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South Dakota first to ban TikTok on state-owned devices

gizmodo.com

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Re: South Dakota first to ban TikTok on state-owned devices

#11

Post by xmprt »

hammock wrote: post #5

The bigger deal (bigger than the tracking that people usually focus on) might be how the algorithm is specifically tuned to reward dumb content in the US, compared to rewarding STEM and other educational content in China. One minute video that explains: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hus9fWz0RRk Further reading: https://www.opindia.com/2022/07/tiktok-china-engineering-oth...

It's really hard to prove that this is a result of deliberate algorithms and not simply that Chinese culture promotes things like science and technology whereas the US promotes more dumb things. For example, someone like Logan Paul would have never gained popularity in China but he's one of the biggest creators in the US.

Re: South Dakota first to ban TikTok on state-owned devices

#13

Post by andrewstuart »

It matters which country controls the platform.

The recent protests in China have been suppressed by the CCP.

No doubt there are close to zero protest videos on TikTok.

There are protest videos on YouTube - though anecdotally YouTube management is attempting to suppress them because Google is tightly bound to China.

The question is, does it matter if protest videos are shown or hidden on social media? Can the videos shown on social media influence world affairs?

Re: South Dakota first to ban TikTok on state-owned devices

#14

Post by Kye »

autotune wrote: post #4
encryptluks2 wrote: post #3

Hmm... Shouldn't they have already done this? Why would you allow garbage apps on state-owned devices?

You've never worked for a gov office have you? Getting any kind of new policies or tools added or updated when it comes to infra and IT can take years, if not decades. I would not be surprised if the one I volunteered at 10 years ago when I got my start is still on Lotus Notes.

Why not? It's still developed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HCL_Domino

Re: South Dakota first to ban TikTok on state-owned devices

#15

Post by TechBro8615 »

fasthands9 wrote: post #9
hammock wrote: post #5

The bigger deal (bigger than the tracking that people usually focus on) might be how the algorithm is specifically tuned to reward dumb content in the US, compared to rewarding STEM and other educational content in China. One minute video that explains: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hus9fWz0RRk Further reading: https://www.opindia.com/2022/07/tiktok-china-engineering-oth...

I would be personally happy if TikTok disappeared but this seems a bit silly? Is it not equivalent to pointing out that a production making documentaries for both PBS and Netflix would make their PBS content more educational but less sensational than Netflix?

And if you'd like both educational and sensational, I highly recommend watching PBS Spacetime with Dr. Matt O'Dowd on YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/pbsspacetime

Re: South Dakota first to ban TikTok on state-owned devices

#16

Post by technion »

elmerfud wrote: post #2

I would think they would ban lots of apps on state owned devices. There's a lot of trash apps out there that are nothing but spyware.

My wife worked for the government.

When they deployed wfh, they used mfa. They banned Google authenticator out of the view Google can't be trusted. But told people to search the app store for any other mfa app. They one my wife found makes you wait for an ad run before it displays the code. It sometimes crashes and is generally terrible.

The point being banning certain apps seems far more political than well thought out.

Re: South Dakota first to ban TikTok on state-owned devices

#17

Post by pjc50 »

hammock wrote: post #5

The bigger deal (bigger than the tracking that people usually focus on) might be how the algorithm is specifically tuned to reward dumb content in the US, compared to rewarding STEM and other educational content in China. One minute video that explains: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hus9fWz0RRk Further reading: https://www.opindia.com/2022/07/tiktok-china-engineering-oth...

The US doesn't reward factual programming, that's why the History Channel turned into the Ancient Aliens Channel.

Re: South Dakota first to ban TikTok on state-owned devices

#18

Post by pasquinelli »

hammock wrote: post #5

The bigger deal (bigger than the tracking that people usually focus on) might be how the algorithm is specifically tuned to reward dumb content in the US, compared to rewarding STEM and other educational content in China. One minute video that explains: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hus9fWz0RRk Further reading: https://www.opindia.com/2022/07/tiktok-china-engineering-oth...

sounds like china has the right idea. it takes me (in america) constantly weeding the garden of my youtube (also american) to minimize the dumb shit it shows me. so does america want stupid americans? is that not the biggest deal?

Re: South Dakota first to ban TikTok on state-owned devices

#19

Post by ipaddr »

mcculley wrote: post #7
hammock wrote: post #5

The bigger deal (bigger than the tracking that people usually focus on) might be how the algorithm is specifically tuned to reward dumb content in the US, compared to rewarding STEM and other educational content in China. One minute video that explains: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hus9fWz0RRk Further reading: https://www.opindia.com/2022/07/tiktok-china-engineering-oth...

How would a skeptic confirm this? Can one get a VPN inside China?

You would visit in person if you were a true skeptic. It seems to come from this policy.

https://www.china-briefing.com/news/china-passes-sweeping-re...

Re: South Dakota first to ban TikTok on state-owned devices

#20

Post by pasquinelli »

TechBro8615 wrote: post #15
fasthands9 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would be personally happy if TikTok disappeared but this seems a bit silly? Is it not equivalent to pointing out that a production making documentaries for both PBS and Netflix would make their PBS content more educational but less sensational than Netflix?

And if you'd like both educational and sensational, I highly recommend watching PBS Spacetime with Dr. Matt O'Dowd on YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/pbsspacetime

good channel, but i can't agree that it's sensational.
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