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TikTok overtakes Facebook as most downloaded app

asia.nikkei.com

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Re: TikTok overtakes Facebook as most downloaded app

#191

Post by rchaud »

tablespoon wrote: post #90
the-dude wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As opposed to US based networks?

> As opposed to US based networks? There are important differences between being influenced by domestic actors, as part of a domestic political process, and being influenced by foreign actors. The latter is a far more serious threat to political independence. It's also pretty well documented that the PRC political authorities already use its domestic social networks in this way.

It's also documented that Cambridge Analytica used data made available to it by Facebook to target millions with political propaganda. It wasn't just the US election, they had plenty of practice validating the strategy in elections in smaller countries.

Where's the evidence that TT has been successfully used for nefarious purposes on a similar scale?

Re: TikTok overtakes Facebook as most downloaded app

#192

Post by stiltzkin »

ericcholis wrote: post #4

Pro TikTok take. It's easier and friendlier to consume. The algorithm is good at tailoring interests. But, it's more like TV than FB.

Beware TikTok is also available for download as APK on Android TV, at the end now TV are smarts but the same outcome follows get stuck watching TV.

Re: TikTok overtakes Facebook as most downloaded app

#194

Post by stanislavb »

mrtksn wrote: post #25

I'm a huge fan of TikTok because after years of content stagnation and dullness, the internet is fun again. Especially places like Twitter and Instagram are outrage and depression inducers for me, consumed together it feels like the society is collapsing but everyone is living a perfect life at the same time. The China thing is touchy but I want the west to beat them by being better, not by being dismissive and prote…

You are addicted (most probably). Not exactly "a huge fan" (most probably). It shouldn't sound like blaming or something. It's just that TikTok has proven having a more addictive algo than FB.

Re: TikTok overtakes Facebook as most downloaded app

#195

Post by cruano »

reggieband wrote: post #66

I like to think of TikTok as the crack cocaine of addictive social media. I used to think my dopamine receptors were burned out by the constant barrage of memes I received from reddit, Facebook and Twitter but TikTok proves they can refine that product to make it even more potent. When I visit reddit now it feels behind in the same way Facebook used to feel behind. Facebook's video feature (which they shove into my f…

> I like to think of TikTok as the crack cocaine of addictive social media.

I'd compare it more to something like coffee, somehow every time I leave TikTok I'm happier than I was before. This did not happen with Facebook, Instagram, etc.

Re: TikTok overtakes Facebook as most downloaded app

#196

Post by tablespoon »

underwater wrote: post #184

I'm baffled by the glowing endorsements of TikTok on Hacker News of all places. TikTok content comes across as completely vapid. It's like the worst possible mashup of bad television and social media. As a company TikTok seems to have zero goals beyond increasing engagement.

> I'm baffled by the glowing endorsements of TikTok on Hacker News of all places.

Could it be addicts trying to justify their addiction to the world (and themselves)? It sounds like TikTok is even more successful at being addictive than previous social media drugs, maybe it's strong enough to hook people who weren't hooked by its predecessors.

Re: TikTok overtakes Facebook as most downloaded app

#197

Post by belorn »

arsome wrote: post #41
nostromo wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s also much more positive. If I spend 20 minutes on TikTok I usually laugh and smile a few times. And regularly I’m impressed at human creativity. 20 minutes on Instagram or Facebook is usually either boring or leaves me comparing myself to others. 20 minutes on YouTube and I feel like I’ve watched 10 minutes of ads and 10 minutes of fluff. 20 minutes on Reddit and I hate the world.

Yeah, no kidding with that reddit one, every time I go there I feel like everyone is just in constant fear or anger, especially going to subreddits for my city/state. I've near completely stopped using it due to this. Now I just spend way too much time on YouTube instead. It may be a terrible waste of time, but at least it's less angry and fearful.

Most times I read reddit it is either in context of diving or a video game. Neither make me want to hate the world.

In particular, the rim world subreddit is great. That kind of game makes for a lot of crazy situations, and much of it is captured there.

When games has game breaking bugs, reddit is often a common search results with people discussing it and providing solutions. In many way it serve the same purpose for gaming as stackoverflow does for programming.

Is this just because the way I am reading reddit, or the subject matter?

Re: TikTok overtakes Facebook as most downloaded app

#198

Post by rvz »

jjice wrote: post #131

Lots of positivity in this thread, and I don't think that's entirely a bad thing, but I think TikTok is the worst of the social media platforms in terms of addictiveness, based on my peers. As a recent grad, so many of my friends are heavily invested in TikTok and have been since quarantine began, some of them for a bit before. The amount of time they spend there is absurd. Consuming 30 second content for three hours…

Well everything in this HN thread about TikTok is music to the ears of the investors who are almost certainly looking for a massive exit when ByteDance eventually IPOs.

As for TikTok itself, all I see is another social network that is no different to Facebook or YouTube that tracks every single action, video and comment you make and watch which that feeds to the 'algorithm' to make you more even more addicted as possible. On top of that, Bytedance gets to control what is seen or unseen on the platform depending on what their guidelines are which can benefit some users over others. I do not know what is so positive about that.

So given that TikTok has screwed up on their users in the past, the question is how long until they do it again?, but on the seriousness of a massive scandal; just like how other social networks have done already.

Re: TikTok overtakes Facebook as most downloaded app

#199

Post by rjh29 »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #93
mrtksn wrote: post #25

I'm a huge fan of TikTok because after years of content stagnation and dullness, the internet is fun again. Especially places like Twitter and Instagram are outrage and depression inducers for me, consumed together it feels like the society is collapsing but everyone is living a perfect life at the same time. The China thing is touchy but I want the west to beat them by being better, not by being dismissive and prote…

> Especially places like Twitter and Instagram are outrage and depression inducers for me, consumed together it feels like the society is collapsing It's been interesting to watch the steady decline of Reddit and Twitter since they launched. They've always had a significant amount of doom-and-gloom clickbait headlines, but in the past it was far easier to filter out the bad and follow subreddits or Twitter people wit…

Reddit is still good, you're likely subscribing to popular subreddits. Don't subscribe to anything that appears in r/popular or r/all. Try subreddits that intentionally ban politics or have Part of what keeps Reddit free of such nastiness (in my experience at least) is the downvote button. Sure, it creates an echo chamber that ruins the popular subreddits, but on the smaller subreddits, it means that anything toxic, inflammatory or misleading is nuked into invisibility. After getting used to this, I find it really hard to participate in places like youtube, Discord or old-style forums where conversations can be derailed or turned toxic by only a few bad actors.

Re: TikTok overtakes Facebook as most downloaded app

#200

Post by cthor »

lbarrow wrote: post #6

Remember, though, social media giants are monopolists and it's impossible to compete against them.

The main antitrust complaint against social media giants is that competitors are either acquired or bullied out of the market.

The only reason this hasn't happened with TikTok is it's based in China.

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