Live data from Hacker News

The TikTok War

stratechery.com

161–170 of 386 posts

Re: The TikTok War

#161
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what way exactly are you comparing tiktok to HN?

I don't agree with the parent comment's characterization, but I see sites like HN and Reddit described as "social media" all the time. For those us whose Internet citizenship pre-dates Friendster and MySpace, the term "social media" has a particular meaning. But for many younger "social media natives", the term basically just means "any website or app where you can make posts or comments".

Interesting observation. I grew up with shitty (but fun!) phpBB forums and the fancier vBulletin, but wouldn't categorize them as 'social media'. The first of those were probably cu2, MySpace, and eventually Facebook/Twitter/etc.

When I think about it, it seems like a somewhat arbitrary distinction to make. I suppose the main difference is that the forums were self-hosted and I could have different identities for each one. And while I generally reused the same username, the fact that it wasn't just a matter of 'clicking on my profile' to see all my activity was something I really liked.

Maybe to me the term "social media" has come to mean "social media /companies/"? That doesn't quite satisfy, but it really does feel like the primary difference is that on these forums I knew that they were generally not run for profit, and the 'gods' were just individuals who volunteered their time to host or moderate. It felt safer, and more personal.

Re: The TikTok War

#162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have instagram account ? If yes - are you subscribed to ugly, poor or disabled people ?

Yes, not all of my friends are attractive and rich.

Neither are mine . I'm not subscribed to IG account of poor ugly disabled anyone, though. Should I feel like self-CCP to me ? Feel guilty about myself ?

Re: The TikTok War

#163
post #6

I absolutely love using TikTok, but would give it up in a heartbeat for a Western replacement. It has absolutely brought more positivity into my life. I am specifically feeding the algorithm with this intent and I get what I asked for. It is a psychological tool.

> give it up in a heartbeat for a Western replacement. It's important to recognized that it's not a coincidence that TikTok exists and is run by a Chinese company. In the West that replacement would have been immediately purchased by FB or Twitter and then summarily destroyed. This is literally what happened to the closest Western equivalent: Vine. The Chinese government has many faults, but unlike the US government,…

> the Chinese government still enforces the idea that Chinese companies should operate in the interest of the nation.

In most cases, Chinese companies are basically owned and controlled by the state. This has nothing to do with monopoly or trust issues. Acquiring lines of credit in China after you get to a certain size basically means you're owned or partially owned by the CCP.

Re: The TikTok War

#164
post #146

I'm not sure how I got sucked into Tiktok but I was quickly hooked. There's something so refreshingly playful, authentic, and raw about so much Tiktok content compared to Instagram. Instagram (explore/discovery) is generally pretty people with pretty things in pretty places. That was fun for a while but it's just not that interesting after a while. I don't need to see more pretty pictures of women doing yoga. I don't…

Instagram has other uses as well. I use it mostly to follow artists, so for me it’s primarily the world’s most interesting (constantly) changing exhibition. I see maybe one selfie a week. I also know people who use it for home workouts. I’m sure there are a bunch of other, non-shallow, non-bland uses I haven’t heard of.

True. I don't make tiktoks and my friends are on IG. It's basically a private friends video journal for that use. My point was more about content discovery.

Re: The TikTok War

#165

I'm not sure how I got sucked into Tiktok but I was quickly hooked. There's something so refreshingly playful, authentic, and raw about so much Tiktok content compared to Instagram. Instagram (explore/discovery) is generally pretty people with pretty things in pretty places. That was fun for a while but it's just not that interesting after a while. I don't need to see more pretty pictures of women doing yoga. I don't…

[deleted]

Re: The TikTok War

#166

Why is TikTok allowed to gain market share in Western countries? China banned Google, YouTube, Facebook, etc. while Chinese companies such as Baidu, Sina Weibo, WeChat were able to capture the entire Chinese market share. It seems that companies not adhering to censorship cannot expand into China, however, Chinese companies adhering to censorship (e.g. TikTok) are able to expand into Western countries. Isn't this ant…

Why someone should tell me what I can or cannot install on my phone?

Re: The TikTok War

#167
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Instagram seems to be evolving into Home Shopping Network or QVC.

That's a great way to put it. I couldn't quite put my finger on it but that's totally what is happening on IG. A lot of DTC brands have basically saturated my feed. I'm not sure how much longer this can continue without losing engagement. Anecdotally my own interest in IG has been waning the past year almost to the point of deletion.

This happens and has been happening all over the Internet. IG won't be the last victim. As soon as corporate America figures out how to sell their Ranch dressing over a platform, the brands start invading and the whole platform turns vanilla and boring.

Re: The TikTok War

#168

There’s a lot of false equivalence in these comments along with a focus on the app itself. My worry is about CCP influence and their ability to both spread misinformation and at the same time suppress stories the party doesn’t like. Easy current examples are the democracy protests in Hong Kong, and the sterilization going on in the Uyghur camps in China. On Twitter you can talk about both things, on TikTok they will…

Twitter the company shouldn't be a steward of the Twitter the tool, too - do you agree with that ?

Re: The TikTok War

#169
post #6

I absolutely love using TikTok, but would give it up in a heartbeat for a Western replacement. It has absolutely brought more positivity into my life. I am specifically feeding the algorithm with this intent and I get what I asked for. It is a psychological tool.

RIP Vine

Re: The TikTok War

#170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ah yes, because the US is well known for its Muslim concentration camps, social credit scores and surveillance panopticon. Perhaps I simply don’t consider the Hispanic concentration camps, private credit scores that still gate hiring, access to healthcare (via hiring) and renting and apartment, and surveillance panopticon powered by Google, better?

Are you serious? The US does not have Hispanic concentration camps. It DOES have a private prison problem, but not death camps.

illegal immigrants being detained. not a labor camp, sure. concentration camp, sure
Post reply on HN