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TikTok is not a copy of Facebook. The fact Facebook/Meta/Instagram is trying desperately to copy them is proof of that.

ldjkfkdsjnv 4y ago
The algorithm is drastically better, but is also better because TikTok doesnt have as strong as a need for profit. Its a long story, and yes its a good product. But its an incremental algorithmic change, not a new product category
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- hn_throwaway_99 4y ago
  TBH I have no idea what you are talking about. There have even been a bunch of articles along the lines of "the social network is dead". That is, Facebook is all about who your friends are and your overall social network. TikTok has none of that - it's about following and finding content that is entertaining, not that an old friend just had a baby. Heck, a big part of TikTok was Musical.ly, an app for lip syncing videos. That was a huge stroke of luck/foresight because it gave TikTok a lot of the music rights deals they would need to allow people to put videos to music. Are you really arguing an app around individual videos set to music (which, in my experience, is still the vast majority of TikTok videos) is somehow an "incremental product change" to a friends-based social network?
  - ldjkfkdsjnv 4y ago
    I'm too busy to explain it. But in short, the facebook/instagram (and youtube) algorithms are built to optimize: 1. Content that is profitable from an advertising perspective 2. Censoring certain content/only showing major/authoritative sources. TikTok changed that by allowing grass roots content to go viral, which from an algorithmic perspective is less profitable. But that doesnt matter, its backed by the CCP. Theres alot that goes into why tiktok is better, and alot of it is monetary/business related, not computer science. But beyond that, FB/Google just got lazy and stopped pushing for new things. Wildly successful and presumed monopolies, they left a massive product gap (allowing grass roots content to go viral), which TikTok filled.
    - PaulHoule 4y ago
      Also TikTok seems to use a multi-armed bandit to balance explore/exploit in a way that previous sites didn't.
      - disgruntledphd2 4y ago
        TikTok have much better labelled training data, because you need to interact.
    - rvz 4y ago
      Correct. TikTok is a worse version of Facebook, funnelling data back to the CCP (as required), spying on certain individuals physical locations [0] on the platform, and creators are once again working for its algorithm that can dictate what is seen and unseen, for the content to be seen by billions, just like before. They hype around it is because it is the current thing. [0] https://futurism.com/tiktok-spy-locations-specific-americans https://futurism.com/tiktok-spy-locations-specific-americans

The algorithm is drastically better, but is also better because TikTok doesnt have as strong as a need for profit. Its a long story, and yes its a good product. But its an incremental algorithmic change, not a new product category

deleted 4y ago
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hn_throwaway_99 4y ago
TBH I have no idea what you are talking about. There have even been a bunch of articles along the lines of "the social network is dead". That is, Facebook is all about who your friends are and your overall social network. TikTok has none of that - it's about following and finding content that is entertaining, not that an old friend just had a baby. Heck, a big part of TikTok was Musical.ly, an app for lip syncing videos. That was a huge stroke of luck/foresight because it gave TikTok a lot of the music rights deals they would need to allow people to put videos to music. Are you really arguing an app around individual videos set to music (which, in my experience, is still the vast majority of TikTok videos) is somehow an "incremental product change" to a friends-based social network?
- ldjkfkdsjnv 4y ago
  I'm too busy to explain it. But in short, the facebook/instagram (and youtube) algorithms are built to optimize: 1. Content that is profitable from an advertising perspective 2. Censoring certain content/only showing major/authoritative sources. TikTok changed that by allowing grass roots content to go viral, which from an algorithmic perspective is less profitable. But that doesnt matter, its backed by the CCP. Theres alot that goes into why tiktok is better, and alot of it is monetary/business related, not computer science. But beyond that, FB/Google just got lazy and stopped pushing for new things. Wildly successful and presumed monopolies, they left a massive product gap (allowing grass roots content to go viral), which TikTok filled.
  - PaulHoule 4y ago
    Also TikTok seems to use a multi-armed bandit to balance explore/exploit in a way that previous sites didn't.
    - disgruntledphd2 4y ago
      TikTok have much better labelled training data, because you need to interact.
  - rvz 4y ago
    Correct. TikTok is a worse version of Facebook, funnelling data back to the CCP (as required), spying on certain individuals physical locations [0] on the platform, and creators are once again working for its algorithm that can dictate what is seen and unseen, for the content to be seen by billions, just like before. They hype around it is because it is the current thing. [0] https://futurism.com/tiktok-spy-locations-specific-americans https://futurism.com/tiktok-spy-locations-specific-americans