Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

TikTok has reached 1B MAUs

newsroom.tiktok.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 147 posts

Re: TikTok has reached 1B MAUs

#121

Post by lrvick »

beckman466 wrote: post #120
jjeaff wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That and the fact that the company is based in China and thus is fully beholden to any and everything that the Chinese government wants from them, without any checks and balances.

What about the US-based companies that are fully beholden to any and everything that the US government wants from them, without any checks and balances (as has been proven by Snowden, Assange, etc.)? Please stop with the Sinophobia already https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2020/9/11/sinophobia-the-...

There are many great reasons to not trust US companies with our data. I for one choose not to in most cases. Hell even the California DMV sells emails and home addresses now. (I only give them a P.O. box)

American apathy on data privacy has created some real monsters, but those monsters are not comparable to the CCP.

Calling it Sinophobia dismisses it as an irrational fear.

It is largely undisputed that the CCP dragnet tracks, manipulates, and censors the most minutiae of details to actively shape and control the culture of billions of people while also disappearing millions that don't conform to be tortured and killed in concentration camps.

It should be assumed any product operating under CCP rule will at some point be covertly used to further the surveillance dominance of the CCP.

It is possible to have great respect for the Chinese people and their rich history and culture while also having a very healthy fear for giving the CCP more ways to extend their culture control goals beyond their borders.

TikTok has already been been caught censoring CCP criticism: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/sep/25/revealed-...

Re: TikTok has reached 1B MAUs

#122

Post by beckman466 »

lrvick wrote: post #121
beckman466 wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about the US-based companies that are fully beholden to any and everything that the US government wants from them, without any checks and balances (as has been proven by Snowden, Assange, etc.)? Please stop with the Sinophobia already https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2020/9/11/sinophobia-the-...

There are many great reasons to not trust US companies with our data. I for one choose not to in most cases. Hell even the California DMV sells emails and home addresses now. (I only give them a P.O. box) American apathy on data privacy has created some real monsters, but those monsters are not comparable to the CCP. Calling it Sinophobia dismisses it as an irrational fear. It is largely undisputed that the CCP dragn…

All of this is easy to say for someone living on the 'other side of Imperialism', as Vijay Prashad beautifully says:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcX2O47NZuc

I take issue with everything you've written. You somehow still believe the words you use are themselves evidence (and it's obvious they originate from western media firms who manufacture consent - it impacts you (unconsciously) even if you consider yourself very progressive/leftist).

Who controls the world through financial imperialism? It isn't China.

Seriously, please consider a few of these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2khAmMTAjI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJLA2_Ho7X0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fahWWm7uVW8

Re: TikTok has reached 1B MAUs

#123

Post by _lz4k »

beckman466 wrote: post #122
lrvick wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are many great reasons to not trust US companies with our data. I for one choose not to in most cases. Hell even the California DMV sells emails and home addresses now. (I only give them a P.O. box) American apathy on data privacy has created some real monsters, but those monsters are not comparable to the CCP. Calling it Sinophobia dismisses it as an irrational fear. It is largely undisputed that the CCP dragn…

All of this is easy to say for someone living on the 'other side of Imperialism', as Vijay Prashad beautifully says: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcX2O47NZuc I take issue with everything you've written. You somehow still believe the words you use are themselves evidence (and it's obvious they originate from western media firms who manufacture consent - it impacts you (unconsciously) even if you consider yourself v…

You are linking videos to people that are celebrating the 100th anniversary of communist China. What am I missing?

Re: TikTok has reached 1B MAUs

#124

Post by fragmede »

romwell wrote: post #77
BitwiseFool wrote: post #17

One of the most surprising things to me about TikTok is that it isn't a Bay Area startup. For the longest time every hot social media app/platform was American.

That's because TikTok gets something that people here don't. Just look at this comment thread; very few people understand what's positive about TikTok, what's new and different about it, and why both Instagram and YouTube can't catch up. Literally all criticisms apply to Instagram too, but TikTok is not Instagram. That's because TikTok is way more decentralized than any other photo/video platform: it's less creator/c…

> That's because TikTok is way more decentralized than any other photo/video platform

TikTok's biggest strength is in encouraging users to post, but I'm struggling to see how it could be considered decentralized. Are you pointing out that it's not top-down moderated? There's a broad code of conduct, but outside of that it's pretty open on content, and thus I can start an account and talk about whatever special interest I have - and find others with that special interest. (As long as that special interest isn't on an opaque list of bad topics.)

Re: TikTok has reached 1B MAUs

#125

Post by shrikant »

loloquwowndueo wrote: post #18
jdlyga wrote: post #14

TikTok has definitely become the platform for short form video content. It used to be YouTube, but it's since matured into a place to watch more well produced videos in the 20 minute range. If you haven't given TikTok a chance, try it out.

Wasn’t the tiktok app lambasted for being terribly intrusive and data-collecty?

People keep saying this. But the app is actually one of the best I've encountered in terms of permissions -- it asks you for pretty much nothing up front, so if you use the app to only watch fun stuff and aren't too invested in it, then you can get by without granting the app any permissions at all!

Re: TikTok has reached 1B MAUs

#126

Post by fragmede »

romwell wrote: post #77
BitwiseFool wrote: post #17

One of the most surprising things to me about TikTok is that it isn't a Bay Area startup. For the longest time every hot social media app/platform was American.

That's because TikTok gets something that people here don't. Just look at this comment thread; very few people understand what's positive about TikTok, what's new and different about it, and why both Instagram and YouTube can't catch up. Literally all criticisms apply to Instagram too, but TikTok is not Instagram. That's because TikTok is way more decentralized than any other photo/video platform: it's less creator/c…

If you're trying to find people in the Bay Area that appreciate TikTok, might I make a suggestion? If you use the TikTok app instead of this web forum, lovely a place as it may be, you may have better luck connecting with like minded people. Because saying the Bay Area is "blind" to it is ridiculous. The Bay Area is less about conspicuous consumption to the same degree that LA or Miami can be, but investing in TikTok adjacent businesses, aka content houses, is big business and big money. Programmers might not get it, but ask someone who doesn't get TikTok what they thought of Twitter when it first came out.

Re: TikTok has reached 1B MAUs

#127

Post by fragmede »

BitwiseFool wrote: post #17

One of the most surprising things to me about TikTok is that it isn't a Bay Area startup. For the longest time every hot social media app/platform was American.

Depends how you want to track it. TikTok was previously Musical.ly, and they had a Santa Monica office. The other famous app out of Santa Monica? Snapchat

Re: TikTok has reached 1B MAUs

#128

Post by fragmede »

romwell wrote: post #76
periphrasis wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would I want to watch short form video content? Genuinely curious here.

Because you actually get to see people in their environment and interact with them by speaking in response, as you would have in an actual conversation. It's not about content , it's about communicating with video snippets .

Except it's not. A natural conversation, that is. Crafting a TikTok isn't as trivial as responding to someone in-person. Maybe some videos are as effortless as they seem, but there's a ton more effort that goes into popular ones that I see than meets the eye. I'm not talking about cosplay where the performer has clearly spent an inordinate time on their costume, but the sheer amount of writing and takes and retakes and editing that go into a good amount of the content (on my FYP anyway. Maybe I self selected myself out of the "talk at phone while driving to work" corner of TikTok that is more conversational.)

If it was simply the short video aspect lending itself to feeling like it's a conversation that's driving engagement, Vine wouldn't have died the ignoble death it did. So imo there's more to it than that but it's definitely successful.

It is about content (imo) but that content came at the exact right time in humanity's history - during a pandemic when many people are feeling lonely, and a time when many people have their own smartphone and Internet is ubiquitous. The content, along with the algorithm surfacing it, is highly personal. While a video is obviously not personally made for me, the character in the video talks to me like it was, and that small delusion, makes the content highly engaging, and the short duration makes for more signal to plug into the algorithm.

Re: TikTok has reached 1B MAUs

#129

Post by daptaq »

ausudhz wrote: post #51
daptaq wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll just relink to my last comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28024747 : > My impression is that TikTok is the most shameless exploiter of curating content to maximize attention. You resign all the control and hope to petition "the algorithm" to change what you get to see -- like some kind of a god that ultimatly controls you, no matter what you sacrifice. They are in a position to spread propaganda and p…

I think this is a generic statement that can be applied to any social media nowadays. I wonder what's the solution?

My feeling is that (public) social media doesn't work in general. This is not a technological problem, it is just accelerated by technology.
Post reply on HN