According to Business Insider, TikTok users began reporting major issues with their For You Page feeds on Sunday, seeing a flood of old or irrelevant videos instead of fresh, topical content. The disruption happened just days after TikTok announced on Thursday that it had finalized a joint venture to hand over management of US user data and its algorithm to a new investor group, which includes Oracle, Silver Lake, MGX, and individuals like Michael Dell. A company spokesperson blamed the feed problems on a power outage at a US data center impacting its services. They stated any perceived algorithm changes were likely a side effect of that outage, not intentional manipulation. This explanation came after widespread online speculation that the new US investors were already tinkering with the app’s core recommendation system.
The Real Problem Was Trust, Not Tech
Here’s the thing: a data center losing power is a pretty straightforward technical failure. It happens. Servers go dark, caches get corrupted, and systems start serving stale or random data as they scramble to reboot. That’s probably what led to those bizarre, out-of-nowhere videos on your FYP. But the immediate leap to “Oracle is ruining TikTok” is way more interesting. It shows just how little trust exists in this new arrangement. TikTok’s entire announcement was about this new US entity “retraining, testing, and updating” the algorithm. So when the feed glitches immediately after that news, of course people’s minds went to the worst-case scenario. The timing was, frankly, terrible.
Why Everyone’s So Obsessed With The Algorithm
Look, the TikTok algorithm isn’t just code. It’s the app’s soul. As one TikTok staffer told BI, “The algo is what makes TikTok great.” It’s that magical, creepy, hyper-personalized engine that learns what you like faster than you do. The fear is that a “retrain” led by US corporate interests—even with the best intentions—could blunt that edge. Could it become more cautious, more advertiser-friendly, less weird? Possibly. A power outage is a simple fix. But rebuilding user faith that the secret sauce won’t be diluted? That’s a much harder problem. The company now has to prove that operational control can change hands without altering the fundamental, addictive user experience.
And that’s the real challenge ahead. This incident was a small stress test of public perception, and TikTok failed it. Every hiccup, every odd recommendation from now on will be scrutinized and questioned. “Is this the algorithm, or is this Oracle?” They’ve tied their own hands. Moving forward, their transparency and communication about how the feed works will need to be impeccable. Otherwise, users will always assume the worst.
