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> Having a 7 year old kid, I'm outraged at reading this. There is no single benefit to individuals or society from apps like these, they hijack our brain on the

> Having a 7 year old kid, I'm outraged at reading this. There is no single benefit to individuals or society from apps like these, they hijack our brain on the lowest level and makes us junk content feeding zombies. Personally as a patent I think this is the same kind of refusal to accept responsibility that had my generations parents claim video games where all just horrible and brain melting, the generation before claiming that TV was rotting the minds of the youth and the generation before that yelling a young ones for listening to the devils rock music on the radio, then the generation before that proclaiming that books where destroying the mindset of the youth. Yes, there is bad content everywhere, but your job as a parent is to help guide your kids to listening to the right radio channels, reading the right books, filtering good from bad tv, and helping them navigate social media as well as things like Tiktok. My niece watches tiktok dances and likes videoing herself repeating them and sharing those videos with her friends. That seems no more brain hijacking than my brother who in his youth used to record himself playing cover songs of songs he’s hear on MTV and sharing that with his friends. For him that launched a life long passion for music and for her it might be the start of a passion for dance. It’s understandable to want to protect children, but you also have to realize that you might end up being the parent who “protected” the next would-be Ed Sheeran from “the dangers of pop music” or the equivalent for the next generation all because you refused to see the world through their eyes. Full disclosure, I’m quite fond of TikTok myself, following primarily Gardning TikTok’s these days. I don’t think it’s hijacked my mind, but my garden has had the benefit of others sharing their creativity and knowledge.

everforward 4y ago
I think there are a couple of differences with TV or video games or prior technology. The first is that with prior media, it's produced by giant media companies who are averse to being sued. I can't recall a TV show ever encouraging me to choke myself until I passed out, or make lichtenberg figures in wood, or etc. There's only a few TV producers; the message can be sent with a few lawsuits. TikTok is taking the line that they aren't liable for content others upload, so you'd have to sue individual content creators. Good luck with that, especially when some of the producers are teens, who are in never-ending supply and not prone to following rules. The second is that there hasn't historically been a reward for doing dumb things someone sees on TV. You might want to do a Dukes of Hazard car jump, but the reward was basically just personal satisfaction. There was no credible chance that doing it would land someone a spot on the TV show. Tiktok is different; I can see how a child would think that imitating Tiktoks could credibly allow them to become a top Tiktok-er. It's the difference between Jackass movies starting with "These people are professionals, don't try this at home" and starting with "Send us your videos of imitating the stunts, and we'll pick the best to be in our next movie". I don't think TikTok is inherently evil. I do think the current structure is a bad fit for children, who generally understand neither the dangers of thoughtlessly imitating someone, nor the likelihood of them ever being famous. It's in the same vein as those home improvement loans that become part of your mortgage; it's fine to sell them, it's not fine to sell them to people who don't understand what they're signing up for.
- isitmadeofglass 4y ago
  > The second is that there hasn't historically been a reward for doing dumb things someone sees on TV Jackass. Sorry, i don’t mean that as an insult. I’m just pointing out a counter example to your claim.

everforward 4y ago

I think there are a couple of differences with TV or video games or prior technology. The first is that with prior media, it's produced by giant media companies who are averse to being sued. I can't recall a TV show ever encouraging me to choke myself until I passed out, or make lichtenberg figures in wood, or etc. There's only a few TV producers; the message can be sent with a few lawsuits. TikTok is taking the line that they aren't liable for content others upload, so you'd have to sue individual content creators. Good luck with that, especially when some of the producers are teens, who are in never-ending supply and not prone to following rules. The second is that there hasn't historically been a reward for doing dumb things someone sees on TV. You might want to do a Dukes of Hazard car jump, but the reward was basically just personal satisfaction. There was no credible chance that doing it would land someone a spot on the TV show. Tiktok is different; I can see how a child would think that imitating Tiktoks could credibly allow them to become a top Tiktok-er. It's the difference between Jackass movies starting with "These people are professionals, don't try this at home" and starting with "Send us your videos of imitating the stunts, and we'll pick the best to be in our next movie". I don't think TikTok is inherently evil. I do think the current structure is a bad fit for children, who generally understand neither the dangers of thoughtlessly imitating someone, nor the likelihood of them ever being famous. It's in the same vein as those home improvement loans that become part of your mortgage; it's fine to sell them, it's not fine to sell them to people who don't understand what they're signing up for.

isitmadeofglass 4y ago
> The second is that there hasn't historically been a reward for doing dumb things someone sees on TV Jackass. Sorry, i don’t mean that as an insult. I’m just pointing out a counter example to your claim.