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TikTok overtakes Facebook as most downloaded app

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Re: TikTok overtakes Facebook as most downloaded app

#591

Post by romwell »

hutzlibu wrote: post #585
romwell wrote: post #541

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me pose a different question. What value does the following claim bring into the discussion: "The is going to be just as bad as , just give it time"? It's just needless negativity. There are so many interesting things about TikTok that one can discuss, and choosing to just be a Debbie Downer about it ("You like it, but it's bad for you!") feel like an extremely boring way to think about anything.

Well, to me it sounds like: "Yeah, it showed that all the old chemical party drugs are bad in the long run, but this new party drug makes you feel really good, so why worry about the future?" I mean do it, if you want. But I also have the opinion that I do not want to base my happiness and wellbeing in something that has shown to have a short timed luck - followed by darkness. And I do not see society benefitting. Wh…

Well perhaps your nephews aren't in the group of people who should be on TikTok.

That doesn't mean that it's like that for everyone.

Drug analogy: people use Adderall as a party drug too, but some really benefit from having it in their day-to-day life.

Nobody said anything about "basing happiness and wellbeing" on TikTok, btw. It's a strawman claim.

What TikTok does is it connects people who wouldn't otherwise know of each other, lets many people interact with videos, and just be themselves. It's a good place to be at today.

What it already has done is it normalized people just sharing their slices of life and thoughts instead of creating highly polished content (which also exists). And the interactions are peer-to-peer.

It has the most Wen 1.0 vibe of yore out of all platforms. Except instead of ugly HTML with tags, it's your messy bedroom and untamed hair. But it's yours.

Re: TikTok overtakes Facebook as most downloaded app

#592

Post by smolder »

throwawayboise wrote: post #432
jcrites wrote: post #357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I joined Facebook (WhatsApp specifically) in January after working at Amazon for many years. It's evident to me that the company has been and continues to invest massively in privacy and privacy protection – to the extent of inventing new internal technologies that enforce it automatically while handling data, so that software developers don't have to add manual "Should this person/software system be able to access t…

> FAANG companies to my knowledge no longer share or sell any data that they collect outside their walls. Yeah but does that matter when they have expanded the walls to encompass pretty much everything that most users do online.

I wanted to comment on the same statement. At a minimum all those companies share with law enforcement and national security to some extent. Beyond that I've heard of data sharing agreements and some kinds of data sales at more than one of the FAANGs, and can't see why they would stop, though I can definitely see why they might be two-faced about it and try to give that impression.

Re: TikTok overtakes Facebook as most downloaded app

#593

Post by hutzlibu »

romwell wrote: post #591
hutzlibu wrote: post #585

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, to me it sounds like: "Yeah, it showed that all the old chemical party drugs are bad in the long run, but this new party drug makes you feel really good, so why worry about the future?" I mean do it, if you want. But I also have the opinion that I do not want to base my happiness and wellbeing in something that has shown to have a short timed luck - followed by darkness. And I do not see society benefitting. Wh…

Well perhaps your nephews aren't in the group of people who should be on TikTok. That doesn't mean that it's like that for everyone. Drug analogy: people use Adderall as a party drug too, but some really benefit from having it in their day-to-day life. Nobody said anything about "basing happiness and wellbeing" on TikTok, btw. It's a strawman claim. What TikTok does is it connects people who wouldn't otherwise know o…

"But it's yours."

It is not. You do not own or controll the data on it. You do not know, own or control the algorithm that makes TikTok such an amazing experience for you - at the moment.

An proprietary algorithm that can change any minute, out of whatever reasons - may them be just "profit" motives, or political reasons (China is a bit famous for that).

"Nobody said anything about "basing happiness and wellbeing" on TikTok, btw. It's a strawman claim."

And sure nobody say he is doing it consciously. But this is what I observe is happening to quite some, especially young people. They get very angry, if the do not get their mobiles to get their dose of TikTok.

So yeah, drugs can be beneficial, too. Dosis facit venenum. This is my point: to me from the outside - TikTok seems to be just the same. A new addictive drug. That can be beneficial if used moderately, but mostly is not.

Re: TikTok overtakes Facebook as most downloaded app

#594

Post by romwell »

bodge5000 wrote: post #545
romwell wrote: post #404

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that was the point, what's the point of stating that point? "The thing y'all enjoy now will be crap in a few years, get off my lawn?" I didn't come here for fortune-telling.

I don't think people are saying it'll get worse, but rather that it's already bad, and over time we'll learn to what extent that is. If you know that and continue to use it, thats fine. I still used Facebook long after all the malarky about that came out (and as is this case, a lot of people, myself included, were already seeing the signs of it way before it came out). You need to pick your battles, in a world where…

"Bad" is a very vague term.

The claim I specifically disagree with is that TikTok currently actively deplatforms LGBTQ+ and disabled people.

It simply was the opposite of my experience, as my suggested videos are at least 90% LGBTQ or disabled people.

I can't even compare it to other social networks, as it gives these "vulnerable" demographics an incredibly large reach today — even with the alleged censorship — and nothing else comes even close!

—Your car is bad, it has no seatbelts and airbags

—But the other cars I can get don't even run! —Why don't you agree that it's a bad car? –Because it can get me places the other cars don't —So you think that no airbags is good? —No, I thinking that a driveable car without airbags is better for me than the stationary car that has them. It's good for me to have this car, my life improved after I got it. I use it to get to my friends that live far away. —But what about those kids that took a car for a joy ride and crashed it? —Perhaps they should not have been driving —But it's a Chinese car, it spies on you! —I have to use it to reach my friends because there's no other way —So you're denying that your car will be junk in a few years? It's not healthy! —Neither is worrying about potentially grim future —But it'll be worth nothing soon! —And by that time, I'll get its worth by other means

Re: TikTok overtakes Facebook as most downloaded app

#595

Post by [deleted] »

romwell wrote: post #594
bodge5000 wrote: post #545

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think people are saying it'll get worse, but rather that it's already bad, and over time we'll learn to what extent that is. If you know that and continue to use it, thats fine. I still used Facebook long after all the malarky about that came out (and as is this case, a lot of people, myself included, were already seeing the signs of it way before it came out). You need to pick your battles, in a world where…

"Bad" is a very vague term. The claim I specifically disagree with is that TikTok currently actively deplatforms LGBTQ+ and disabled people. It simply was the opposite of my experience, as my suggested videos are at least 90% LGBTQ or disabled people. I can't even compare it to other social networks, as it gives these "vulnerable" demographics an incredibly large reach today — even with the alleged censorship — and n…

[deleted]

Re: TikTok overtakes Facebook as most downloaded app

#596

Post by mrkramer »

MonaroVXR wrote: post #464
mrkramer wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook won because people from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland could not only connect with friends in their domestic and neighboring countries but because they could connect with friends all around the globe. That's what pretty much happened all around the world with FB/IG or in one word standardization.

You can with Discord? But what is really connecting?

>But what is really connecting?

Status updates, text, photos, videos etc.

Re: TikTok overtakes Facebook as most downloaded app

#597

Post by spijdar »

madeofpalk wrote: post #569
argonaut wrote: post #478

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You really cannot make a claim about TikTok's content distribution based on your own feed. TikTok's feed is extremely hyper-targeted for each individual.

Isn't that the point? You can't say that tiktok "gets rid of people" in those demographics when Tiktok's algo creates all these micro communities where they flourish. I've never seen more diversity and representation on social media than on Tiktok.

Sure, it "gets rid of people" by isolating them into bubbles and makes sure people who don't want to see it, well, won't see it. Is it "representation" if it's only seen by people who want to see it?

I think it's a big question, and one that applies to most social media, even if TikTok is one of the most extreme examples. Is it ethically/morally/socially good to de facto isolate niche groups of like-minded people into closed spaces? It feels bad to me, but I've also considered that people are "hard wired" for much smaller groups. Maybe the best way to deal with the scale of social media is to condense it down to small, isolated communities, although I personally prefer to actively choose them myself, rather than being herded by an algorithm into some unlabeled cluster with similar viewing habits.

Re: TikTok overtakes Facebook as most downloaded app

#598

Post by CyberFoxar »

twoquestions wrote: post #187
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…

> 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 can't be good for concentration, right? It helps add to the 'always online' mindset that has grown more popular with social media and smart phones. How do they keep on it for 3 hours?! I'…

To be frank, I've experienced those "scroll for 3 hours through short-length content" on youtube, especially with shorts.

You just kind of... zone out. Watch, click, watch, click, heart, watch... The action is repetitive, but the content isn't. I've definetly felt like I was on a Netflix binge, there's so little friction, time just flies.

Re: TikTok overtakes Facebook as most downloaded app

#599

Post by Banana699 »

spijdar wrote: post #597
madeofpalk wrote: post #569

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't that the point? You can't say that tiktok "gets rid of people" in those demographics when Tiktok's algo creates all these micro communities where they flourish. I've never seen more diversity and representation on social media than on Tiktok.

Sure, it "gets rid of people" by isolating them into bubbles and makes sure people who don't want to see it, well, won't see it. Is it "representation" if it's only seen by people who want to see it? I think it's a big question, and one that applies to most social media, even if TikTok is one of the most extreme examples. Is it ethically/morally/socially good to de facto isolate niche groups of like-minded people int…

>Is it "representation" if it's only seen by people who want to see it?

Why is that objectionable? It's not like people don't know about queer or trans people and tiktok is shielding them from knowing, people know and just aren't interested. Forcing people to watch things they aren't interested in only makes them resentful and fed up with them, instead of simply uninterested. Interest can't be demanded.

Re: TikTok overtakes Facebook as most downloaded app

#600

Post by CyberFoxar »

reggieband wrote: post #353
emddudley wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TikTok sorts you according to it's interests, not your own. Just because they notice that you are more engaged with irritating content doesn't mean you like irritating content.

This does not match my experience using TikTok. I have an heuristic I follow whenever content I do not want appears on my FYP. I immediately scroll. I don't let the video get 10 seconds in, I absolutely do not let it finish. I do not swipe left to see other videos by the same creator. I do not click on the comments to see what other people are saying about the content. The second I realize I do not want content like…

I just wish you could downvote to tell the algo to not play on my morbid curiosity and stop recommending my that.
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