Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

ByteDance investors value TikTok at $50B in takeover bid

reuters.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 204 posts

Re: ByteDance investors value TikTok at $50B in takeover bid

#81

Post by bigpumpkin »

ideals wrote: post #48

I'm more surprised this is actually moving forward. I thought the usual play is to delay things for as long as necessary until people lose interest and find a new target. If they stalled until the election would there still be interest from lawmakers on this topic? Or is it topical for the moment because of China and Covid?

Actually banning it would create some backlash from part of the userbase in an election year, whereas more regulations would be welcomed by mostly everyone (such as requiring data/algorithms/engineers to be based in the US).

Re: ByteDance investors value TikTok at $50B in takeover bid

#82

Post by kart23 »

14 wrote: post #39
snazz wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What fate are you referring to with Snapchat? I’m pretty close to the target audience for both Snapchat and TikTok and nearly everyone I know (edit: close to my age) uses both.

What is the age group they target? I am not 40 and don’t know a single person with snap anymore. None of my kids or their friends so is it like 15-25 year olds or who uses snap now days? Thanks

Huh? Literally everyone in college still has snapchat. A lot less people are on tiktok. There are definitely people who use it, but it's not considered fully mainstream and 'popular' yet.

Re: ByteDance investors value TikTok at $50B in takeover bid

#83

Post by dilap »

bigpumpkin wrote: post #81
ideals wrote: post #48

I'm more surprised this is actually moving forward. I thought the usual play is to delay things for as long as necessary until people lose interest and find a new target. If they stalled until the election would there still be interest from lawmakers on this topic? Or is it topical for the moment because of China and Covid?

Actually banning it would create some backlash from part of the userbase in an election year, whereas more regulations would be welcomed by mostly everyone (such as requiring data/algorithms/engineers to be based in the US).

not every1, tho! as a US citizen, I think it's actually a good thing if there are some popular social networks not under US govt control.

Re: ByteDance investors value TikTok at $50B in takeover bid

#85

Post by kozhevnikov »

Firebrand wrote: post #51
alehul wrote: post #14

Many are suggesting that TikTok would be overvalued at $50B. If that's the case, do you believe FB is overvalued at $662B? Instagram, as of 2018, was estimated to be worth around $100B on its own (with about 1b MAUs, versus TikTok's 800m). TikTok seems at least equally addictive, and its algorithm does a fantastic job at quickly showing good content that matches your interests.

It’s been reported Facebook has been offering exclusivity contracts to some of TikTok’s most followed personalities for its new competitor, Reels. It reminds me of Microsoft’s streaming platform giving millions to Ninja and Shroud only to close it down months later. TikTok has been very good at focusing on new content discovery first when you open the app, making you swipe left to see the people you follow second—thi…

Have there been any major Facebook flops? They seem to be very successful in acquiring (WhatsApp, Instagram) and diversifying (Facebook Messenger, Instagram Stories) the next social thing. They are no Yahoo or, on occasion, Microsoft.

Re: ByteDance investors value TikTok at $50B in takeover bid

#86

Post by andreilys »

chirau wrote: post #63

Contrary to what I am realizing is a common misconception in this thread that $SNAP is struggling, it is actually doing very well.

It’s still well below the IPO price in 2017, with net loss growing to $326 million, up from $255 million last year and EBITDA of almost -$1 billion.

Perhaps our definitions of doing well are different.

Sure DAU is up, but we all know those metrics are inflated BS and monetization is all that really matters. It’s been 3 years since IPO and they’re still making a heavy loss.

Re: ByteDance investors value TikTok at $50B in takeover bid

#87

Post by mschuster91 »

hellomyguys wrote: post #70
mschuster91 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Especially for younger people who are tired of the social behavior that's formed on IG. Eternal September: what has happened to Instagram will also happen to TikTok. Additionally there is the very real risk that TikTok will be seen by governments as what it is: Chinese spyware. India has already banned it, I hope that the rest of the world follows suit.

>Additionally there is the very real risk that TikTok will be seen by governments as what it is: Chinese spyware. India has already banned it, I hope that the rest of the world follows suit. Well that's why the investors are trying to take it over. >Eternal September: what has happened to Instagram will also happen to TikTok. Definitely agree this is always a concern, but the type of content that is rewarded on TikTo…

> Well that's why the investors are trying to take it over.

As long as China has anything meaningful to say, that won't be enough.

> but the type of content that is rewarded on TikTok makes it less exploitable by people who build followings by posting low-effort content that looks good aesthetically.

Lol most of the stuff that goes viral on Tiktok is essentially that. People scaring cows ffs (look up "kulikitaka challenge"). Can't get much more "crap" than this.

Re: ByteDance investors value TikTok at $50B in takeover bid

#88

Post by hibern8 »

kozhevnikov wrote: post #85
Firebrand wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s been reported Facebook has been offering exclusivity contracts to some of TikTok’s most followed personalities for its new competitor, Reels. It reminds me of Microsoft’s streaming platform giving millions to Ninja and Shroud only to close it down months later. TikTok has been very good at focusing on new content discovery first when you open the app, making you swipe left to see the people you follow second—thi…

Have there been any major Facebook flops? They seem to be very successful in acquiring (WhatsApp, Instagram) and diversifying (Facebook Messenger, Instagram Stories) the next social thing. They are no Yahoo or, on occasion, Microsoft.

Moments, Poke, Camera are a few. Local could be huge if they had the right strategy.

Re: ByteDance investors value TikTok at $50B in takeover bid

#90

Post by andreilys »

eunos wrote: post #45
chvid wrote: post #17

This is from Twitter and might be a hyperbole or conspiracy: Overheard on current US war on Tiktok. A thread: Talks abt ban on Tiktok subsiding a bit because Tiktok in talks with General Atlantic and Sequoia to sell to a US shell company. US demanding that Tiktok technical staff be completely changed, AI algorithm be based in the US... Continued at https://twitter.com/CarlZha/status/1288284750273114112

> AI and tech team evaluated by NSA Suppose that PRC considers to open the GFW but with the same requirements (AI and tech team evaluated by MSS). Would that be acceptable?

They would never open the GFW because it would be a threat to their governance model.
Post reply on HN