Loops is a federated, open-source TikTok • Hacker News Board

Re: Loops is a federated, open-source TikTok

#151

Post by spaqin » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 2:05 AM UTC

bee_rider wrote: post #116

b00ty4breakfast wrote: post #84

this is like using an "ethically produced" brick to smash your foot with; The method of manufacturing the brick isn't the problem. These formats are designed for a specific purpose; maximizing engagement to extract value. so we've remove the incentive to extract value but we leave the predatory design that maximize engagement? You working in a different milieu but you are bringing the worst parts of the previous mili…

On one hand, it seems impossible to supplant with Tik Tok without the engagement bait. On the other, replacing the additive sites with something just as addictive seems pointless. It is a tricky puzzle.

There's nothing tricky about this - the only winning move is not to play.

Re: Loops is a federated, open-source TikTok

#152

Post by replwoacause » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 2:05 AM UTC

Let me also register my disinterest in another platform that mimics TikTok.

Brainrot is brainrot regardless of whether it's "federated and open-source" or not. And BTW, 95% of the people on TikTok don't care about either of those two things.

Re: Loops is a federated, open-source TikTok

#153

Post by nanobuilds » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 2:11 AM UTC

The UX should be more "mass user" friendly if the goal is to attract mainstream users. Sign in with Apple/etc.. selecting a server is technical language and not end-user language etc.

Re: Loops is a federated, open-source TikTok

#154

Post by mortsnort » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 2:15 AM UTC

The reality is that the addictive algorithm of commercial social media platforms is the product.

These alternative platforms are like nicotine free cigarettes.

They might garner small communities, which is totally cool and valid, but they will never slay the giants.

Re: Loops is a federated, open-source TikTok

#155

Post by Bayko » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 2:16 AM UTC

hmokiguess wrote: post #135

Aw man can we not flip the script and maybe build less of these things? It’s saturated and not really helping society but rather creating more addiction machines.

Based on what I have seen, read and experienced, a tech doesn't just go away. It evolves (unless you know one company was building it and then got shut down). Social media in the current form if it went away, would get replaced with something even worse.

Re: Loops is a federated, open-source TikTok

#156

Post by ear7h » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 2:23 AM UTC

AuthAuth wrote: post #89

I do not know how to phrase this politely. I like the platform and the concept is interesting. But the people on it are just so far away from what me (and men my age) deem interesting and seem to be hostile to anything that doesnt fit their very restrictive ideals. You'll never find sports, guns, cars, comedy and a lot of other mainstream content on these platforms even though there is nothing inherently offensive ab…

This identity politics/virtue signaling seems off topic.

> I havent used Loops

I think the worst repercussion of consuming short form content is that it gives the _consumer_ a false sense of engagement. That their passive consumption endows them with knowledge and credibility, leading to the deluded belief that a display of disintirest such as this one is 1) appropriate and 2) a profound condemnation rather than the petty, irrelevant whine that it is.

Re: Loops is a federated, open-source TikTok

#157

Post by yeukhon » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 2:34 AM UTC

Good luck, projects like these either end up getting sued or going to acquisition. Open source != morally on the end result

Re: Loops is a federated, open-source TikTok

#158

Post by with » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 2:35 AM UTC

Ew. The content problem on TikTok was never the protocol, it's that 99% of short-form video is brainrot slop regardless of who hosts the servers. Slapping ActivityPub on it literally solves nothing for humanity.

Re: Loops is a federated, open-source TikTok

#159

Post by deminature » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 2:35 AM UTC

nanobuilds wrote: post #153

The UX should be more "mass user" friendly if the goal is to attract mainstream users. Sign in with Apple/etc.. selecting a server is technical language and not end-user language etc.

Selecting a server is one of the reasons the fediverse appears to have not seriously challenged incumbents. As soon as a non-technical user sees this, they bounce.

Re: Loops is a federated, open-source TikTok

#160

Post by Barrin92 » Mon, Feb 23, 2026, 2:38 AM UTC

zahlman wrote: post #90

TensorToad wrote: post #36

This is actually pretty exciting. Excited to see how this turns out. But I am wondering how to keep it financially possible to operate the platform. Also, 95+% of the users probably don't care that much about censorship and privacy enough to switch platform.

I would have thought that the point of federation is not to require centralized servers that cost a lot to operate. But sure, something like this probably requires a fundamentally different revenue model. Maybe even the one where people donate to server operators.

centralized servers cost less to operate, that why data intensive applications centralize over time. That's division of labor. The higher the complexity the the higher degree of specialization. And a video service is very demanding.

And you need to solve the economics first because otherwise your decentralized service is simply going to centralize over time to deal with demands for a more reliable and higher quality service. (and how to compensate creators)