6 ms·

Because TikTok isn't a nightclub, it's a place for people to put their own content out on the Internet. Not just people, but primarily people living in a pathol

by mwfunk 7y ago

Because TikTok isn't a nightclub, it's a place for people to put their own content out on the Internet. Not just people, but primarily people living in a pathologically authoritarian state that doesn't allow them to access other places on the Internet that they could put their content on. But even ignoring the authoritarian state angle, surely you'd think it'd be weird and counterproductive for user content from YouTube or Instagram or imgur to have similar policies? Those sites are also not nightclubs or modeling agencies or a Hooters franchise either. FWIW it's totally shitty for nightclubs to be discriminatory in that way. I get why they do it, but it doesn't make it any less shitty of them, and it sure as hell doesn't let them off the hook for their shittiness in this regard. Tangentially, this is one of infinitely many reasons that nearly all of humanity hates nightclubs, including the people that feel socially obligated to go to them, and including people still young enough to convince themselves that they must be having fun there because it sure looks like everyone else is, not realizing that everyone else is thinking the exact same thing.

thereare5lights 7y ago
> Not just people, but primarily people living in a pathologically authoritarian state that doesn't allow them to access other places on the Internet that they could put their content on. No it's not. China has their own version of TikTok called Douyin. If I recall correctly, TikTok isn't even available in China. Since TikTok isn't even used in China, who exactly are the users you're describing as "people living in a pathologically authoritarian state"?
- befictious 7y ago
  Have you gone to https://www.douyin.com/ https://www.douyin.com/ ? it IS TIKTOK...
  - thereare5lights 7y ago
    No it's fucking not. The content on the two are different. You cannot access TikTok content on Douyin nor can do you do the reverse. The point is: > but primarily people living in a pathologically authoritarian state that This is patently false. Unless you're calling the US an authoritarian state.
- chenster 7y ago
  Mind you it's the same company behind TikTok tailored to westerns.
  - thereare5lights 7y ago
    And? Does that change the correctness of what I said? > but primarily people living in a pathologically authoritarian state that This is patently false. Unless you're calling the US an authoritarian state.
protomyth 7y ago
Because TikTok isn't a nightclub, it's a place for people to put their own content out on the Internet No, TikTok is a place for a company to sell ads on views of creator content and they, much like those nightclubs, believe having "desireable" creators will get them those views. Other sites have different strategies (much like the local bar in comparison to that nightclub). Their strategy seems to work for a variety of industries. I am not supporting it, as being on the other side of the good looking line does tend to make life a pain in the butt around the "pretty" people.
simias 7y ago
That's a slippery argument, if we consider that letting people post to these social networks is somehow a right, then doesn't that effectively mean that the alt-right folks who complain about deplatforming being a free-speech violation have a point? Or maybe there's a case to be made that censoring people for being homosexual or looking different is a form of harassment by censorship? It's not like these platforms offer any kind of critical service. They come and go every couple of years it seems. TikTok seems pretty crap, just tell people to stop supporting it. Some people feel socially obligated to go to nightclub, others feel socially obligated to use some social networking app. They're probably both wrong.
tedk-42 7y ago
The entitlement is too real here. Their platform, their choice for what goes on. You want something better? Go build in yourself. I have no problem with platforms self moderating. At the end of the day consumers speak with their actions. How many TV shows feature dwarfs or people with who are abnormal? Don't blame a platform for the inherit flaws in most of us. It really only serves as a black mirror to the truth.
- umvi 7y ago
  > How many TV shows feature dwarfs or people with who are abnormal? Oh I don't know...Game of Thrones (Tyrion), Stranger Things (Dustin), Breaking Bad (Walt Jr.) etc.
  - ceres 7y ago
    And those characters stand out partly because they're not the norm in Hollywood
- cosmodisk 7y ago
  Can't remember what was the country,where the absolute majority of parents give their children away to institutions if they were born with any mental or physical disabilities....Nice not have those nasties around,I suppose,right?
  - filoleg 7y ago
    Do you seriously think that getting rid of a child is somehow even remotely comparable to not being able to use an ephemeral social media app that is essentially just Vine 2.0?
- chillwaves 7y ago
  I agree completely, but these companies need to make their policies transparent so the users will have an informed choice about their platform. Yet for some reason, TikTok wants to hide this story. Why do you think that is?
cocktailpeanuts 7y ago
Except, it IS a night club. The Web is not what it used to be decades ago. There is no elusive concept as "The Web", it's now just a different way for people to connect, just like going to a nightclub. It's been like that ever since the majority of the world got on it. You say "it's a place for people to put their content out on the internet", but you don't ask WHY they would do that. And I don't know if you have used TikTok at all, but if you ask anyone who "put their content out on" TikTok, they would agree TikTok is like a giant nightclub.
- zapzupnz 7y ago
  What kind of night clubs do you go to where there's a high bar of entry — but everybody is still allowed in anyway? It's more like a strip club, where the beautiful people are unpaid strippers who don't even know that they are strippers. And even that's a poor metaphor.
  - jussij 7y ago
    The way I read the OP's analogy is just as the Night Club places restrictions on who can enter, TikTok is also placing restrictions on who can post content. And why I think the analogy does have some merit, is because the metric used to decide on who gets restricted is the very similar in both of these cases.
    - zapzupnz 7y ago
      They don’t limit who can post content but rather whose content reaches the suggestions, regardless of a post’s popularity. Also, again, the people turned away from the night club door still can’t go in. Took Too users who don’t post can still view content.
      - jussij 7y ago
        All of that may well be true. However, if this article is correct, they also seem to favour good looking TikTok users, which is not unlike Night Clubs who also like to favour good looking patrons.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
55555 7y ago
fyi tiktok isnt used in China. ByteDance has a different brand there.
- 9nGQluzmnq3M 7y ago
  Douyin 抖音. It's the same app though.
  - uwuhn 7y ago
    It's the same underlying app/framework, but not the same content and users, right?
SergeAx 7y ago
> it's a place for people to put their own content Please, please, read the ToS and stop thinking like that! This is not people's own content, it's Facebook's, YouTube's, Reddit's content. If you want to own your content - you should rent a domain name, a server and host it by yourself. Except typical social network users doesn't want to own their content. They are here for other's attention.

by mwfunk 7y ago

thereare5lights 7y ago

> Not just people, but primarily people living in a pathologically authoritarian state that doesn't allow them to access other places on the Internet that they could put their content on. No it's not. China has their own version of TikTok called Douyin. If I recall correctly, TikTok isn't even available in China. Since TikTok isn't even used in China, who exactly are the users you're describing as "people living in a pathologically authoritarian state"?

befictious 7y ago
Have you gone to https://www.douyin.com/ https://www.douyin.com/ ? it IS TIKTOK...
- thereare5lights 7y ago
  No it's fucking not. The content on the two are different. You cannot access TikTok content on Douyin nor can do you do the reverse. The point is: > but primarily people living in a pathologically authoritarian state that This is patently false. Unless you're calling the US an authoritarian state.
chenster 7y ago
Mind you it's the same company behind TikTok tailored to westerns.
- thereare5lights 7y ago
  And? Does that change the correctness of what I said? > but primarily people living in a pathologically authoritarian state that This is patently false. Unless you're calling the US an authoritarian state.

protomyth 7y ago

Because TikTok isn't a nightclub, it's a place for people to put their own content out on the Internet No, TikTok is a place for a company to sell ads on views of creator content and they, much like those nightclubs, believe having "desireable" creators will get them those views. Other sites have different strategies (much like the local bar in comparison to that nightclub). Their strategy seems to work for a variety of industries. I am not supporting it, as being on the other side of the good looking line does tend to make life a pain in the butt around the "pretty" people.

simias 7y ago

That's a slippery argument, if we consider that letting people post to these social networks is somehow a right, then doesn't that effectively mean that the alt-right folks who complain about deplatforming being a free-speech violation have a point? Or maybe there's a case to be made that censoring people for being homosexual or looking different is a form of harassment by censorship? It's not like these platforms offer any kind of critical service. They come and go every couple of years it seems. TikTok seems pretty crap, just tell people to stop supporting it. Some people feel socially obligated to go to nightclub, others feel socially obligated to use some social networking app. They're probably both wrong.

tedk-42 7y ago

The entitlement is too real here. Their platform, their choice for what goes on. You want something better? Go build in yourself. I have no problem with platforms self moderating. At the end of the day consumers speak with their actions. How many TV shows feature dwarfs or people with who are abnormal? Don't blame a platform for the inherit flaws in most of us. It really only serves as a black mirror to the truth.

umvi 7y ago
> How many TV shows feature dwarfs or people with who are abnormal? Oh I don't know...Game of Thrones (Tyrion), Stranger Things (Dustin), Breaking Bad (Walt Jr.) etc.
- ceres 7y ago
  And those characters stand out partly because they're not the norm in Hollywood
cosmodisk 7y ago
Can't remember what was the country,where the absolute majority of parents give their children away to institutions if they were born with any mental or physical disabilities....Nice not have those nasties around,I suppose,right?
- filoleg 7y ago
  Do you seriously think that getting rid of a child is somehow even remotely comparable to not being able to use an ephemeral social media app that is essentially just Vine 2.0?
chillwaves 7y ago
I agree completely, but these companies need to make their policies transparent so the users will have an informed choice about their platform. Yet for some reason, TikTok wants to hide this story. Why do you think that is?

cocktailpeanuts 7y ago

Except, it IS a night club. The Web is not what it used to be decades ago. There is no elusive concept as "The Web", it's now just a different way for people to connect, just like going to a nightclub. It's been like that ever since the majority of the world got on it. You say "it's a place for people to put their content out on the internet", but you don't ask WHY they would do that. And I don't know if you have used TikTok at all, but if you ask anyone who "put their content out on" TikTok, they would agree TikTok is like a giant nightclub.

zapzupnz 7y ago
What kind of night clubs do you go to where there's a high bar of entry — but everybody is still allowed in anyway? It's more like a strip club, where the beautiful people are unpaid strippers who don't even know that they are strippers. And even that's a poor metaphor.
- jussij 7y ago
  The way I read the OP's analogy is just as the Night Club places restrictions on who can enter, TikTok is also placing restrictions on who can post content. And why I think the analogy does have some merit, is because the metric used to decide on who gets restricted is the very similar in both of these cases.
  - zapzupnz 7y ago
    They don’t limit who can post content but rather whose content reaches the suggestions, regardless of a post’s popularity. Also, again, the people turned away from the night club door still can’t go in. Took Too users who don’t post can still view content.
    - jussij 7y ago
      All of that may well be true. However, if this article is correct, they also seem to favour good looking TikTok users, which is not unlike Night Clubs who also like to favour good looking patrons.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

55555 7y ago

fyi tiktok isnt used in China. ByteDance has a different brand there.

9nGQluzmnq3M 7y ago
Douyin 抖音. It's the same app though.
- uwuhn 7y ago
  It's the same underlying app/framework, but not the same content and users, right?

SergeAx 7y ago

> it's a place for people to put their own content Please, please, read the ToS and stop thinking like that! This is not people's own content, it's Facebook's, YouTube's, Reddit's content. If you want to own your content - you should rent a domain name, a server and host it by yourself. Except typical social network users doesn't want to own their content. They are here for other's attention.