Live data from Hacker News

TikTok and the Fall of the Social-Media Giants

newyorker.com

201–210 of 464 posts

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

#201
post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> people are afraid of data collection now in a way they weren't in 2006 I disagree with this one. They might be afraid of sharing their data explicitly i.e. sharing everything happening to them for everyone to see (even strangers). The trend now is sharing content to people they only have very close relationships with. But them being afraid of big tech collecting and analyzing their data? I don't think so.

I think social media gives a distorted view given anyone you see has little problem with it. I've met a lot of people (out in the real world) who express disinterest in starting/restarting because of all these little razor cuts and extremely vague upside. In the early noughts, a lot more people expressed regrets like limited computer skills or some other personal limitation as a reason they felt left behind or less i…

What I see with my circle and Facebook isn't so much people having rage quit but just a lot lower level of overall activity.

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

#202

Modern social media leaves a very big gap - that was filled by old Facebook, or to some extent MySpace: The "people directory" where basically everybody has a page, and you can see what friends are doing, or look up acquaintances and strangers. For me, social media feeds were never addicting, but more tedious. I found visiting friends pages and sometimes finding an update, sometimes not, like a slot machine, more add…

Personally I think Instagram (The core product, not stories or reels) is to today what Facebook and MySpace where back in the day. Obviously though that is being eroded away by Instagrams lack of confidence and insistence to fight TikTok, which I also find strange I mean yeah its a vertical feed of video but really why you go to it is really different for why you go to IG, TikTok has more in common with YouTube than…

Instagram just did a huge update I think a week or two ago that makes it more like TikTok and people are revolting because it went from "see what friends are up to" to constant ad spam, worse than before.

I always think FB/Meta is about to go the way of Myspace with a popularity drop off but I'm clearly biased as I deleted my account years ago and people still talk about using FB a lot.

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

#203
post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally I think Instagram (The core product, not stories or reels) is to today what Facebook and MySpace where back in the day. Obviously though that is being eroded away by Instagrams lack of confidence and insistence to fight TikTok, which I also find strange I mean yeah its a vertical feed of video but really why you go to it is really different for why you go to IG, TikTok has more in common with YouTube than…

Instagram just did a huge update I think a week or two ago that makes it more like TikTok and people are revolting because it went from "see what friends are up to" to constant ad spam, worse than before. I always think FB/Meta is about to go the way of Myspace with a popularity drop off but I'm clearly biased as I deleted my account years ago and people still talk about using FB a lot.

This specific decision might actually be that bad and may get rolled back, but people have gone up in arms about Meta’s decisions since the wall was introduced and the news feed was introduced. Plus other features like the FriendFeed acquisition cementing the like button. These are all things that people assume are obvious near requirements for social media and some other Web 2.0 sites.

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

#204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that gap actually exists. That "directory of people" is now people's whatspp/discord/snapchat/instagram/messenger DMs. I think people are over the one giant hirehose of people you're loosely acquainted with, so social media has split into two extremes - a big feed of content from others, like reddit/tiktok/twitter. And a lot more closed/private groups, like DMs, group chats, and discords.

Yes, the gap does exist. Back in the day you would meet someone IRL, get home and then find a friend request from them on Facebook because they found your page. Sure a lot of those went nowhere, but I became closer friends with a lot of those people as they kept engaging with my posts and uploads. Adding someone to private groups has a ton more friction. They need to download the app, you need to send them an invite,…

People the age as you were then are not having that problem now.

Nobody wants that stalker product, and I hate having to play with Gen Xers fawning for the vestiges of that product once per year with new Facebook account just to coordinate with a Burning Man camp.

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

#205

Modern social media leaves a very big gap - that was filled by old Facebook, or to some extent MySpace: The "people directory" where basically everybody has a page, and you can see what friends are doing, or look up acquaintances and strangers. For me, social media feeds were never addicting, but more tedious. I found visiting friends pages and sometimes finding an update, sometimes not, like a slot machine, more add…

Personally I think Instagram (The core product, not stories or reels) is to today what Facebook and MySpace where back in the day. Obviously though that is being eroded away by Instagrams lack of confidence and insistence to fight TikTok, which I also find strange I mean yeah its a vertical feed of video but really why you go to it is really different for why you go to IG, TikTok has more in common with YouTube than…

IG doesn’t have any of the people directory. It’s heavily focused on bigger brands, profiles, influencers, and seeing random stuff from these entities I have no personal relation with.

Facebook of old was like what the OP was saying. IG is only marginally like that with friends pic posts.

This is regardless of whatever tiktok stuff since I don’t use IG much for the same reasons as OP.

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

#207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought I would love Facebook but apparently people don't. My family do not share more than a few holiday pictures. No one really shared normal likeable lifevents. WhatsApp groups are totally fine and even showed me how little I care about constant updates from other life's. And no people also don't care what I do. People are busy. Family people think about school issues and handling their daily life and planing a…

Or, like forums with off-topic sections. Slow paced, the shared interests are obvious, you can private chat if you want and you can join multiple forums to meet your needs. This is only my opinion, but I think forums do everything necessary really, with the only difficult things to manage being: - good moderation - site maintenance Which Facebook et al really fail at with the former. I also personally dislike how Dis…

How does Discourse do that? With their home page design?

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

#208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, the gap does exist. Back in the day you would meet someone IRL, get home and then find a friend request from them on Facebook because they found your page. Sure a lot of those went nowhere, but I became closer friends with a lot of those people as they kept engaging with my posts and uploads. Adding someone to private groups has a ton more friction. They need to download the app, you need to send them an invite,…

People the age as you were then are not having that problem now. Nobody wants that stalker product, and I hate having to play with Gen Xers fawning for the vestiges of that product once per year with new Facebook account just to coordinate with a Burning Man camp.

How is this definitively true? Not everyone is great at socializing or having lots of friends or acquaintances where they’ll have other people’s info on the networks mentioned above.

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

#209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. This common phrase is not literal.

No, it is literal. It means that there exists every form of difficulty that you could enumerate in competing with them, except impossibility. It's possible in the way it's possible to shoot a bullet through a wall without either being damaged if their atoms are arranged in the right way at the right moment. It's not only literal, but very precise (and hyperbolic in that precision.)

[deleted]

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

#210
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.

I think we are in for big problems. I graduated from college in 2017 and my adult classmates couldn't even pay attention in class. If adults are hooked then children stand absolutely no chance.

The most chilling is that this also inflicts the military.

Lieutenant Colonel Heffington on West Point, published in 2017:

> Academic standards are also nonexistent. I believe this trend started 10 years ago, and it has continued to get worse. West Point has stated standards for academic expectations and performance, but they're ignored. Cadets routinely fail multiple classes, only to be thrown back into the mix. The faculty is expected to somehow drag them through the academic program until they manage to earn a passing grade. As a result, professors have lost hope and faith in the entire Academic Board process

And this is supposed to be the most prestigious institution in the armed forces, the people who will have nuclear weapons in their hands...Chilling. That's how the West ends up with leaders who do not know how to lead, reporters who do not report, officers who are clueless about real war, and diplomats who are incapable of being diplomatic

Post reply on HN