TikTok hits 1.5B downloads, outperforming Instagram • Hacker News Board

Re: TikTok hits 1.5B downloads, outperforming Instagram

#321

Post by randompi » Wed, Nov 20, 2019, 3:30 AM UTC

RandallBrown wrote: post #44

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> First there was text, both Facebook and Twitter. Then images with instagram. Now people want videos that they can consume in short bits of time en mass. What you are describing is the continued fall to smaller and smaller bits of stimulation and information. I’m worried about the consequences of this on the human mind and humanity in general. Our tech is gradually eroding our ability to focus on anything for more t…

Videos encode way more information than a snippet of text. If anything, social media is moving the opposite way, where people are requiring more stimulation and information.

> people are requiring more stimulation and information

Perhaps I'm old, but TikTok failed to get me back over and over again.

Re: TikTok hits 1.5B downloads, outperforming Instagram

#322

Post by Lammy » Wed, Nov 20, 2019, 4:29 AM UTC

wil421 wrote: post #13

m12k wrote: post #11

"It is the third most-downloaded app outside of gaming this year. Numbers one and two are WhatsApp and Messenger, while four and five are the Facebook app and Instagram." Facebook owns 4/5 of the most downloaded apps - just let that sink in for a minute. This space needs competition pretty badly.

There was competition and FB used their war chest to buy them all, sans messenger. They forced people to download messenger to see FB messages on mobile. They also lied and said you had a message when you really didn’t. Just to force the messenger download.

> They also lied and said you had a message when you really didn’t. Just to force the messenger download.

I bet the line of reasoning is that the message notification is for the upsell telling you how great Messenger is.

Re: TikTok hits 1.5B downloads, outperforming Instagram

#323

Post by uranusjr » Wed, Nov 20, 2019, 6:02 AM UTC

komali2 wrote: post #246

uranusjr wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I browse Chinese social media and while my Mandarin isn't great I'm not seeing any level of AstroTurfing at all. So am I just a crazy conspiracy person? Is the PRC astroturfing not a big deal? Wait what? Chinese social media is astroturfing at its best (worst?) and it’s not even close, it’s not even possible to say something without a Wumao[1] matching you post to post with total BS. It’s much more blatant than Eng…

Apologies, I meant that I don't see anti PRC shilling on Baidu etc.

Ah that makes sense. Well in that case it’s likely because of censorship, you don’t see those comments since they are either blocked or deleted.

Re: TikTok hits 1.5B downloads, outperforming Instagram

#324

Post by Fjolsvith » Wed, Nov 20, 2019, 6:32 AM UTC

nsporillo wrote: post #56

Fjolsvith wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would consider the number of ads that TikTok runs to be on par with Youtube. However, they do it without the annoyance that Youtube forces on viewers. I removed the Youtube app from my phone and bookmark from my toolbar. That's how annoying I felt their ad scheme was.

Which is exactly GPs point. The advertisements are forced, not skippable because that is how the platform makes money.

After I've seen an ad once, I get to make the decision whether it's relevant to me on TikTok. On Youtube, they would like you to review the ad all over again, just to see if possibly you changed your mind. In fact, I've had the same ad replayed back at me so many times that my enjoyment of the videos was ruined.

Why do I have to suffer the repeat annoyance? And even when I've skipped the same ad twelve times, why do I then have to watch the ad full length before I can continue to the video? At what point does Google treat me like an adult that can decide the relevance of content?

This is the very reason I cut the cord on Cable TV.

Re: TikTok hits 1.5B downloads, outperforming Instagram

#325

Post by LunaSea » Wed, Nov 20, 2019, 6:42 AM UTC

melzidek wrote: post #222

LunaSea wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The CCP subsidizing a social media platform hurts no one. It hurts everybody (especially children) influenced by the censoring peddled by the CCP.

American social media censors in tons of ways that harm our children too. Is your outrage properly calibrated here?

I'm not American so yes, both can be wrong at the same time.

The CCP is just the worst of the two evils.

Re: TikTok hits 1.5B downloads, outperforming Instagram

#326

Post by timwaagh » Wed, Nov 20, 2019, 7:54 AM UTC

brailsafe wrote: post #301

timwaagh wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TikTok is the first social medium I don't get. It isn't very good at figuring out my tastes and just serves me generic hot people content. It doesn't try to figure out who I might want to contact with either. Maybe I'm getting old or something.

You don't like hot people?

They tend to burn my tongue. I prefer them served lukewarm.

Re: TikTok hits 1.5B downloads, outperforming Instagram

#327

Post by zeerev » Wed, Nov 20, 2019, 11:42 AM UTC

tinyhouse wrote: post #111

koonsolo wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I knew teenagers weren't on Facebook anymore, so I asked my niece what she uses with her friends: WhatsApp groups and Instagram. Then I realized how good Facebook knows its market.

You can say that about Instagram but not really WhatsApp. When FB acquired WhatsApp it was already the most popular messaging app in many countries. In Israel for example literally every person in the country had WhatsApp on their phone by the time of the acquisition. FB acquiring WhatsApp wasn't that impressive. The impressive part was the amount of money there were willing to pay for it. As far as I know it's still…

How do they meet other people online now? Those platforms aren't really conductive to creating new friendships. It seems like you'd already need most of that somewhere else. Where are they getting it?

Re: TikTok hits 1.5B downloads, outperforming Instagram

#328

Post by koonsolo » Wed, Nov 20, 2019, 2:21 PM UTC

zeerev wrote: post #327

tinyhouse wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can say that about Instagram but not really WhatsApp. When FB acquired WhatsApp it was already the most popular messaging app in many countries. In Israel for example literally every person in the country had WhatsApp on their phone by the time of the acquisition. FB acquiring WhatsApp wasn't that impressive. The impressive part was the amount of money there were willing to pay for it. As far as I know it's still…

How do they meet other people online now? Those platforms aren't really conductive to creating new friendships. It seems like you'd already need most of that somewhere else. Where are they getting it?

As far as I can tell, Discord.

Re: TikTok hits 1.5B downloads, outperforming Instagram

#329

Post by hackernewsboy » Wed, Nov 20, 2019, 6:14 PM UTC

pcroh wrote: post #260

hackernewsboy wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this is a small part, actually. if the younger generation of the us population is brainwashed by the ccp regime's propaganda, what is going to happen when these kids grow up?

They are already being brainwashed by propaganda in the US, both left-wing (the mass media) and right-wing (some online rabbit holes), I don't see this as much worse.

The US left-wing and right-wing media propaganda is just a piece of cake comparing to the CCP's propaganda. Anyone died in Tianman Massacre? Anyone died in Natural Disaster Years of 1960-1963? None. LOL.

Re: TikTok hits 1.5B downloads, outperforming Instagram

#330

Post by hackernewsboy » Wed, Nov 20, 2019, 6:17 PM UTC

Aperocky wrote: post #215

hackernewsboy wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it is actually very doubtful even tiktok has a separate section for internationals. for example, do you trust huawei's international operations?

You can ping the endpoints and see where the servers are, in addition to difference in naming, app, API, domain, etc. I don't need to trust anyone to verify the things that I can verify myself.

Nowadays it is very easy to have a front server with behind-scene server farms. You as a common end user without special tools just cannot see through, unless you are a genius script kid.