591–600 of 677 posts
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That’s probably fine for a growth product. They’ll increase monetization once the network effect is well-established.
Yeah, a $30 CPA isn't anything suspicious when there's upsell to a $20/mo subscription.
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> TikTok is the generation that is most malleable to propaganda in a way that can undermine an entire generation Citation needed. Come on.
My optimistic side says that if 60 second short videos were ideologically useful, CIA (or your favourite "They") would have weaponised them back in the 1960s[1]. My pessimistic side says they probably are, and maybe they even did. https://www.thinkbox.tv/research/thinkbox-research/a-matter-... [1] CIA didn't exist before 1947, so it would have to have been a different they for late 1920s, or even a different medium f…
A single 60 second video is not materially useful. But steady repetitive exposure to the same or similar messaging videos, is the foundation of TV advertising. There is likely some useful weaponization in there somewhere when the videos can be made without the assistance of a Madison Avenue crew and contract, and the consumers are pecking at the screen for more videos for long stretches of time like a pigeon in a psychology experiment.
Someone is going to try something to achieve controlled/directed opinion shaping with that kind of mass population behavior in a relatively regulation-free context compared to conventional centralized media. It has to be too tempting a centralized target to leave alone. Opinion shaping in these channels already is being attempted commercially. I'd like to hear from domain experts whether the metrics bear out such efforts actually work in the commercial sector, and if other domain experts in politics and defense think such experience warrants those sectors dabbling in making their own attempts.
We need to push back on this nonsense in journalism in which journalists don't include a link to the opinion when writing an article describing that opinion. There is not enough information included in the article to meaningfully comment on the situation. Edit: here is the order, which is very short: https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.222257/... The opinion is under seal, and the parties have been d…
Available here: https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.222257/... . As a sibling comment noted, the actual opinion is under seal, as evidenced by https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/18455532/tiktok-inc-v-t... "SEALED MEMORANDUM OPINION. Signed by Judge Carl J. Nichols on 9/27/2020. (This document is SEALED and only available to authorized persons.) (zcal) (Entered: 09/27/2020)".
https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.222257/...
Nichols says while emergency economic powers of the president (IEEPA) give Trump broad latitude on national security, TikTok falls under an exemption for "informational materials," like a news wire and "personal communication"
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In that post, Ben writes: > It feels like we're talking past each other. I completely agree! I do feel like you and I and Ben (even after reading Ben's post) are still talking past each other. I am completely lost at the point where you say "A and B, therefore C, the US should ban TikTok." What is it about the combination of success and external control that means TikTok should be banned? Ben wrote: > This [video-bas…
To me, this question is easier to model as a function of some scalar impact metric. Suppose we could quantify influence somehow. What people are arguing over is whether TikTok crosses some line of “too much influence” not “existence of influence” for which there are plenty of sources.
If we were debating something like "where shall we go for lunch, Restaurant A or B", most people here likely wouldn't have trouble identifying (or wouldn't deny the existence of) attributes that one might take into consideration (price, location, quality, cleanliness, decor, types and variety of dishes, friendliness of wait staff, etc), and differences in the values of those attributes.
If we slightly change the context to one where rather than comparing restaurants, we are instead comparing software applications (excluding code editors and operating systems, let's say: alarm clocks), most people could likely still competently exercise their systems analysis skills.
But if we make one more slight context change, from comparing alarm clocks, to comparing TikTok to Twitter/Facebook/etc, some very curious things start to happen. Suddenly, people seems to no longer have the ability to reliably identify attributes of each application, or that the value of those attributes differ.
What is the nature of this small context change, such that it seems to have such a remarkably negative effect on the systems analysis capabilities of human beings? On its face, the conversational behavior seems clearly illogical - and yet, based on my 10+ years on HN, I have a rich intuition that the average intelligence level around here is very high.
Something seems very paradoxical about this situation.
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> At this point, I believe we should stop discriminating based on age. If the age of voting is lowered to 6 (as some have asked for: [1]) or even removed altogether what stops me from producing 5-10 kids and then having them vote for a political party that I support? That is 5-10 extra votes in just a decade. And if 1000 families do that, that would significantly tilt the outcome of an election. By the time they grow…
You are assuming that most adults have an inherent understanding of political issues, too. Most don't.
You might want to read about on peer pressure and age influence here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2779518/
Do you really want your children to be exposed to political influence at such a tender age when they are already dealing with peer pressure, bullying and all other negative aspects that come with school life?
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I think the information age has really pushed the limits of what we find acceptable to leave to independent choice in democratic societies. Freedoms in democracy are being abused left-and-right to highlight specific weaknesses fundamental a democracy's healthy function. When it comes to TikTok, frankly I'm not sure if a foreign business under the thumb of the CCP is more or less a threat than businesses operating in…
> frankly I'm not sure if a foreign business under the thumb of the CCP is more or less a threat than businesses operating in our own country abusing the same freedoms for personal gain. The difference is that a foreign business under the thumb of the CCP is essentially a CCP propagandist, capable of spreading pro-CCP, anti-US propaganda. US business's abusing US citizens are doing so purely for profit. This is bad a…
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You are assuming that most adults have an inherent understanding of political issues, too. Most don't.
Yes but if you are an adult I can't coerce you into voting for a party of my choice. Children can be coerced. Children can be used as pawns. Schools can turn into political arenas. There are so many things that can go wrong by introducing politics at that young age. It is rare for adults to fall for peer pressure as you would have matured by then. Kids and teens can easily succumb to peer pressure. You might want to…
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You are assuming that most adults have an inherent understanding of political issues, too. Most don't.
Yes but if you are an adult I can't coerce you into voting for a party of my choice. Children can be coerced. Children can be used as pawns. Schools can turn into political arenas. There are so many things that can go wrong by introducing politics at that young age. It is rare for adults to fall for peer pressure as you would have matured by then. Kids and teens can easily succumb to peer pressure. You might want to…
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TikTok is not ran or based in the US. I don't get why you think they would be protected under US laws like a US based corporation. Congress and Executive branch can easily ban foreign companies from operating in the US and there is a long history of them doing so.
Either TikTok has right to operate in US or it does not. Is there any letter or terms or conditions of the US law that is prohibiting TikTok from operating? I don't think so. Also it has been allowed to operate for years till now, What sudden change of circumstance has occurred that banning it is imperative now? The government has not made any explanation. Ideal solution in this case would be to define a data securit…
Though I think the reason is very clear, at least their official one. If you are a China based company the CCP by law has access to your data and they have abused access to sensitive and private data time and time again. Just because nothing has happened yet doesn't mean we shouldn't be proactive against China.
And I wish Congress would do something about it. The Chinese government deserves so much more then a TikTok ban and Congress could give the ban a more stable foundation then a executive order from a controversial administration.