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It was clear to me how threatened Facebook was by TikTok when I brought it up with an employee in June. They kept mentioning infinite scroll, and that everyone
by bredren 7y ago
It was clear to me how threatened Facebook was by TikTok when I brought it up with an employee in June.
They kept mentioning infinite scroll, and that everyone was supposed to be thinking about how to incorporate that into product.
After zuck discussed TikTok directly recently, I’m not surprised google and fb lobbyists would press for this investigation.
One question I have, is the real-time interests of millions of 16-24 yo Americans reported back to the Chinese government a national security concern?
- paxys 7y ago16-24 yo (and even younger) American kids/youth being exposed to Chinese propoganda and censorship is most definitely a national security concern.
- tbyehl 7y agoYes, Americans should only be exposed to American Corporate-sanctioned propaganda.
- ShteiLoups 7y agoHey, at least americans can vote on that propoganda.
- rchaud 7y agoNothing is stopping Americans from placing their own propaganda via paid ads or pro-US videos. As long as you're not stupid and push obvious points re: HK, that will immediately come to the attention of censors, you can go far.
- outuiorew 7y agoTikTok, like Twitter, doesn’t allow political ads. Besides, Hollywood movies should have enough propaganda in them already.
- akhilcacharya 7y agoI use TikTok a lot. Censorship is a concern, I agree, but propaganda is unlikely just given how the "For You" algorithmic curation works.
- lmm 7y agoIt's pretty hypocritical to suggest that we should be worried about people seeing information from a foreign source because they might be "exposed to censorship".
- jasonjayr 7y ago>One question I have, is the real-time interests of millions of 16-24 yo Americans reported back to the Chinese government a national security concern? Perhaps not, but the influence of a nebulous "algorithm" controlling what comes up next certainly can reinforce a message or way of life that line up with China's cultural norms
- wruza 7y agoIow, the presence of non-US cultures on a feed can harm US children?
- angott 7y agoIf that non-US culture advocates that democracy is a threat to society, or that political re-education camps are not an issue, I would say that yes, we need to keep that out.
- wruza 7y agoI didn’t know TikTok was doing these things. Well, in this case it deserves to be shut down obviously.
- interactivecode 7y ago[citation needed]
- CharlesColeman 7y ago>> If that non-US culture advocates that democracy is a threat to society, or that political re-education camps are not an issue, I would say that yes, we need to keep that out. > [citation needed] The "non-US culture" framing of the GP and GGP is ignorant and wrong, but what they say is certainly true with regards to the party and government: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/20/world/asia/chinas-new-leadership-takes-hard-line-in-secret-memo.html https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/20/world/asia/chinas-new-lea... > Communist Party cadres have filled meeting halls around China to hear a somber, secretive warning issued by senior leaders. Power could escape their grip, they have been told, unless the party eradicates seven subversive currents coursing through Chinese society.... The first was “Western constitutional democracy”; others included promoting “universal values” of human rights, Western-inspired notions of media independence and civic participation, ardently pro-market “neo-liberalism,” and “nihilist” criticisms of the party’s traumatic past. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/01/world/asia/china-student-informers.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/01/world/asia/china-student-... > ...students are increasingly playing a key role by monitoring how teachers view Mr. Xi, the party and ideas like democracy. In exchange, they are promised rewards like scholarships, higher grades and advancement within prestigious Communist Party groups. > Ankang University in northwest China said in an online notice that student informers should formally report professors who spread superstition, cults and pornography, “promote Western political values,” and criticize the party’s tenets. School administrators, the notice says, should respond to each complaint within three working days.
- Scaevolus 7y agoFacebook has released a TikTok clone, Lasso, but they miss a lot of basic things that made TikTok popular, both from a policy perspective and from UX. It's much less competitive than Instagram's cloning of Snapchat. Initially Lasso only supported registering with a Facebook account, defaulting to exposing your real name to the world. TikTok let you browse anonymously and register with just a phone number or email account, letting users protect their identities much easier. Lasso now allows you to register with an Instagram account. Lasso has much worse video quality-- seemingly SD vs HD, presumably to save bandwidth, but it makes videos much less appealing since they're noticeably blurrier. This may be because Lasso decided to show me Spanish videos for no apparent reason (or maybe that's where their users are?), and most Spanish-speaking countries have predominantly Android phones which have worse video quality. The infinite scrolling feels worse because videos fade in from black instead of displaying their first frame while scrolling into view. The feed isn't actually infinite, but refuses to load past a certain point. You can't swipe right from the feed to view a user's profile. Regarding censorship, I'm not convinced ByteDance's Chinese style "ban anything contentious" censorship is actually a downside for most teen users. Instagram has _very_ loose censorship policies, which easily allow the feed to become very sexualized. I expect this makes younger users feel less comfortable posting publicly-- Instagram is where the bikini models and their followers hang out!-- while TikTok's more carefully curated space feels age-appropriate. That may all be network effects, though, with social networks as always being colonized first by the young.
- bredren 7y agoInteresting notes. Lasso is currently only focused on Mexico.
- RandomBacon 7y ago> is the real-time interests of millions of 16-24 yo Americans reported back to the Chinese government a national security concern? Yes. They are kids today, but they might be a Senator, CEO, or President tomorrow. Or they might grow up to be an average person, but with a sensitive job and a Chinese intelligence officer needs background on someone to flip them. They don't need sensational information, just insight on how their target can be influenced.
- headsupftw 7y agoOh please.
- RandomBacon 7y agoI wonder what your motives are behind your comment. Why would you try to downplay this issue? What do you have to gain by it?
- bigodbiel 7y agoGrindr's in the hands of the Chinese was already raising hairs. When you consider that Tik Tok is again (after COPA) under FCC investigation over its handling of children data.