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TikTok and the Fall of the Social-Media Giants

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Re: TikTok and the Fall of the Social-Media Giants

#51

Post by Ekaros »

thematrixturtle wrote: post #35

> Facebook, it seems, is moving away from its traditional focus on text and images, spread among people who know one another, to instead adopt TikTok’s emphasis on pure distraction. This shift is not surprising given TikTok’s phenomenal popularity, but it’s also shortsighted: platforms like Facebook could be doomed if they fail to maintain the social graphs upon which they built their kingdoms. This. I on occasion vi…

It feels that we are thinking all of the social media the same, but in reality some of them are content platforms and some of them are social media and some of them are in between.

Facebook trying to become content platform like Youtube or TikTok is killing itself.

Re: TikTok and the Fall of the Social-Media Giants

#52

Post by someonenice »

Tiktok here does not force you to login for watching the videos (unless you want to like / comment / subscribe etc.. ). And also allows downloading the videos right from the app (if the creator has enabled download for the video), so I download the ones that are to be bookmarked.

This is in stark contrast to what the FB and Insta like companies do.

Since I don't login, I use multiple devices to access tiktok. And I noticed that the stream content is different on my phone (mostly used while traveling / outside home and contain news and semi serious random stuff), tab (mainly used in the bed and contain light funny contents) and computer (serious stuff - arts, tech etc..).

BTW - I am only a tiktok consumer and not creator.

Re: TikTok and the Fall of the Social-Media Giants

#53

Post by fragmede »

uncletaco wrote: post #37
oars wrote: post #17

The Tiktok algorithm we have rewards repetitive dancing in front of the camera, pulling ("fake") pranks and random snippets from movies edited together with dramatic music added. In China (their app is called Douyin), the algorithm rewards things they want their youth to be doing. Content which involves maths, engineering, medicine, etc are rewarded. I'm certain that there is some strategic motive from China to push…

Not sure about you but my TikTok algorithm just shows anime hot takes, quick facts about world events, and a goat named Billy Earl who can't stay off of the neighbor's damn house. If all you see are pranks and dances it's probably what you went on there looking for.

It's easy to blame the user for what the algorithm selects, but unless you go search for eg "math", it's difficult for the algorithm to decide you want to view any of the content that's harder to digest than the trivial dance videos. Given the app's roots, it's not surprising it see's dances as the primary content to start surfacing to new accounts to start engagement.

Re: TikTok and the Fall of the Social-Media Giants

#54

Post by wizofaus »

klodolph wrote: post #32
timeimp wrote: post #19

I've heard (anecdotally) that the attention span of all the younger users has taken a dramatic shift south. Educators and employers are noticing they cannot keep students / new employees engaged. Makes me wonder what damage is happening, long-term, with all these short bursts of dopamine that TikTok gives it users.

People have been saying that for centuries or longer. Kids these days have shorter attention spans. People said it about millennials, about gen-x, about baby boomers. There’s a record of people complaining that kids are ruined by their reliance on writing things on paper, rather than slate. There’s a record of Socrates complaining that the written word is ruining people’s memory. The record exists because Plato wrote…

Doesn't mean it's not true. There's an argument that given the world's population today we should be churning out geniuses (of the caliber of Newton or Einstein or Beethoven etc,.) all the time now, but the fact we're not suggests there's something about the social environment we grow up in that strongly discourages the level of sustained commitment to a particular specialty neccessary for genius to develop. Having so many easily accessible forms of distraction on hand may well be part of the problem.

Re: TikTok and the Fall of the Social-Media Giants

#55

Post by mrtksn »

thematrixturtle wrote: post #35

> Facebook, it seems, is moving away from its traditional focus on text and images, spread among people who know one another, to instead adopt TikTok’s emphasis on pure distraction. This shift is not surprising given TikTok’s phenomenal popularity, but it’s also shortsighted: platforms like Facebook could be doomed if they fail to maintain the social graphs upon which they built their kingdoms. This. I on occasion vi…

In my experience, FB and others moved away from being about your friends to become content sharing machines long time ago. It’s like reddit but without sub separation + influencer glamour.

Tiktok on the other hand came from purely creative angle. It’s not about your friends, it’s about using creative tools to express something. That’s why TikTok dominated the original new content market. TikTok’s editing tools are phenomenal and people are using them so creatively.

IMHO, the traditional social media giants optimized for profit only, destroyed any potential competitors and up until TikTok we have been left to terrible state of the social media.

If you recall, FB and others were involved in political manipulations and accused of spreading extremism.

It might seem like long time ago but American-made social media was riddled with conspiracy theorist and white supremacists and the tech giants were blamed for spreading that in the name of engagement. At some point the place has become so horrible that they started blocking prominent accounts, including the American President.

Re: TikTok and the Fall of the Social-Media Giants

#56

Post by fragmede »

zarzavat wrote: post #48
oars wrote: post #17

The Tiktok algorithm we have rewards repetitive dancing in front of the camera, pulling ("fake") pranks and random snippets from movies edited together with dramatic music added. In China (their app is called Douyin), the algorithm rewards things they want their youth to be doing. Content which involves maths, engineering, medicine, etc are rewarded. I'm certain that there is some strategic motive from China to push…

TikTok doesn't just show inane dance videos in America. It shows them throughout the world. If China had some evil plan to poison the minds of youth they are not just targeting American kids. In reality, Hanlon's razor applies. It's better explained by apathy rather than an evil masterplan. China simply doesn't care about non-Chinese kids, they consider that the American government is responsible for American kids' w…

When an APT like China is concerned (or, eg the CIA), you'd be foolish to wantonly apply Hanlon's razor. I'm not saying it never applies, but some of the lengths nations go to in order to gain an advantage over their adversaries is astounding. Think NSO iPhone hack†. It's been documented that the CCP requires a party member be allowed to see into the company's private business dealings, or else face the same fate as Jack Ma‡. The Chinese version of TikTok, Douyin, is heavily scrutinized, eg (from down-thread) https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53840167.

†https://googleprojectzero.blogspot.com/2021/12/a-deep-dive-i...

‡https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/world/story/jack-ma-arre...

Re: TikTok and the Fall of the Social-Media Giants

#57

Post by aaron695 »

oars wrote: post #17

The Tiktok algorithm we have rewards repetitive dancing in front of the camera, pulling ("fake") pranks and random snippets from movies edited together with dramatic music added. In China (their app is called Douyin), the algorithm rewards things they want their youth to be doing. Content which involves maths, engineering, medicine, etc are rewarded. I'm certain that there is some strategic motive from China to push…

No post body was provided.

Re: TikTok and the Fall of the Social-Media Giants

#58

Post by snoopy_telex »

Ekaros wrote: post #51
thematrixturtle wrote: post #35

> Facebook, it seems, is moving away from its traditional focus on text and images, spread among people who know one another, to instead adopt TikTok’s emphasis on pure distraction. This shift is not surprising given TikTok’s phenomenal popularity, but it’s also shortsighted: platforms like Facebook could be doomed if they fail to maintain the social graphs upon which they built their kingdoms. This. I on occasion vi…

It feels that we are thinking all of the social media the same, but in reality some of them are content platforms and some of them are social media and some of them are in between. Facebook trying to become content platform like Youtube or TikTok is killing itself.

I don’t understand why they don’t launch a new app with a content focus. Why destroy what’s there when you could do both?

Re: TikTok and the Fall of the Social-Media Giants

#59

Post by thematrixturtle »

trash3 wrote: post #38
thematrixturtle wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Got source? The social media market in China is fiercely competitive and TikTok (Douyin) got to be king of the hill by delivering exactly what its users want, not what the CCP wishes they wanted.

Oh sweet child

Obviously Douyin is censored, everything in China is, but there's a loooong history of cat and mouse as apps and creators push the envelope and the state stomps down when they go too far.

Re: TikTok and the Fall of the Social-Media Giants

#60

Post by idrios »

oars wrote: post #17

The Tiktok algorithm we have rewards repetitive dancing in front of the camera, pulling ("fake") pranks and random snippets from movies edited together with dramatic music added. In China (their app is called Douyin), the algorithm rewards things they want their youth to be doing. Content which involves maths, engineering, medicine, etc are rewarded. I'm certain that there is some strategic motive from China to push…

Are you sure it's a difference in algorithm? I would not be surprised if that was the natural outcome of heavy censorship where pranks and lewd dancing get removed or accounts banned.
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