similar apps, a service has recently emerged that intends to capitalize on what makes TikTok so popular by applying it to text articles: Artifact.
Artifact wants to become a news TikTok with a powerful personalized algorithm.
Artifact is the latest creation from Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. Think of it like TikTok for news. According to The Verge, when you first open the app, you have a news feed of famous newspapers, magazines and blogs, down to much smaller and more specific links. If you see an article that interests you, you can click on it, which will tell the algorithm: “Hey, this user is interested in articles on this topic. We will offer him more.”After a certain number of articles viewed this way, your Artifact feed will be tailored for you, with more topics that interest you and fewer topics that you don’t.
There are other features that are currently in beta and are expected to come soon. One of them shows you a feed of stories posted by users who are following you on the app. Artifact is also testing a messaging service, so you can send articles to read to your friends in private messages to discuss later.
Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger’s goal is definitely to create the same immersive news app as TikTok. However, as The Verge points out, there is a big precedent here. There have been many personalized news apps in the past, but the algorithms are addictive. It will be very interesting to see the reaction of the public.
Artifact will also give more weight to the time you spend reading a particular article, rather than the articles that get the most clicks or generate the most discussions. This should prevent the algorithm from suggesting content that plays on emotional response rather than meaningful content with real added value, in this case the content itself.
How to register on Artifact
If you are interested in Artifact, please go to the official Artifact website. There you can enter your phone number, which unfortunately must be in the United States, and click “Join Waiting List”. Artifact will send you a confirmation message and notify you when your invitation is ready. You can then install the app (iOS or Android). According to the founders, Artifact is growing its guest user base quite steadily, invitations do not take much time. And who knows, maybe we can quickly take advantage of this in France.