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As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

economist.com

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Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#421

Post by tonymet »

alexashka wrote: post #323
tonymet wrote: post #5

they mention data harvesting and influencing public relations as risks, and both are worrisome . another more subtle but pernicious concern is the trivialization of entertainment (which started from a low bar ) tiktok is addictive and much of the content is low bar , slapstick and sexually suggestive thirst traps . there may be a good share of high quality content , but we all know time spent is on garbage. our grand…

Isn't this exactly what they said about porn? Last I checked - everyone's doing alright.

not sure where you are checking by most indicators they aren’t . and we have plenty evidence porn is harmful

Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#422

Post by pinkcashmere »

fabianhjr wrote: post #238
Calvin02 wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. China and Russia are the biggest geopolitical threats to the world. It is surprisingly that simple. While the US and the western governments have their issues, they are still largely law abiding. China, however, is not. Additionally, under Xi, it has become more authoritarian and more willing to undo the rules based order that has someone kept the world somewhat sane since WWII. I don’t know why anyone would be…

I am from latin america and at least neither China nor Russia have participated in coup d'etat to install a military junta to then torture and massacre anyone slightly left of the US "Democratic" Party. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2khAmMTAjI

No post body was provided.

Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#423

Post by Sophistifunk »

fabianhjr wrote: post #238
Calvin02 wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. China and Russia are the biggest geopolitical threats to the world. It is surprisingly that simple. While the US and the western governments have their issues, they are still largely law abiding. China, however, is not. Additionally, under Xi, it has become more authoritarian and more willing to undo the rules based order that has someone kept the world somewhat sane since WWII. I don’t know why anyone would be…

I am from latin america and at least neither China nor Russia have participated in coup d'etat to install a military junta to then torture and massacre anyone slightly left of the US "Democratic" Party. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2khAmMTAjI

Absolutely nothing about the historical bad behaviour of the US in Central and South America has any bearing on the threat the CCP poses to a billion Chinese and the world today. Nothing.

Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#424

Post by tonymet »

Avamander wrote: post #86
tonymet wrote: post #5

they mention data harvesting and influencing public relations as risks, and both are worrisome . another more subtle but pernicious concern is the trivialization of entertainment (which started from a low bar ) tiktok is addictive and much of the content is low bar , slapstick and sexually suggestive thirst traps . there may be a good share of high quality content , but we all know time spent is on garbage. our grand…

Quoted post unavailable.

most popular means most concentrated not highest volume . thirst traps are taking up the most time in aggregate but there’s a massive supply diffusing the audience , hence they don’t surpass khaby lame

Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#425

Post by sudosysgen »

throwaway_4ever wrote: post #361
Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You call the overwhelming majority of the world population unwashed savages whose opinion must be disregarded, and then sit there in disbelief that most people might dislike see your country (of which, sadly, that attitude is quite representative) as a threat. It would be good parody if it weren't real.

This is wild. GP is correct. That poll is from 2013. In the 10 years since, which country has been "The Greatest Threat to World Peace?" It's Russia. Let's see how many got that right... Only Poland. History has actually shown how little popular opinion is accurate on this. Meanwhile, there's a swarm of sibling comments in opposition to GP? Do better HN.

The US and it's cronies have invaded more countries than Russia has since 2013. Not to excuse Russia, they'd be worse also if they could, but it's far from having been disproven - Libya is in a worse state right now than Ukraine thanks to the France, the UK, and the US (Libya in 2014, Syria continued after, then there was the sabre rattling in Iran, etc...). And of course Afghanistan, and the saga with Iraq where the US threatened military force if they were kicked out. And there's also the war in Yemen in which the US is a belligerent in all but name. And then there are also military actions in subsaharan Africa. Not to forget ongoing regime change initiatives. By all metrics the US has been more deleterious to peace than Russia in the past 10 years. Not out of inherent evil or any moral consideration of course, but mostly because of greater scope of action - which is of course an element in the magnitude of a threat.

Since 2013 US-backed wars have indeed led to more deaths and have broken the peace in more numerous countries with a higher population than Russia.

So no, you are incorrect in saying that they were wrong - they were definitely right. However, your media bias has led you to focus more on one event than on multiple others and from a different viewpoint.

Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#426

Post by erganemic »

Brybry wrote: post #229
dcchambers wrote: post #147

The addictive nature of TikTok scares the shit out of me. It's like the culmination of 20 years of social media research and testing purposely designed to create the most addictive product possible. Such a large percentage of young people use it...it's absolutely terrifying.

I wouldn't worry too much about TikTok's impact on the youth as a population (rather than specific individuals with evidence of actual struggles). Similar fears were expressed about music corrupting the youth. And TV rotting their brains. And video games turning them into mass murderers. And yet, even with all the actual addictive poisons generations of youth have imbibed, those youth turned into us and here we are p…

I see the view you express here pretty frequently--that older generations have /always/ viewed any new cultural development as a sign of moral/intellectual degradation, and--surprise!--it never really is. I do tend to agree that most fears about the new crop of addictive social media engagement engines is just handwringing, just like it was for TV, or music, or radio, or books.

That being said, just because coffee and methamphetamine have comparable effects on paper doesn't mean that they pose the same level of risk. A difference of degree is still a difference, and at least from my own experiences I'm starting to wonder if the human brain is biologically equipped to handle the addictive overstimulation modern life exposes it to.

Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#427

Post by wyre »

lofatdairy wrote: post #366
wyre wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you used tiktok? There’s nothing about it that isn’t addictive. Facebook, Twitter, and HN hold a different behavior because they are used for asynchronous communication between general users while TT is full of parasocial relationships between the created and fans. FB and Twitter also offer more utility than TikTok, an example being small businesses using Facebook and Twitter instead of a website.

I also used tiktok for about a month but quit it. That's not to say it's not addictive though, my mom spends a significant amount of her free time on the app (but she still uses fb and ig, if anything tiktok just supplanted some of her time spent on ig). I suppose my point about it is that it's not absurdly unique compared to reddit, YouTube, or twitch which are similarly bottomless content holes. TT isn't unique in…

Ya, I also used tiktok for about a month before getting rid of it. I still think my point stands that everything about it makes it addictive.

TT is a bottomless content hole and isn’t that different from other bottomless content holes because they are that. TT takes it a step further with their format focusing on short, attention grabbing content, a best-in-class recommendation algorithm, and rewarding their creators with more views than other networks.

I don’t know if I agree Tiktok fosters better (do we mean healthier?) parasocial relationships than other socials. There’s a certain intimacy from the cell phone camera that YouTube and twitch doesn’t have (twitch has a different intimacy, but like you said they are on for hours a time). I think when TT creators are encouraged to upload multiple times a day, compared to once a week on YouTube or twitch, pushes something that feels closer seeing a best friend than watching your cool cousin.

I absolutely agree that TikTok is better for marketing a business than other networks, but it doesn’t have much of any utility beyond that. I wonder about the effectiveness of communicating over DM with businesses over Instagram vs tiktok.

For the record I’m addicted to YouTube and HN and don’t currently have accounts on any of the other services mentioned.

Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#428

Post by winternett »

Avamander wrote: post #69
xan92 wrote: post #12

There is lot of good content creators on TikTok apart from (dancing/singing) ones, the TechTok community is huge , It really depends on what interest the end users have, It's all individual attention driven algorithm that caters to the end user needs based on their likes/dislikes. It's faster to learn if you don't like something it does a good job in not recommending those type of content again. Which I believe Insta…

It's hypertailored compared to YouTube and the likes. When people complain about the content they see, be it terrible DIY hacks or something more bizarre, I can't help but wonder what they've done that TikTok recommends such content to them. After dropping a few hints that it's very tailored a few have gotten a bit embarrassed and stopped complaining. Interestingly it also separates a lot of the users from the rest,…

The underlying narrative here that most people do not grasp is that each user's experience is different than ours, and their preferences are different too.

If someone else is complaining about their experience, we shouldn't be dismissive of it, it could easily be a real concern based on dark patterns the platform leverages.

For example, the platform can amplify triggering content to someone who exhibits schizophrenic traits, or it can show self harming or depressing content to someone who exhibits bipolar traits.

It's harmful to assume algorithms can't be implemented without flaws, agenda, and human bias... Actually it's willfully ignorant to think that anything inherently made by humans can be made without flaws and bias.

Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#429

Post by garmanarnar »

Calvin02 wrote: post #223
madeofpalk wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a non-US, non-Chinese citizen, is there something that makes TikTok espionage and Facebook not? Or is it just "china scary"?

Yes. China and Russia are the biggest geopolitical threats to the world. It is surprisingly that simple. While the US and the western governments have their issues, they are still largely law abiding. China, however, is not. Additionally, under Xi, it has become more authoritarian and more willing to undo the rules based order that has someone kept the world somewhat sane since WWII. I don’t know why anyone would be…

Was the US obeying the law when they invaded Iraq leading to the death of 400,000 Iraqi civilians?

Re: As TikTok grows, so does suspicion

#430

Post by throwaway743 »

tenpies wrote: post #315
illuminati1911 wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

It's exactly 1 and 2 why the world largely considers the US such a threat. Any disagreement is discounted as "you're just ignorant and don't have a real opinion" followed by "you need to trust The Experts, but only the ones that agree with us". It has been a hoot to watch the US Democrats and all their useful idiots turn these arguments against the rest of the US over the last 6 years. Probably ends as well as Afghan…

It's both parties. They're both awful, condescending in their own "flavor", and don't give two shits about you and me.
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