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TikTok's co-founder to step down as chief executive

bbc.com

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Re: TikTok's co-founder to step down as chief executive

#41

Post by joebob42 »

rfoo wrote: post #21
supergirl wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it might be Chinese corporate talk. the politicians also talk like this sometimes. might be related to communism -- attempting to not be condescending to regular people. or maybe it's just Chinese culture that doesn't value empty talk and so he is forced to write something concrete but it doesn't mean this is the truth.

Chinese politician talk is as empty as you may see elsewhere, just in a different way (wording being more "communism" and harder to decipher)

And perhaps just harder to decipher for us because it's a different flavor of bull then we are used to, and has been passed through a translation layer

Re: TikTok's co-founder to step down as chief executive

#42

Post by hobofan »

samspenc wrote: post #3
bigtones wrote: post #2

Wow, his comments were super honest as to his reasons for stepping down. It's refreshing in such a transition that it's not smothered in corporate speak written by lawyers or HR, or the common go-to of 'spending more time with family'.

> "The truth is, I lack some of the skills that make an ideal manager. I'm more interested in analysing organizational and market principles, and leveraging these theories to further reduce management work, rather than actually managing people," Mr Zhang wrote in a message on the company's website. "Similarly, I'm not very social, preferring solitary activities like being online, reading, listening to music, and cont…

> Also interesting he is stepping down during a wave of crackdown on Internet giants in China by the CCP.

Yes, "the best lies are the ones shrouded in truth". The reasons he listed might indeed be reasons why someone else would be a better fit for his positions, but I wouldn't be surprised if the actual trigger for stepping down now is the CCP.

Re: TikTok's co-founder to step down as chief executive

#43

Post by seanmcdirmid »

samspenc wrote: post #3
bigtones wrote: post #2

Wow, his comments were super honest as to his reasons for stepping down. It's refreshing in such a transition that it's not smothered in corporate speak written by lawyers or HR, or the common go-to of 'spending more time with family'.

> "The truth is, I lack some of the skills that make an ideal manager. I'm more interested in analysing organizational and market principles, and leveraging these theories to further reduce management work, rather than actually managing people," Mr Zhang wrote in a message on the company's website. "Similarly, I'm not very social, preferring solitary activities like being online, reading, listening to music, and cont…

It is impossible to tell if someone is being sincere, or just very good at appearing to be sincere.

I doubt the CCP was involved either way. A CEO stepping down with a humble excuse wouldn’t do them much good.

Re: TikTok's co-founder to step down as chief executive

#44

Post by stevewodil »

mrkramer wrote: post #31
hienyimba wrote: post #12

> "The truth is, I lack some of the skills that make an ideal manager. I'm more interested in analysing organizational and market principles, and leveraging these theories to further reduce management work, rather than actually managing people," Mr Zhang wrote in a message on the company's website. "Similarly, I'm not very social, preferring solitary activities like being online, reading, listening to music, and cont…

>Little wonder he navigated the company to such great success. After Twitter destroyed Vine it was clear something was needed to replace it and TikTok filled that void.

Not really. Snapchat and Instagram both introduced video features around the time Vine started declining. Instagram's video support is what killed the Vine userbase as the big creators moved off of Vine.

TikTok didn't fill a void, it's a fantastic video app that did a lot of things right. There was a lot of new video apps after Vine died, none of them were successful.

Re: TikTok's co-founder to step down as chief executive

#45

Post by seanmcdirmid »

powerapple wrote: post #8
samspenc wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "The truth is, I lack some of the skills that make an ideal manager. I'm more interested in analysing organizational and market principles, and leveraging these theories to further reduce management work, rather than actually managing people," Mr Zhang wrote in a message on the company's website. "Similarly, I'm not very social, preferring solitary activities like being online, reading, listening to music, and cont…

I guess if he does not want to be honest, he does not need to write it this way, it is easier just to have someone draft some words for you. Of course, one of the factor could be what has happened: forced to sell TikTok by US; couldn't sell TikTok because rejected by China; although the massive traffic amounted by apps from his company, they are seen the same way as Facebook as not healthy for society (once you are o…

The court rejected Trump’s executive orders so they didn’t have to sell TikTok. I don’t think any of Trump’s executive orders concerning commerce in China were not rejected by the court.

Re: TikTok's co-founder to step down as chief executive

#46

Post by aiisjustanif »

stevewodil wrote: post #44
mrkramer wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Little wonder he navigated the company to such great success. After Twitter destroyed Vine it was clear something was needed to replace it and TikTok filled that void.

Not really. Snapchat and Instagram both introduced video features around the time Vine started declining. Instagram's video support is what killed the Vine userbase as the big creators moved off of Vine. TikTok didn't fill a void, it's a fantastic video app that did a lot of things right. There was a lot of new video apps after Vine died, none of them were successful.

We don’t have hard numbers obviously but a lot of people did miss Vine. Snapchat and Instagram didn’t come close to replacing it’s coolness and connected factor. Not to mention Vine was amazing for black culture. If you think the others replaced Vine then you probably aren’t a heavy social media user. Everyone knows Snapchat is for “rogue” content. Like your random sketchy night out in college that you only send temporarily (the close friend feature on Instagram and DMs never replaced this fully).

Instagram is much more for funny content that is longer form or static (this goes serious static content and memes), some short form content (since it has grown with reels), and for clout. The gram has always been for clout first and foremost. I’m not posting my pictures of my new whip on Snapchat or Facebook.

Vine was the platform for the great short form collaboration that is equally silly, informative and cool. TikTok is having the exact same effect, but has a feed, comment section, and related video functionality that makes it even better.

Re: TikTok's co-founder to step down as chief executive

#47

Post by nomay »

gogopuppygogo wrote: post #27
xvector wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Still, it will be an incredibly valuable company, especially as the Chinese middle class comes into wealth.

China seems to be aging faster than the middle class can get wealthy. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/01/chinas-aging-population-is-b...

I've come to realize that the inherent advantage to the China system is that it can dispose of people at will, it doesn't need to care about your feel and whether you want to be in the loser pack, all in the grand name of the greater good.

That makes it nimble, and powerful, that means the system itself almost always wins, as for the people, well, good luck.

Re: TikTok's co-founder to step down as chief executive

#48

Post by [deleted] »

silvestrov wrote: post #13
samspenc wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "The truth is, I lack some of the skills that make an ideal manager. I'm more interested in analysing organizational and market principles, and leveraging these theories to further reduce management work, rather than actually managing people," Mr Zhang wrote in a message on the company's website. "Similarly, I'm not very social, preferring solitary activities like being online, reading, listening to music, and cont…

> leveraging these theories to further reduce management work, rather than actually managing people somehow I think this is what a CEO should be doing, and then letting managers do the people management. CEO should be strategy, not keeping Karen in accounting dept. happy. Too many companies just continue doing whatever they have been doing for a long time, without any ability at reconsidering if this still fits the m…

[deleted]

Re: TikTok's co-founder to step down as chief executive

#49

Post by adventured »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #43
samspenc wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "The truth is, I lack some of the skills that make an ideal manager. I'm more interested in analysing organizational and market principles, and leveraging these theories to further reduce management work, rather than actually managing people," Mr Zhang wrote in a message on the company's website. "Similarly, I'm not very social, preferring solitary activities like being online, reading, listening to music, and cont…

It is impossible to tell if someone is being sincere, or just very good at appearing to be sincere. I doubt the CCP was involved either way. A CEO stepping down with a humble excuse wouldn’t do them much good.

> A CEO stepping down with a humble excuse wouldn’t do them much good.

Of course it would, it makes it look like everything is calm, orderly, and that their economic system isn't under siege by the state. The CCP - as with all authoritarian systems and to the degree of the authoritarianism - is at all times obsessed with faking appearances. (insert inevitable diversionary replies: "but America")

Colin Huang desperately fled control of Pinduoduo, terrified of Xi's targeting of the next Jack Ma types. He started giving away his shares specifically to avoid getting that bullseye painted on him, to avoid potentially becoming the richest person in China.

It makes perfect sense that Zhang Yiming would be in the same boat as every other prominent figure that is scared they're next. ByteDance is even more influential and important than Pinduoduo though, which makes it clear there was no other scenario to be had with ByteDance other than to 'step down.' This process will not just continue, it's going to have to accelerate; authoritarian systems - a dictatorship in this case - either must liberalize, collapse or persistently tighten the screws on any perceived risks and opposition to maintain control. It's obvious which scenario is occurring.

Re: TikTok's co-founder to step down as chief executive

#50

Post by adventured »

blueblisters wrote: post #9
miguelrochefort wrote: post #4

For those unfamiliar with ByteDance, they’re actually much bigger than you might think, and have become serious competitors to China’s leading tech companies (BATX + H) [1]: - Baidu - Alibaba - Tencent - Xiaomi - Huawei You can see how their offering compare in this Big Tech Spreadsheet [2]. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BATX [2] https://miguelrochefort.com/blog/big-tech

TikTok will surpass Facebook as the most engaging social media app in the US with fewer DAUs than Facebook. It's already at par [1] according to some data. ByteDance might become the most valuable company in the world, not just in China. [1] https://twitter.com/TurnerNovak/status/1394704798591590401?s...

That's never going to happen. TikTok is already losing engagement in the US. The TikTok problem is that there are only so many cloned dances to do and very short form video is overwhelmingly low value garbage.

Ever look at the TikTok channels for prominent celebrities? The content is horrible. It's embarrassing to look at their channels. It's inherent to the format. The sole thing propping up TikTok in the US - which is already beginning to fade - is the popularity of young people cloning mediocre dance routines. There is only so far for that one trick pony to go, it becomes increasingly boring with time.

Facebook persists as the telephone that every house has, along with its protective moat in Instagram. TikTok has no persistence reason to exist long-term. It's far easier to build the next fad social network than it is to replace something perma entrenched like Facebook. The over 30 crowd is the majority of social media users in the US, they aren't going to abandon Facebook, it's set (exactly the same way Google is in search); young people however will abandon TikTok for the next cool trinket social media app as they get increasingly bored with TikTok and desperate for something new and cool to play with.

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