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>None of these are companies I would associate with a social media presence This is exactly why. They see TT as the "new" form of social media, since everyone

>None of these are companies I would associate with a social media presence This is exactly why. They see TT as the "new" form of social media, since everyone is sick of FB-style feeds and profiles, and want a piece of the action. TT's growth and young userbase demonstrates pretty clearly that traditional social media isn't cool anymore.

rich_sasha 6y ago
Maybe. The sort of 'I see cool kids have skateboards so I'll get one too'. But surely this is backwards. I guess when you are bidding against other people, the highest bidder wins. That means you have to, in a way, overpay for the product, and reap some special synergy bonus that other buyers can't get. This is what is missing to me, I can't see how owning a social media app enhances the rest of the business for either of Microsoft, Oracle, or indeed Walmart.
- hakfoo 6y ago
  Optimistically, you could also be betting that everyone else is still underpricing the product. The problem with trying to buy a business like TikTok at its prime is that it's trying to buy "cool". It's the most perishable commodity imaginable. Let's assume that you manage to skate by the initial purchase process intact-- that the audience doesn't revolt en masse and say "I don't want to be associated with Walmart/Microsoft/Oracle". In a way, a unfamiliar foreign owner has a bit of mystique-- everyone in the target demographic has been in a Walmart or dealt with a Windows PC, so those brands have baggage already, whereas this was most people's first contact with ByteDance. A lot of the potential 'synergy bonus' opportunities have to be intentionally slow-walked to avoid setting off the audience's spider-sense. Push "buy goods via TikTok" too hard, or push the wrong ad inventory because it's all you have, and users will walk away.
UncleOxidant 6y ago
But as soon as a Walmart or Oracle buys TT it won't be cool anymore either.
- meddlepal 6y ago
  Doubtful many users of TT would notice or know enough about Oracle etc to care.
  - sumtechguy 6y ago
    Oracle would strangle it to death. Walmart would ignore it to death.
- skinnymuch 6y ago
  It took forever for more than the HN crowd of people to remember that Facebook owns IG and Whatsapp. Parent company isn’t that important. Fox buying MySpace and Fox’s brand weren’t what hurt MySpace.

rich_sasha 6y ago

Maybe. The sort of 'I see cool kids have skateboards so I'll get one too'. But surely this is backwards. I guess when you are bidding against other people, the highest bidder wins. That means you have to, in a way, overpay for the product, and reap some special synergy bonus that other buyers can't get. This is what is missing to me, I can't see how owning a social media app enhances the rest of the business for either of Microsoft, Oracle, or indeed Walmart.

hakfoo 6y ago
Optimistically, you could also be betting that everyone else is still underpricing the product. The problem with trying to buy a business like TikTok at its prime is that it's trying to buy "cool". It's the most perishable commodity imaginable. Let's assume that you manage to skate by the initial purchase process intact-- that the audience doesn't revolt en masse and say "I don't want to be associated with Walmart/Microsoft/Oracle". In a way, a unfamiliar foreign owner has a bit of mystique-- everyone in the target demographic has been in a Walmart or dealt with a Windows PC, so those brands have baggage already, whereas this was most people's first contact with ByteDance. A lot of the potential 'synergy bonus' opportunities have to be intentionally slow-walked to avoid setting off the audience's spider-sense. Push "buy goods via TikTok" too hard, or push the wrong ad inventory because it's all you have, and users will walk away.

UncleOxidant 6y ago

But as soon as a Walmart or Oracle buys TT it won't be cool anymore either.

meddlepal 6y ago
Doubtful many users of TT would notice or know enough about Oracle etc to care.
- sumtechguy 6y ago
  Oracle would strangle it to death. Walmart would ignore it to death.
skinnymuch 6y ago
It took forever for more than the HN crowd of people to remember that Facebook owns IG and Whatsapp. Parent company isn’t that important. Fox buying MySpace and Fox’s brand weren’t what hurt MySpace.