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TikTok’s Poison Pill

calnewport.com

311–320 of 430 posts

Re: TikTok’s Poison Pill

#311

An a non-American the level of anti-TikTok sentiment seems really weird, it really does just seem like sinophobia - especially given there's no proof that TikTok is actually being used by the Chinese, whereas Snowden etc. has shown us that the USA already does stuff like this. I'm not really sure what the People's Liberation Army will do with all my cat videos anyway...

That’s because it largely is sinophobia (or more reasonably on the American side, blind nationalism).

That said, I would caution against the temptation to “grade on a curve” here. While it’s true what you said, that there’s no direct evidence of spying, the case of proven US spying should demonstrate that government are more likely to be spying and hiding it than not.

Re: TikTok’s Poison Pill

#312
post #5

There is lots of talk going around TikTok, especially now geopolitics has been added to this kind of discussion due to ongoing tensions between two giants. Instead of banning or removing the TikTok app, how about the US government put a firm privacy policy that forbids TikTok, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Twitter and co from collecting excessive data on users? That would be a better solution, IMHO. Let users download…

I generally like this, but there's another risk to keep in mind:

Purposefully over-regulating to such a degree that only the existing behemoths can survive and no startup could reasonably navigate the costly labyrinth of policies in that sector.

I think California has been doing OK recently in creating tiers of companies based on employee size and applying varying degrees of requirements based on that.

Re: TikTok’s Poison Pill

#313
post #301

Twitter seems to be going a similar route. I barely recognize my feed, it’s 50% I don’t follow, and 25% content I think is idiotic and harmful.

The Reddit app is changing, too. My "Home" feed used to be only communities I follow, now it adds algorithmic content that I constantly have to say "less of this". It used to be only the "Popular" and "News" tabs were algorithmic, but now the "Home" tab increasingly is too.

For me, it's worse and I open Reddit less.

Re: TikTok’s Poison Pill

#314

TikTok is having longer and longer videos. TikTok will become something else. The machine learning only works for short videos. For long videos, you need social graphs to match videos to users who like them. I expect that both technologies will be combined.

Why do you need social graphs for long videos? I'm not sure why that would be the case.

Re: TikTok’s Poison Pill

#315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just a video app, exercise some self-discipline and self-accountability and uninstall the app.

It’s just a bottle of liquid, exercise some self-discipline and don’t drink it.

I think that comparison makes the opposite point that you intended.

The answer to treating alcoholism actually is some amount of personal responsibility and strengthening of willpower, not blaming the companies that manufacture alcohol.

Re: TikTok’s Poison Pill

#316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just a video app, exercise some self-discipline and self-accountability and uninstall the app.

It’s just a bottle of liquid, exercise some self-discipline and don’t drink it.

If an alcoholic goes around making pronunciations about how they lack agency and how they feel like bars are victimizing them, they will be sternly told to exercise some self-discipline and self-accountability at a minimum, likely they will also be told to check into rehab.

Imagine if, guided by your analogy, I were to have instead replied to the OP with "check yourself into rehab". Most likely, I'd have been downvoted for snark, because everyone understands a sequence of entertaining videos is a different kind of thing than a drug which you ingest and become physically dependent on.

Re: TikTok’s Poison Pill

#317
post #5

There is lots of talk going around TikTok, especially now geopolitics has been added to this kind of discussion due to ongoing tensions between two giants. Instead of banning or removing the TikTok app, how about the US government put a firm privacy policy that forbids TikTok, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Twitter and co from collecting excessive data on users? That would be a better solution, IMHO. Let users download…

> Just make one rule for all. This is the correct solution of winning the moral high ground. What Russia has been doing for several decades (see Yuri Bezmenov [1]) is leveraging the "west's" inner discontent. Every time a Watergate or Snowden happens it's a gift to them. It exposes our 'hypocrisy', and failure to live up to our own democratic standards. That fuels the narrative of the western nations as corrupt. We'r…

Seems insane to me to undercut our own companies because a hostile foreign state is operating in our nation.

Kick out the hostile state. That's not hypocrisy.

Re: TikTok’s Poison Pill

#318
post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Nestle Pure Life? According to google "Nestlé Pure Life is a brand of bottled water". What's so morally bankrupt about selling bottled water?

Not sure what the GP was referring to, but... There are some serious concerns about bottled water in the US, particularly with how the manufacturers (like Nestlé) often get the water for free or at preferential rates, then sell it with a huge markup, and how some of it is (from what I've read) sourced from places like California, which need the water very badly. There are also very serious concerns about Nestlé in pa…

Nestlé also is famous for exausting the natural resources.

Re: TikTok’s Poison Pill

#319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Just make one rule for all. This is the correct solution of winning the moral high ground. What Russia has been doing for several decades (see Yuri Bezmenov [1]) is leveraging the "west's" inner discontent. Every time a Watergate or Snowden happens it's a gift to them. It exposes our 'hypocrisy', and failure to live up to our own democratic standards. That fuels the narrative of the western nations as corrupt. We'r…

Seems insane to me to undercut our own companies because a hostile foreign state is operating in our nation. Kick out the hostile state. That's not hypocrisy.

That is only a problem if value profits of a few companies, that don't even pay that much of taxes, over your citizens. Unless, of course, FB and Co. are doing for the letter agencies what TikTok is doing for the Chinese. In which cade it never really was about the companies in the first place.
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