Blackmist ,

So the next nine months will be TikTok pushing pro Trump propaganda 24/7, mobilising the youth against Biden, only to be forced to sell by Trump anyway because everyone who hops into bed with populists gets fucked regardless.

EncryptKeeper ,

Isn’t Trump like, famously anti-China. If TikTok was Russian I could see it.

yetAnotherUser ,

Trump is more pro-money than anti-China

Biden has done significantly more damage to China's economy than Trump, by far. See https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/01/trump-reelection-china-xi-jinping/676129/ for example.

Besides, China supports every single party causing harm to democracies.

For instance, there's a reason the German fascist "We should reopen concentration camps for Antifa"
party has more popularity on TikTok than all other German parties combined. TikTok's promotion of fascism is even worse than Musk's Twitter.

HawlSera ,

Isn't this unconstiutional?

bluewing ,

I'm sure that if you squint in just the right way while driving past it at 80mph while eating a doughnut, it's perfectly constitutional.

I do think the general mood about TikTock, the Chinese, politicians, and society will make it legal.

Zengen ,

Well sort of but not really. They can justify that the Chinese ownership makes this a national security issue. Which makes this 100% legal. Now the American shareholders of tiktok however just like last time they tried to do this with tiktok have a claim that their rights are being infringed. Last time they tried to do a tiktok ban the shareholders sued and won.

Omniraptor ,

So it should be easier this time cuz there's precedent right?

intensely_human ,

Weak, totalitarian strategy. If we’re worried about China taking over, becoming China is not the right way to fight that.

And pretending that forcing American ownership cuts out China’s influence is foolish.

daltotron ,

Me, laughing as the idiot americans will be banned from the app, and only the pure VPN users will remain:

No but seriously this is pretty dogshit stupid. The only people happy about this are the omega boomers and pick mes that hated tiktok anyways for what are basically unrelated reasons. Otherwise they'd be equally calling for a larger set of privacy enforcements that encompass all social media sites, which I agree should happen. This seems, to me, to be pretty transparently a protectionist racket. Only we shall control the data of americans, only we shall track them.

And then there's also the people saying that any social media getting banned is kind of a net positive. Fuck you mate what the hell? You're on a pretty explicitly manipulative social media platform right now, it's just one that you're able to tailor to your own biases. Probably it's a net negative to have less propaganda from a variety of sources. Both sides my ass, I guess, fuck your corporate-state disinformation, I got mine.

I dunno. I watched this guy that makes sandwiches, back when I used tiktok. I thought he was pretty cool. I think it would be a shame to see his content get disappeared, which tiktok already has a pretty huge problem with.

The benefit of tiktok and short form content is that you can watch it anywhere, and almost anyone with a phone at this point can produce it. Those of you who hate vertical video content should understand that a phone is the optimal platform on which to consume it, and you should probably be happy for that, because it's not going to outright disappear from the internet otherwise, as we saw before all of this had started. You miss the forest for the trees when you call for heavy-handed outright bans of this stuff. The corporate influence, I can understand getting rid of that, but the platforms themselves, there's legitimately value there. Twitter as a microblogging platform has been used for actual reporting, and even as it exists now, it's being used for that. If you were to get rid of youtube, you would be eliminating a frankly staggering amount of information available out there that, sure, might exist in other places, but that both takes a large risk and relies on google MORE to feed you that correctly when you use a search engine, which as we've seen recently, hasn't been the case. You could do the same with reddit. Delete reddit, and you are deleting a metric fuck ton of information on some valuable stuff, you're deleting a fuck ton of internet culture. These platforms need to be disentangled from their corporate overlords and made more free to own, browse, and use, not outright destroyed.

nytrixus ,

Hindsight is so 20/20 in some comments.

Guys, stop focusing on the headline. Read the line underneath it. It's not being banned as in, pushed out of use. It's being severed from it's china-based parent company.

There is such a literacy issue in this country that it's sad.

scoobford ,

Honestly I'm not super in love with either. The internet should be one of our greatest achievements, and while I think companies like meta and bytedance are harming it for their own profit, I definitely don't want the government controlling it.

ManniSturgis ,
@ManniSturgis@lemmy.zip avatar

Doesn't the chinese government de facto control it right now? What makes control by the american government any worse? If anything, it's a slight improvement.

scoobford ,

Practically, yes. On paper though, it is a private entity owned by foreign nationals.

TubularTittyFrog ,

If people read or listened to what people actually said, they couldn't get their hit of self-righteous rage.

TenderfootGungi ,

And a right wing group of investors want to buy it. Own the news.

HexesofVexes ,

I think we're where China was in 2005--2010: a platform that can (and does) promote values that are against the interests of our nation(s) is popular with our youth. The real dilemma is "can we do better", and these days it seems not.

History suggests that the real solution to TikTok isn't banning it; China trying to block western sites did nothing save foment resentment and foster a VPN industry. Take the next step instead - make something that does TikTok better than TikTok, then push it hard. Either that or do what is being done to YouTube/Google - run it into the ground!

RaoulDook ,

No. What TikTok does is bad, and should not be continued. It's an addictive form of distraction used for brainwashing the youth. It's the worst offender of many types of social media and web content that is ruining the attention span of its users and encouraging them to prostitute their visage for the currency of Likes and Subscribes.

People should practice reading more than ogling all those vapid videos.

nednobbins ,

Time for some wild conjecture!

Bytedance and the CPC both know how unlikely it is that TikTok will be allowed to continue operating in the US. Despite what they're saying, I don't think they actually believe they have any chance at winning that lawsuit.

They tried to stop the law from passing but now that it's been signed they're shifting strategies. They're going to go all in on using TikTok to paint the US as authoritarian and hypocritical. Their primary targets will be young people outside the US.

Looking around the world I expect this will have a lot of traction in developing countries. If you look at wonky foreign policy publication you'll see that the diplomacy nerds have spent the last decade or so worrying about developing nations realigning with China. That will probably accelerate.

They'll probably also have some success with younger Americans. Older American's will probably be unconvinced.

It obviously won't have any affect on China's ability to buy data on US citizens from any number of data brokers. I wouldn't be totally surprised if China has at least some access to data from Five Eyes.

Chinas ability to influence opinion probably won't change much either. We used to call that sort of tactic "information warfare" or "psychological warfare". Sending messages to an opponent, adversary or rival in order to confuse or demoralize them has been going on for millennia. Nations constantly work to develop new methods to do so. Tiktok isn't the first or last of such tools and any large nation has a host of other such options at their disposal.

fuckingkangaroos ,

Great analysis IMO, the US is only one of the countries they're using TikTok to influence.

nednobbins ,

I'd go even further than that. There's a whole network of tools and organizations that many countries around the world use to influence and spy on each other.

China has a whole portfolio of tools they can use for that stuff.
The US has a whole portfolio of tools they can use for that stuff.
Many of those companies are very comfortable working with both countries, or anyone else who's willing to sign a big enough check.

fuckingkangaroos ,

The control the US government experts over Meta isn't nearly as much as the CCP's control of TikTok.

nednobbins ,

Maybe. China probably has more official channels to interact with Bytedance but we have hard evidence that the US does the same thing.

FOIA provided a lot of insight into various clandestine interactions between US government agencies and private companies. There are a bunch of NGOs that get almost all of their funding from the US.

We also just reauthorized warrantless wiretapping.

The bigger issue is that Meta doesn't really care. Nobody needs to force them to conform when they can just pay them. As far as Zuckerberg is concerned USD spends just as well as RMB.

fuckingkangaroos ,

More official channels from the authoritarian CCP, seriously?

FOIA requests in the US are a wonderful thing compared to what you're able to do under the CCP's iron grip. I wonder what people could discover of they were transparent enough to allow similar information requests.

nednobbins , (edited )

Absolutely!

The CPC has board seats on many Chinese companies, including Bytedance.
You can't get more official than that.

The CIA engages in information operations both domestically and abroad. Those activities are often in violation of official US law. So they have to be done covertly and we only find out about it decades later after someone manages to push through a FOIA request.

The fact is that US, Chinese, Soviet (back when that was a thing), British, German, etc are all spying on each other. There's a big spy vs spy thing going on in Africa. The Germans got really grumpy when the US wiretapped their phones a few years ago.

On the surface it may seem like "the authoritarian CCP" is engaging in an extraordinary amount of skullduggery, subterfuge and other clandestine activities but it's just standard operating procedure for any country. Don't take my word for it. There are a bunch of retired US intelligence officers saying exactly the same thing on the record.

yamanii ,
@yamanii@lemmy.world avatar

Nooooo only I should collect data of the entire world!

They never got over Snowden.

nytrixus ,

And they never will. They're so not over Snowden that, an Ex-CIA computer engineer was handed 40 years for giving spy agency secrets to Wikileaks.

So, no, anything that reminds the US of Snowden, they get salty very quick.

captainlezbian ,

I have mixed feelings. Like I’m glad we’re funding Ukraine, angry we’re finding Israel, and mixed about TikTok. I dislike the app, but that’s no reason to ban something. I think all social media has the issues associated with it except one: a foreign country controls the algorithm. Also this is standard policy for foreign companies in China and turnabout is fair play.

A_Random_Idiot ,
@A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world avatar

TikTok is nothing but a chinese psyop program to see how they can influence the public.

And boy howdy did it work, Look at all the absolutely monstrous, horrible shit people did in pursuit of tiktok trends and fame.

hark ,
@hark@lemmy.world avatar

Nobody did anything stupid in the name of fame before tiktok.

A_Random_Idiot ,
@A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world avatar

I like how you completely ignored the bulk of my statement just to make a pithy comment that is only relevant by ignoring the most important part of my post.

That really makes you look cool, and have a big penis.

hark ,
@hark@lemmy.world avatar

I did address the bulk of your statement, which is that the app is supposedly being used to influence people. What else is there to address? Your goofy "chinese psyop program" talking point which amounts to nothing more than scaremongering?

Valmond ,

Guys! Found the one with a small penis!

nieminen ,

Username checks out...

HurlingDurling ,
@HurlingDurling@lemmy.world avatar

Sorry what? Where the fuck where people doing Internet challenges before tiktok? Oh yeah, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, YOUTUBE.

People have been doing all kinds of stupid shit online seeking internet clout way before tiktok was even musicly (or whatever it was called)

hark ,
@hark@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah, I was being sarcastic.

Aermis ,

Wtf are you talking about. I've been sparsely browsing tiktok since it's creation and have no idea about any monstrous horrible things people did or see anything relating to some psyop program.

HurlingDurling ,
@HurlingDurling@lemmy.world avatar

You are not going to convince anyone here, I'm with you on that but over here all people care about it "not fediverse = bad" so you and I will get downvoted when speaking any rationale that doesn't put tiktok as the devil's spawn

Aermis ,

Ahh so the same ol reddit hive mind I wanted to leave behind. Just in another cultish direction, creating a meta of what and who is "right" and "wrong" while interacting here with the stupid use of the upvote/down vote system. What absolute social media garbage lemmy is going to turn into.

bloodfart ,

This comment section is astounding.

If you think it’s good that congress passed a ban of a social media platform tied to a bill funding two foreign wars you’re either a fed or delusional.

RGB3x3 ,

Seriously. The real solution is comprehensive privacy protection and consumer information export controls for all companies operating within the US.

This whole thing is just going to give an American company the capability to use Tik Tok to spy on people and control information, which is barely better.

And then they'll likely sell the data to China anyway. Data brokers exist and make a fuck ton of money on us.

LaLuzDelSol ,

So you would be cool with ISIS rolling out a social media app? All profits go directly to making explosives. All user data, including biometrics is logged to help ISIS plan future terrorist attacks on American soil.

Edit: sorry I misread what you are saying. But still, idk how you prevent China from using our data when that's the whole point of China owning TikTok in the first place. A forced sale or ban is the only option.

That's an extreme example of course but I don't think you can just ignore who makes products and where your money (and data in this case) is going.
And yes, I don't like American social media companies either. But you will remember that Facebook got into a ton of trouble for selling data to the Russians via Cambridge Analytica. At least we can try to prevent American companies from leaking data to hostile parties. Meanwhile we KNOW that TikTok is giving our data to the Chinese government and forcing a sale of the American branch of TikTok is the only thing we can do about it.

NineMileTower ,

But it’s cool to hate TikTok though

HurlingDurling ,
@HurlingDurling@lemmy.world avatar

This won't stop china from spying on us, they are already buying all they want from Meta, Twitter, Google, and Microsoft, they don't need Tiktok to do this. Also, the chineese company that "owns" tiktok only owns about 40% of the company.

nieminen ,

The Chinese government already has our data thanks to Facebook, Google, and reddit (and just about every other free service). This ban ("forced sale" that will never happen because the US is only 10% of their revenue) is to limit our communication, not to save our data. They could pass legislation to protect our data across the board, but they (the house) have too much invested in meta and them to do anything to harm their bottom line.

This ban only became the biggest most important thing for the government to do after we all started learning what Israel was doing in Gaza. Our house of reps is primarily owned by Israel and private corporations, and Tiktok is a driving force for change. It's getting more young people to vote than anything before. And all they want is representation that actually represents, rather than cater to bribery. This idea is terrifying to those currently in power, because they've enjoyed doing almost nothing good for the American people for 4 decades while getting stupid rich at the same time.

I understand a lot of people knew what was happening to the Palestinians for years, but that was information the US was happy to keep to itself. Tiktok made it super clear to the rest of us what was actually going on.

I'm not trying to say data privacy isn't important. It is, but the ship has sailed on that problem. We can do things to limit the damage to future users, but everyone that's already been on the Internet... 🤷. This is an issue they have with US citizens learning about all the shady underhanded shit they've been doing for decades. If they were truly worried about our data privacy, meta and Google would be their first and primary targets, rather than the primary beneficiaries from a sale (because a sale would immediately ruin it) or ban.

And finally (sorry, I know this is long), I've seen more anti Chinese information on Tiktok than anywhere else. If they were in control of what's being shown (the government's other big excuse here), you'd think they'd censor their past and current atrocities from being known. Everything I see on Tiktok doesn't serve China at all. In fact if we're finally able to vote out the dinosaurs and money whores that currently run things, then it may actually hurt China in the long run.

Thanks for reading my ranting Ted talk. Sorry about that!

HurlingDurling ,
@HurlingDurling@lemmy.world avatar

It was never about American's privacy, it was because the government apparently can't control the narrative in the app while they can with the other one's which is why they are trying to force tiktok to sell to an American company or gtfo. I have seen news faster and with more accuracy in the past 6 months on tiktok than even here, and when I try to see it on the media it's either only one sided or completely absent (the farmers protests in Brussels and France is a great example, the zionist message in america and the college protests is another)

UnderpantsWeevil ,
@UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world avatar

All three of these pieces of legislation are what a Real True American would support. If you refuse to endorse these bills, we're going to have to note it on your social credit score.

Specal ,

Real true Americans do love blowing up brown people that's true

nieminen ,

That's been the American legacy for a very long time.

Supporting Israel's genocide is nothing I would have voted for given the choice.

From what I understand of Ukraine's situation, I'm happy to support them.

natural_motions , (edited )

"First they came for the anti-democratic totalitarian state propaganda apps, and I did not speak out — because I was not an anti-democratic totalitarian state propaganda app... "

-solemn_face.jpg-

Duamerthrax , (edited )

I'm just pointing and laughing at the dopamine addicts. We've lost so many better internet things by now and the same people who thought I was weird for caring are now crying over tiktok.

ManniSturgis ,
@ManniSturgis@lemmy.zip avatar

Lemmy ml. Eat shit tankie

bloodfart ,

What are you gonna do about it, liberal? Fund a genocide? Restrict your own free speech?

Why not use your security council veto to prevent the un from recognizing Palestinian statehood while still claiming to support a two state solution?

LucidNightmare ,

Reading through these comments... yikes guys. I use TikTok sometimes, and love the content it provides that YouTube does not provide. Seeing the straight up hate for the app, mixed with the misunderstanding of what the app CAN be if you actually use it, is chilling to say the least. If they were banning ALL social media apps, and their companies, I'd be all for this. As it is, I can not see why you would all be cheering so hard for TikTok to be sold to some American asshole, just for it to start getting enshittified, and then STILL sell your data to Russia, China, and anyone else who wants a slice. The fact you are all hating on TikTok so much, but not questioning our own American social media companies, and wanting them to be banned too, is frightening.

I've seen a few comments saying it is spyware. On iOS at least, there is an icon that pops up to let you know when an app is using your camera or microphone. Not only that, but when you start an app for the first time, it has to request to you the user if you want to allow it access to these things. I said no, of course, because when I first started using it, I fucking hated TikTok. Turns out, when you use it for like a week, it starts to get REALLY good at delivering content you want to see.

Anyway, it doesn't matter, as I'm sure plenty of you will disagree, complain, and then go on using your American owned social medias, that are still hoovering up and selling your data.

The only differences being that China wasn't making a cent out of me, nor do any of these equally shitty American social medias. Oh well, I guess we just really love our own little national narratives.

TrickDacy ,

it doesn't sound like you understand global politics.

LucidNightmare ,

Okay. Enlighten me then. What benefit does this actually have then?

TrickDacy ,

I used to play this game but I don't anymore. Google tiktok chinese ownership.

LucidNightmare ,

LMAO. Okay.

TrickDacy ,

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  • TrickDacy ,

    I said the app was okay, and quite good at times. In fact, China is shit.

    The bad faith required to pretend they are separate entities is why you're not worth it. Or are you ignorant? Either way your replies prove my point

    derpgon ,

    Imagine how dumb an average person is, then realize how many people are dumber. Just because you know how to use it and can navigate through the algorithm doesn't mean everyone else can.

    It's a dumbfucking platform full of both fake news and straight up dangerous shot that can get anyone's house burnt down, killed, or severely wounded.

    That being said, do Shitter and Facebook next.

    natural_motions , (edited )

    You need to educate yourself about China and the CCP.

    You're overreacting by quite a lot, people are fine with banning TikTok for the same reason they're fine with banning spyware apps from Russia or any other bad actor state.

    We aren't obligated to give anti-democratic foreign adversaries equal access to pollute our public squares. Especially when they themselves have already banned most forms of outside social media and are only interest in peddling their propaganda.

    It's ridiculous that people are pretending like the CCP is some kind of victim here or that this is some slippery slope.

    hark ,
    @hark@lemmy.world avatar

    You need to educate yourself about the US government and its corporate buddies.

    Isthisreddit ,

    First, link some sources of how China/CCP is using TikTok in anyway different that Facebook to get data on its users, specifically the comparison to malware. I don't think OP is overreacting and I do think this is a slippery slope (some entity outside US jurisdiction owns a successful app - this is clearly a message to all other companies and startups outside US jurisdiction that they will meet the same fate if their idea becomes too successful). And yes, I'm sure you will "but but CCP" here, and I will say show me proof TikTok is doing something nefarious (that's any different than what current platforms are doing - all I've ever heard is fear mongering that China "could" do something something etc blah blah)

    Duamerthrax ,

    just for it to start getting enshittified

    It's always been shit.

    noxy ,
    @noxy@yiffit.net avatar

    Do Facebook and Twitter next.

    p5yk0t1km1r4ge ,
    @p5yk0t1km1r4ge@lemmy.world avatar

    Yes please

    Valmond ,

    Youtube, amazon & ebay then or am I just greedy?

    fuckingkangaroos ,

    Yes, eBay and TikTok are the same.

    Duamerthrax ,

    Most of these would be far better off being broken up.

    chatokun ,

    I mean, it isn't a ban. It requires they be owned by Americans. Those others are already compliant, unfortunately.

    HurlingDurling ,
    @HurlingDurling@lemmy.world avatar

    Twitter is owned by Musk, he's from South Africa, so we can force him to sell no?

    chatokun ,

    I don't think it's where you came from but whether you're a citizen and most importantly if the government can apply regulations and or investigate(and maybe somewhat control) your company. I think Elon qualifies there, though he seems to break rules all the time so I really wish they would.

    HurlingDurling ,
    @HurlingDurling@lemmy.world avatar

    Right, again, this feels more like control by the us gov, and less about protecting its people

    CaptKoala ,

    TikTok is the primary source of brain-rot in 2024, please, somebody, change my mind.

    WindyRebel , (edited )

    Ok. Have you not heard of X, MAGA, or Truth Social?

    CaptKoala ,

    Thankfully, I'm not forced to interact with any of those, it's not a problem here.
    Here in Australia, TikTok is everywhere, and I feel at times as if I'm the only one here that hasn't touched it, that doesn't stop my friends from ignoring the fact I've asked them countless times not to send tiktoks to me.

    One of said friends is a nurse, one of the smartest people I know. She told me how to do CPR based on what she'd seen in a TikTok, as someone that's done the CPR training, and actually performed it, I was really upset that her knowledge had been overwritten in a very short time of her TikTok addiction.
    I'm finding such cases are becoming more and more common kately and it's terrifying.

    isles ,

    I learned how to garden, grow food, ferment food, and some plant identification. I have a working knowledge of sewing. I've watched volcanoes erupt. I saw deep space imagery from JWST and followed along the Voyager 1 communications issues. I get a stream of physicists and physicians sharing about the latest in their field.

    It helped me realize many limiting beliefs I've had about myself and I love myself more than I ever have.

    I could have done those things elsewhere, too. But just like Pandora / Spotify are a tool to discover things you like that you didn't know before, so is algorithmic video delivery.

    Is everything on any social media good? I'm sure there are corners of Tiktok that are as deplorable as anywhere else.

    CaptKoala ,

    That's great to hear, genuinely the first positive impact I've heard of TikTok having.

    I will however state the obvious, you could find most, if not all the same information with a search engine.

    gmtom ,
    @gmtom@lemmy.world avatar

    I probably shouldnt be celebrating this but I am. I fucking despise Tiktok with a passion, I hate its users, its creators, I hate the short form content trend it started and its algorithm based content delivery systems that every other app copied but worse, I hate the sexualisation of minors and peddling that content to pedos, I hate the clout chasing in general, I hate tiktok trends and “challenged”. and I hate the general brainrot it has caused.

    jkrtn ,

    Yeah but that’s just on YouTube and Facebook now. Nobody is going to regulate them in the slightest.

    It is a slap in the face if they want to say it is too influential to have an adversarial state control it, at the same time leaving it fine for local billionaires to do the exact same things.

    Ajen ,

    What are you celebrating, exactly? TikTok isn't going away, it's just going to be sold to American investors.

    ChaoticEntropy ,
    @ChaoticEntropy@feddit.uk avatar

    If they comply.

    Ajen ,

    Some bills don't have teeth. It sounds like this one does. What do you think would happen if ByteDance doesn't comply?

    ChaoticEntropy , (edited )
    @ChaoticEntropy@feddit.uk avatar

    It would be ineffectually banned in the US and Bytedance would continue to rake in money worldwide from not-the-US?

    The US population represents ~4% of the world.

    Ajen ,

    You're saying people in the US would keep using it if it were banned in the US but still available in the rest of the world? How? It wouldn't be available on app stores, and the website would be blocked by American DNS servers. Most TikTok users aren't tech savvy enough to get around bans.

    laughterlaughter ,

    Lol, I don't agree with what the parent poster said, but your interpretation is way off!

    No, he's saying that if ByteDance loses the American market, it won't matter much (it does, in my opinion.)

    Ajen ,

    Lol, I don't agree with what the parent poster said, but your interpretation is way off!

    Which part? How do you see things differently?

    laughterlaughter ,

    I guess you focused on the "ineffectually" part indicating that US users would "ignore the ban." Fair enough. But I think the comment is more about ByteDance not caring about losing the U.S. market.

    Ajen ,

    I don't think TikTok's success outside of the US is relevant to the thread. It isn't being banned because lawmakers want ByteDance to make less money.

    laughterlaughter ,

    Not relevant to the thread, sure. But the parent poster's point was something along the lines of "like ByteDance will give a damn - they still have the rest of the world market, so they will happily accept the ban."

    But you're right. Not exactly relevant to the thread.

    Zink ,

    Just removing it from the Apple App Store world crush its popularity in the US, since iPhones have much more market share here than globally.

    Some users might figure out how to view the site with a web browser, but that’s where the other types of blocks come into play.

    Daxtron2 ,

    Google > tiktok APK > install

    Ajen ,

    Most of TikTok's user base is either on iOS or not tech savvy enough to figure that out.

    laughterlaughter ,

    You're underestimating gen-Zers.

    Ajen ,

    Gen Z don't use apple products?

    laughterlaughter ,

    Gen Z know more about tech than you may think.

    Ajen ,

    I think you're missing the point.

    laughterlaughter ,

    Please enlighten me...

    laughterlaughter ,

    Yes, the U.S. population represents 4% of the world, but what about in the economic world?

    gmtom ,
    @gmtom@lemmy.world avatar

    At the very least they will have to split tiktok since I doubt the CCP will let them sell the whole thing, nor will they want to.

    Best case scenario they pull out of the US entirely and then maybe some other western countries also ban it.

    UnderpantsWeevil ,
    @UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world avatar

    I hate its users, its creators, I hate the short form content trend it started and its algorithm based content delivery systems that every other app copied but worse

    I mean... eh? TikTok is hardly the first platform to embrace short-form video. I think the dislike for the app is overblown.

    The style is reflective of the medium. No point in making big budget audio/visual multi-hour immersive experiences for a cell phone screen with some headphones. The media has to be short because its for an audience that's stealing time in the middle of a commute or during a break at school or the office. The continuous-feed style is something we just managed to achieve with high speed mobile internet (TikTok would have been impossible on a dial-up device).

    Its a young medium. People are still learning what works and what doesn't. And its as prone to getting enshittified as every other venue, thanks to the endless need for higher profits.

    But as someone who grew up watching Albino Blacksheep and YTMND meme-tier content and owns a DVD of Super Bowl Commercials, I gotta say that we've had a lot worse.

    I hate the general brainrot it has caused

    People say this shit about every medium. And there's definitely awful pieces of individual content.

    But a lot of it just comes down to the hyper-sensationalist marketing. And its common to every conceivable media, from Comic Book style front page of print to the "Bwooooong!" they put in every new movie trailer.

    If TikToks suck, its largely because they're aping the worst aspects of all the other established media forms.

    gmtom ,
    @gmtom@lemmy.world avatar

    The media has to be short because its for an audience that's stealing time in the middle of a commute or during a break at school or the offic

    Except most people you speak to will tell you they spend hours in bed scrolling. Short form took off because it drives higher engagement.

    And its as prone to getting enshittified as every other venue, thanks to the endless need for higher profits.

    Except its never not been shitty. I wa son it back when it was musical.ly it has much of the same problems.

    Albino Blacksheep and YTMND meme-tier content

    Which are far more creative than doing whatever the current trend is, or a thirst trap or click bait.

    People say this shit about every medium. And there's definitely awful pieces of individual content.

    But with tiktok you can feel it. I hate short form but still end up scrolling mindlessly through YT shorts or IG reels. And it really does measurably affect your attention span. And it's so noticeable that the user base openly acknowledges the brain rot.

    UnderpantsWeevil ,
    @UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world avatar

    most people you speak to will tell you they spend hours in bed scrolling

    This seems like an exaggeration on a number of fronts. But even if you can find folks doing this, what's the counterfactual? Would these same people be out hitting the gym or gardening or curing cancer? Or would they just be watching TV or reading a book, instead?

    Short form took off because it drives higher engagement.

    There are folks binging seasons worth of Netflix who would argue otherwise.

    Which are far more creative than doing whatever the current trend is

    They're absolutely not. Go back through the dredges of the '00s-era content mill and you'll find plenty of low-effort crap. Hell, YTMND was the pinacle of low effort crap. It was shit you could crank out in ten minutes with MS Paint and a collection of mp3 snippets.

    And it’s so noticeable that the user base openly acknowledges the brain rot.

    You'd have heard from folks reading tabloid news or watching reality TV decades ago.

    gmtom ,
    @gmtom@lemmy.world avatar

    Would these same people be out hitting the gym or gardening or curing cancer? Or would they just be watching TV or reading a book, instead?

    I mean ive personally just zoned out scrolling short form and missed my chance to go to the gym before. obviously might not be the case for everyone but is certainly plausible.

    There are folks binging seasons worth of Netflix who would argue otherwise.

    That doesnt disprove what I said at all.

    They’re absolutely not. Go back through the dredges of the '00s-era content mill and you’ll find plenty of low-effort crap.

    Creativity != effort and even then most tiktok stuff is as low effort as it gets.

    UnderpantsWeevil ,
    @UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world avatar

    I mean ive personally just zoned out scrolling short form and missed my chance to go to the gym before.

    I've seen people scrolling in between reps at the gym. But, again, would this not have been a problem if you'd been blogging instead of TikToking? Or Netflix binging?

    That doesnt disprove what I said at all.

    Multi-hour tv series are not short form.

    Creativity != effort

    A picture of a celebrity attached to a quote from a movie played on a loop is neither.

    gmtom ,
    @gmtom@lemmy.world avatar

    I’ve seen people scrolling in between reps at the gym. But, again, would this not have been a problem if you’d been blogging instead of TikToking? Or Netflix binging?

    The point is short form content enables that behaviour more than other things. Its taken off specifically because its addicting and makes you think "its only a short/reel/tiktok just one more.... okay one more...etc" that you dont get with hour long netflix episodes.

    Multi-hour tv series are not short form.

    No one is arguing otherwise and long form content just existing doesnt disprove that short form drives higher engagement. Its like saying "Taylor swift songs are the most popular" and replying "but ACDC exists?" That doesnt disprove the original statement.

    A picture of a celebrity attached to a quote from a movie played on a loop is neither.

    ok

    UnderpantsWeevil ,
    @UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world avatar

    The point is short form content enables that behaviour more than other things. Its taken off specifically because its addicting and makes you think “its only a short/reel/tiktok just one more… okay one more…etc” that you dont get with hour long netflix episodes.

    I simply haven't seen anything to support this claim.

    No one is arguing otherwise and long form content just existing doesnt disprove that short form drives higher engagement

    You haven't established anything to disprove. You've just asserted it with some personal anecdote about missing a gym appointment.

    Its like saying “Taylor swift songs are the most popular” and replying “but ACDC exists?”

    It's like saying Taylor Swift isn't inside the top 10 of the Billboard Top 100 so why do you keep insisting that her overwhelming popularity is corrupting America's fragile young egos?

    p5yk0t1km1r4ge ,
    @p5yk0t1km1r4ge@lemmy.world avatar

    Me too. I see no issue with banning it. I've said this before, but people are only outraged because they're addicted to it and may possibly lose it. Fuck tik tock. Among your examples, I will add the misinformation pounding left tok with things like autism and other mental disabilities. Plus, the way people are self diagnosing themselves and acting like it's a fashion statement is outrageous. And then you have the outrage bait videos that explicitly cherry pick information for viewers while holding back the full context of things, which is a tactic there's already far too much of in this country.

    gmtom ,
    @gmtom@lemmy.world avatar

    pounding left tok with things like autism and other mental disabilities. Plus, the way people are self diagnosing themselves and acting like it's a fashion statement is outrageous

    [Respectfully] fuck off.

    Anyone the bemoans "self diagnosis" is just a classist dickhead.

    p5yk0t1km1r4ge , (edited )
    @p5yk0t1km1r4ge@lemmy.world avatar

    Get the fuck over it. The self diagnosing bullshit on tick tok does more harm than good, so no, I don't think I'll "fuck off". Couldn't help but notice you glazed over the sentence I wrote and willfully ignored the misinformation part in an effort to make it look like i have an issue with disabled users. Classic. News flash, but as someone with 2 autistic children who were medically diagnosed, seeing this "put a finger up for x, if you have more than 3 fingers you are autistic" fad is absolutely bullshit self diagnosis being flaunted like its "cool" when they dont even have a medical diagnosis. I have nothing further to say to you. Have a nice day!

    gmtom ,
    @gmtom@lemmy.world avatar

    Get the fuck over yourself mate.

    It's really nice you have the money to get your kids diagnosed. But I really need you to pull your head out of your arse and realise that poor people exist and gasp they can be autistic too.

    It would cost me a month and half of wages to get an autism diagnosis, then another month and half of wages if I wanted and ADHD one as well.

    So can you maybe see why people sleep diagnose and don't just get an "official" diagnosis?

    I mean you probably don't given how much a conceited reprobate you are being over this.

    Willing to bet you're one of these autism speaks parents as well.

    p5yk0t1km1r4ge ,
    @p5yk0t1km1r4ge@lemmy.world avatar

    Yeah bud, so anyway self diagnosing as a fashionable accessory is bullshit, and you can fuck off. It's called insurance. It costs nothing to get diagnosed, and it's not that hard to get state assistance, which I did, for their diagnosis, after fighting tooth and nail for 2 and a half years to get my children the help they needed. You clearly have no idea how this works, and I'm not going to go out of my way to explain it to you. Seeing people pretending to have autism (and some who straight up lied about having it-google it, I'm not doing it for you) when I fought so hard to get my kids their diagnosis simply infuriates me, and your spineless melodramatic bullshit isn't helping . Since you're going to sling insults at me because you don't like my opinion, don't expect me to respect you. Grow the fuck up, get off your ass, stop scrolling tik tok, and actually fight for your diagnosis instead of whining about how you can't do it. I'm done wasting my time on you.

    gmtom ,
    @gmtom@lemmy.world avatar

    t’s called insurance. It costs nothing to get diagnosed

    Like I knew you were a dumbass and a piece of shit already but my god you just keep getting dumber. Do you think everyone has insurance, can afford insurance, has insurance that covers these kinds of diagnosis, can afford their deductible?

    2 and a half years to get my children the help they needed.

    Why did they need help? They werent diagnosed at the time right? So they werent actually autistic right? Or did you diagnose them yourself by observing their behaviour?

    Also, why did you have to fight so hard if its soooo easy to get a diagnosis? Or are you just bullshitting?

    You clearly have no idea how this works,

    Imma blow your mind here chief, so you have the USA right? Well theres actually things that exist outside of the USA. (crazy I know) entire countries in fact that have different ways of doing things like autism diagnosis. Im from one of those countries.

    nd I’m not going to go out of my way to explain it to you

    Well thats good since you clearly dont know wtf youre talking about anyway "iTs CalLeD iNsUrAnCe"

    . Seeing people pretending to have autism (and some who straight up lied about having it-google it, I’m not doing it for you) when I fought so hard to get my kids their diagnosis simply infuriates me

    So im going to ask you to rub your two braincells together and try to have a coherent thought for once. What do you think is worse? Entitled whiny babies like you being mildly annoyed by people you think are faking it? Or people that genuinely have autism getting harassed by losers like you and not being able to get the care they need.

    Like lets make it about you, since thats all people like you actually care about: It took you 2 years for you to get your kids diagnosed, even when you were "fighting tooth and nail" for it on their behalf. And in that time, they were still actually autistic and not getting the help they needed right? How would you feel about someone insisting theyre not actually autistic, and just pretending to get attention and trying to stop them from getting help until you jumped through all those hops? pretty shitty right? So can you imagine that it might be harder for an adult to make that fight on their own? especially when theyre battling with their own Autism or ADHD? So it might take them even longer than 2 years to get a diagnosis?

    ince you’re going to sling insults at me because you don’t like my opinion,

    Im not slinging insults at you because I dont like your opinion. Im slinging insults at you because you're a fucking disgraceful excuse for a human being with no compassion for anyone outside of your own life. And im fucking dismayed that you're going to raise so kids to be exactly as vile of cunt as you are. Those kids deserve better than that. and I would have put my arguments in a nicer way to actually try and convince so, since I do know insulting someone makes them resist change harder, but it was apparent from your first comment that you have your head so far up your own arse that would never listen to a reasonable argument, so I might as well tell you how much a fucking piece of shit you are.

    Grow the fuck up, get off your ass, stop scrolling tik tok, and actually fight for your diagnosis instead of whining about how you can’t do it. I’m done wasting my time on you.

    Again, not like you care because you very very clearly only think about yourself and have a low key disdain for the poor and neurodivergent, but I have a full time job which is difficult for me (because you know ADHD and autism) and takes up pretty much all of my time and energy and leaves me with very little disposable income, yet I do actually save what I can and a formal diagnosis is one of the things im saving for, but putting together over 3 months salary for it is a tall order that will actually take me at least 3-4 years, and thats assuming prices dont rise further and I dont incur any other big expenses like a car breakdown.

    Im sure thats a foreign concept to a classist piece of shit like you, but its the reality the millions upon millions of neurodivergent people face. And if you had literally a SIGNLE IOTA of empathy or compassion in you heart, you would be able to acknowledge it.

    p5yk0t1km1r4ge ,
    @p5yk0t1km1r4ge@lemmy.world avatar

    Not reading that lol. Since you won't shut the fuck up, I'm gonna just block you.

    dan ,
    @dan@upvote.au avatar

    The people that create TikTok content are still going to exist even if TikTok goes away. They'll just move to another platform.

    ZombiFrancis ,

    Also that damned Disco music!

    daltotron ,

    I hate the short form content trend it started

    always has been, with vine.

    its algorithm based content delivery systems that every other app copied but worse

    always has been, with twitter, facebook, instagram, snapchat, youtube, uhhhhh... vine, yeah, just mentioned that one. discord, tinder. literally everything.

    I hate the sexualisation of minors and peddling that content to pedos

    Look at what the great adpocalypse of youtube was ostensibly about, then look at what it was really about. In any case, always has been.

    I hate the clout chasing in general

    Always has been.

    I hate tiktok trends and “challenged”

    Assuming you mean "challenge", you could check out the harlem shake, the ice bucket challenge, god, there's a lot of them honestly. Gangnam style. I think probably this is just like, meme culture more broadly, which, say it with me now: always has been.

    I hate the general brainrot it has caused.

    And finally, always has been.

    theotherverion ,
    @theotherverion@lemmynsfw.com avatar

    Most of social media are an actual threat considering the fact what data do they collect.

    ours ,

    Yes US needs privacy laws, not just banning one of the many data-mining social networks.

    Duamerthrax ,

    The data that they collect and what they use it for.

    theotherverion ,
    @theotherverion@lemmynsfw.com avatar

    Yes, I very much value free market but ethical principles need to be kept. Social media companies, however, fail to follow the basic ethics and disrespect privacy.

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