7 ms·

The Chinese content farms behind Factory TikTok

blakesterz 5y ago
This isn't quite as nefarious as I had guessed it would be from the headline: "Factory TikTok, in other words, isn’t about workers documenting their own labor, but is primarily a marketing scheme devised by their employers, many of whom may be under increasing financial pressure." I seem to remember reading something about Facebook being part of the reason TikTok succeeded while Vine failed? Facebook didn't see TikTok as a competitor like it viewed Vine, and promoted it more on Facebook? And now TikTok is a giant. ( I hope I have that right. )
- wisdomdata 5y ago
  there was a bottomless pit of money to pay for advertising on facebook to get it up to critical mass, I wonder where that might have come from?
  - shuntress 5y ago
    Investors recognizing untapped potential?
  - ssnistfajen 5y ago
    Have you ever heard of a term called venture capital? It's pretty neat and you should definitely learn more about it, especially considering the site you are posting on.
- shuntress 5y ago
  I think TikTok is also significantly more proficient than Vine (was) at predicting whether any given individual will engage with any given video.
lastofthemojito 5y ago
> Popular media in the U.S. often favors narratives about industrial China that associate it with poor conditions and cheap products. But in the chaotic TikTok world of diaper factory motivational videos, pseudo-Scandanavian luxury retail sites, and laser-based fast fashion, Chinese factory owners are taking control of the narrative. Here, assembly line aesthetics are pulling American customers in and selling them a romanticized snapshot of Chinese factory life –– and maybe a set of new gardening gloves. As an American, I certainly default to assuming that Chinese factories have terrible working conditions (see Foxconn suicides [0]). I guess it's not clear to me if these TikToks should disabuse us of our mistaken assumptions of Chinese factories, or if they're pure PR fiction with attractive actors smiling as they "work". Anyone with lots of on the ground experience with Chinese manufacturing care to chime in? Is there a range of factory work, from terrible to pleasant? Or is it all terrible and these videos are just to try to convince Western shoppers that those stories about poor working conditions are nothing to worry about? 0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn_suicides https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn_suicides
- mountainb 5y ago
  If you have ever done blue collar work in the US, you would see there is a big range in industrial labor conditions. You have filthy, dirty, hot, dangerous plants and clean, modern, safe plants along with everything in between. China is an even bigger country with many more industrial plants with a wide range. There are enough good plants to fill infinite propaganda reels. The best propaganda is true. It's not mistaken if it's accurate video of real facilities. Americans generally are at least 10-15 years out of date with their impressions of urban Chinese quality of life and working conditions because our news coverage of China is very poor quality. Foxconn is a Taiwanese company, by the way, it just has lots of facilities on the mainland as well, and to show I'm not a shill Taiwan is an independent country, Mao was a bad man, etc.
  - baybal2 5y ago
    Industrial work in USA has been indeed cheaper than in China for a few years, and not just labourers, and materials. Now, dozens more countries are jumping onto the space in the market that China is retreating from. Unfortunately, US is not one of them. It's easier to open a factory for me even in a country like Bangladesh (which stands on ∞ place in ease of doing business index,) than in the most business friendly states in US, despite nominally better tax rates in the US, and cheaper non-labour inputs.
edwcross 5y ago
This seems like a new iteration of the Canadian series How It's Made (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_It%27s_Made https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_It%27s_Made), in which the camera shows how products are made, always highlighting the quality of the materials and the care taken to produce them, but never showing the externalities. While most of the time the product names were not explicitly shown, it was still possible to see some labels and find it out.
- ginko 5y ago
  There's a long running kid's show called Die Sendung mit der Maus(The show with the Mouse)[1] in German public television that's been doing that since the 70s. For instance here's how gummy bears are made: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN_yYNT8QYY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN_yYNT8QYY [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Sendung_mit_der_Maus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Sendung_mit_der_Maus
- wodenokoto 5y ago
  My first thought also went to “how it’s made”. I think it’s obvious that they are allowed access on the condition of speaking kindly of the given factory. But it is still a fascinating program and new episodes are regularly released on official and unofficial YouTube channels. I highly recommend searching for it!
- spelunker 5y ago
  I absolutely love How It's Made. Apparently, given the popularity of these videos, lots of people enjoy peering behind the curtain as well.

This isn't quite as nefarious as I had guessed it would be from the headline: "Factory TikTok, in other words, isn’t about workers documenting their own labor, but is primarily a marketing scheme devised by their employers, many of whom may be under increasing financial pressure." I seem to remember reading something about Facebook being part of the reason TikTok succeeded while Vine failed? Facebook didn't see TikTok as a competitor like it viewed Vine, and promoted it more on Facebook? And now TikTok is a giant. ( I hope I have that right. )

wisdomdata 5y ago
there was a bottomless pit of money to pay for advertising on facebook to get it up to critical mass, I wonder where that might have come from?
- shuntress 5y ago
  Investors recognizing untapped potential?
- ssnistfajen 5y ago
  Have you ever heard of a term called venture capital? It's pretty neat and you should definitely learn more about it, especially considering the site you are posting on.
shuntress 5y ago
I think TikTok is also significantly more proficient than Vine (was) at predicting whether any given individual will engage with any given video.

lastofthemojito 5y ago

> Popular media in the U.S. often favors narratives about industrial China that associate it with poor conditions and cheap products. But in the chaotic TikTok world of diaper factory motivational videos, pseudo-Scandanavian luxury retail sites, and laser-based fast fashion, Chinese factory owners are taking control of the narrative. Here, assembly line aesthetics are pulling American customers in and selling them a romanticized snapshot of Chinese factory life –– and maybe a set of new gardening gloves. As an American, I certainly default to assuming that Chinese factories have terrible working conditions (see Foxconn suicides [0]). I guess it's not clear to me if these TikToks should disabuse us of our mistaken assumptions of Chinese factories, or if they're pure PR fiction with attractive actors smiling as they "work". Anyone with lots of on the ground experience with Chinese manufacturing care to chime in? Is there a range of factory work, from terrible to pleasant? Or is it all terrible and these videos are just to try to convince Western shoppers that those stories about poor working conditions are nothing to worry about? 0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn_suicides https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn_suicides

mountainb 5y ago
If you have ever done blue collar work in the US, you would see there is a big range in industrial labor conditions. You have filthy, dirty, hot, dangerous plants and clean, modern, safe plants along with everything in between. China is an even bigger country with many more industrial plants with a wide range. There are enough good plants to fill infinite propaganda reels. The best propaganda is true. It's not mistaken if it's accurate video of real facilities. Americans generally are at least 10-15 years out of date with their impressions of urban Chinese quality of life and working conditions because our news coverage of China is very poor quality. Foxconn is a Taiwanese company, by the way, it just has lots of facilities on the mainland as well, and to show I'm not a shill Taiwan is an independent country, Mao was a bad man, etc.
- baybal2 5y ago
  Industrial work in USA has been indeed cheaper than in China for a few years, and not just labourers, and materials. Now, dozens more countries are jumping onto the space in the market that China is retreating from. Unfortunately, US is not one of them. It's easier to open a factory for me even in a country like Bangladesh (which stands on ∞ place in ease of doing business index,) than in the most business friendly states in US, despite nominally better tax rates in the US, and cheaper non-labour inputs.

edwcross 5y ago

This seems like a new iteration of the Canadian series How It's Made (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_It%27s_Made https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_It%27s_Made), in which the camera shows how products are made, always highlighting the quality of the materials and the care taken to produce them, but never showing the externalities. While most of the time the product names were not explicitly shown, it was still possible to see some labels and find it out.

ginko 5y ago
There's a long running kid's show called Die Sendung mit der Maus(The show with the Mouse)[1] in German public television that's been doing that since the 70s. For instance here's how gummy bears are made: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN_yYNT8QYY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN_yYNT8QYY [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Sendung_mit_der_Maus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Sendung_mit_der_Maus
wodenokoto 5y ago
My first thought also went to “how it’s made”. I think it’s obvious that they are allowed access on the condition of speaking kindly of the given factory. But it is still a fascinating program and new episodes are regularly released on official and unofficial YouTube channels. I highly recommend searching for it!
spelunker 5y ago
I absolutely love How It's Made. Apparently, given the popularity of these videos, lots of people enjoy peering behind the curtain as well.