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I know the question has been asked but I'll ask again: Why does a bureaucrat need Tiktok on their workphone? Can they not work without watching twerking videos

I know the question has been asked but I'll ask again: Why does a bureaucrat need Tiktok on their workphone? Can they not work without watching twerking videos in the background? Unlike say, Facebook, which is sometimes used for communication (I know several online businesses that use Facebook groups/pages for their main website-- yes I know we should have our own website but non-techy types find it easier to use FB), or Twitter for keeping up with trending topics, Tiktok has no use case? Personally, I would ban all social media apps from official phones. But especially tiktok

dpflan 4y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34909855 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34909855
hammock 4y ago
Same reason they might have twitter. Lots of people tweet for work purposes, or read twitter to keep up with the trades, etc
- saiya-jin 4y ago
  Its not the same thing at all. Twitter has for example politicians and official spokespersons stating things that frequently move stock prices for example, tiktok has asocial media-addicted teens looking for their next social kick looking at how other people are having better lives than themselves or various hebophilia content (oversimplifying a bit but not that much). Twitter can definitely be used for non-work waste of time but tiktok can't be used for for any serious work for ie politicians.
  - jasonlotito 4y ago
    > tiktok has asocial media-addicted teens looking for their next social kick looking at how other people are having better lives than themselves or various hebophilia content The amusing thing about this is, anyone with knowledge knows that this comment shows either you are ignorant on the topic, or you are admitting to what YOU look at on TikTok.
1-6 4y ago
Thinking of iPhone's 'Work' focus mode, government/companies could verify personal phones to disable social media. This sounds dystopian but this could be the future for some mission-critical areas.
- aerhardt 4y ago
  IT restricting apps in professional contexts has been a thing for ages. Regulating all comms, including personal channels, in certain high-stakes contexts is not uncommon either. Real Madrid footballers have guidelines on what they can say in their private social media, and that’s not even that high-stakes compared to EU politicians. Hardly dystopian if you ask me. If your soul demands to post questionable BS on Tik Tok, you are spoilt for choice of careers in the modern world!
ajsnigrutin 4y ago
On one hand, people use their work phones for personal stuff too... on the other hand, some politicians have used tiktok before to either spread propaganda, brag about stuff, try to influence voters, etc. For example, our (slovenian) former president is "famous" for using instagram a lot ( [1][2] ), but since instagram is american and american three-letter agencies get the data, that's ok, but if the chinese do it, it's bad. [1] https://www.instagram.com/borutpahor/ https://www.instagram.com/borutpahor/ [2] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/08/borut-pahor-slovenia-instagram-president https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/08/borut-pahor-sl...
- luckylion 4y ago
  This isn't about politicians but about EU employees. They shouldn't be running their personal political campaigns at all, be it on TikTok, Instagram or some Mastodon instance.
  - ajsnigrutin 4y ago
    But those are intertwined. Some of our run down local politicians ended up in various eu institutions, and some have returned to our local politics and elections. This is probably true for other countries too. They never know where they'll have to go next, so keeping public appearances is a must for many of them, so people don't forget them. On the other hand, a lot of people make fun of those politicians here, and post the making-fun-of videos on tiktok (and youtube, and reddit,...), so those politicians want to see them too.
    - luckylion 4y ago
      Sorry, you mean Slovenian politicians get hired as top EU bureaucrats (i.e. not elected to EU parliament, but working for the EU commission as executives in some capacity), and then return to Slovenian politics when they see a chance to win some local election?
      - ajsnigrutin 4y ago
1-6 4y ago
Some bureaucrats want likes and publicity more than they want their jobs. They want to become a publishers because they're closer to the action than any reporting company would ever be.
mytailorisrich 4y ago
Workphones should be locked so that nothing can be installed unless IT white-lists it, IMHO. Otherwise, either IT does not know what's on their devices at all. Or they need to install scanning software to keep track and sonehow take action as needed. So best to go at the source and start by preventing users from installing anything.
mrtksn 4y ago
People with privileged access should certainly use appropriate devices but I don't see how can you expect that they don't use the apps that everyone else uses? Does this feed from the illusion that bureaucrats are different species? I find this very problematic. I'm sure however I can't prove it, but I think that this is a result of the propaganda that makes you think that the society is controlled by external forces referred as "Washington", "Brussels", "Moscow" or "Beijing" on which you have no power. Especially in the west the voting rates are comically low and people speak as if they don't have power on what's happening. Why do you do that? These are just regular people who grew up among you or your parents. They definitely need social media or whatever else everyone else needs.
- bluGill 4y ago
  If you have a work device you should only install work related things on it. I don't care if you work for government or are a tiny company, keep work and personal things separate. I will sometimes let my boss call me on my personal phone - but if I got work related calls often I would expect my boss to pay for the phone.
  - mrtksn 4y ago
    Convenience is an universal need. Remember, those are people too and all people break rules all the time for convenience. Not ideal but pretty understandable. So, outright limiting the work phone will likely result in using two phones and using the personal one for work, for convenience.
londons_explore 4y ago
Tiktok is a platform for speaking to the younger voters you can't reach on any other platform. You can talk about your policies, get feedback on proposals, etc, all on the platform. And because the audience is different, you'll probably get a different answer on tiktok than you would on say facebook.
jasonlotito 4y ago
> Why does a bureaucrat need Tiktok on their workphone? Communication. Do they "need" it? No. They don't need it like they don't need Facebook, or Twitter, or any other social media apps. > Can they not work without watching twerking videos in the background? Either you are ignorant of TikTok -- in which case, I should point out that TT is not about watching twerking videos -- or you are just telling on yourself, which isn't a problem, to each their own. I assume you're ignorant (which isn't a bad thing, mind you), so I'll answer by using something you said: Yes I know we should have our own website but non-techy types use TikTok.
- luckylion 4y ago
  Could you expand on how TikTok is used for executive purposes by staffers at the EU? Is there some obscure side of TikTok where bureaucrats and lawyers negotiate regulatory proposals through interpretative dance?

dpflan 4y ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34909855 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34909855

hammock 4y ago

Same reason they might have twitter. Lots of people tweet for work purposes, or read twitter to keep up with the trades, etc

saiya-jin 4y ago
Its not the same thing at all. Twitter has for example politicians and official spokespersons stating things that frequently move stock prices for example, tiktok has asocial media-addicted teens looking for their next social kick looking at how other people are having better lives than themselves or various hebophilia content (oversimplifying a bit but not that much). Twitter can definitely be used for non-work waste of time but tiktok can't be used for for any serious work for ie politicians.
- jasonlotito 4y ago
  > tiktok has asocial media-addicted teens looking for their next social kick looking at how other people are having better lives than themselves or various hebophilia content The amusing thing about this is, anyone with knowledge knows that this comment shows either you are ignorant on the topic, or you are admitting to what YOU look at on TikTok.

1-6 4y ago

Thinking of iPhone's 'Work' focus mode, government/companies could verify personal phones to disable social media. This sounds dystopian but this could be the future for some mission-critical areas.

aerhardt 4y ago
IT restricting apps in professional contexts has been a thing for ages. Regulating all comms, including personal channels, in certain high-stakes contexts is not uncommon either. Real Madrid footballers have guidelines on what they can say in their private social media, and that’s not even that high-stakes compared to EU politicians. Hardly dystopian if you ask me. If your soul demands to post questionable BS on Tik Tok, you are spoilt for choice of careers in the modern world!

ajsnigrutin 4y ago

On one hand, people use their work phones for personal stuff too... on the other hand, some politicians have used tiktok before to either spread propaganda, brag about stuff, try to influence voters, etc. For example, our (slovenian) former president is "famous" for using instagram a lot ( [1][2] ), but since instagram is american and american three-letter agencies get the data, that's ok, but if the chinese do it, it's bad. [1] https://www.instagram.com/borutpahor/ https://www.instagram.com/borutpahor/ [2] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/08/borut-pahor-slovenia-instagram-president https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/08/borut-pahor-sl...

luckylion 4y ago
This isn't about politicians but about EU employees. They shouldn't be running their personal political campaigns at all, be it on TikTok, Instagram or some Mastodon instance.
- ajsnigrutin 4y ago
  But those are intertwined. Some of our run down local politicians ended up in various eu institutions, and some have returned to our local politics and elections. This is probably true for other countries too. They never know where they'll have to go next, so keeping public appearances is a must for many of them, so people don't forget them. On the other hand, a lot of people make fun of those politicians here, and post the making-fun-of videos on tiktok (and youtube, and reddit,...), so those politicians want to see them too.
  - luckylion 4y ago
    Sorry, you mean Slovenian politicians get hired as top EU bureaucrats (i.e. not elected to EU parliament, but working for the EU commission as executives in some capacity), and then return to Slovenian politics when they see a chance to win some local election?
    - ajsnigrutin 4y ago

1-6 4y ago

Some bureaucrats want likes and publicity more than they want their jobs. They want to become a publishers because they're closer to the action than any reporting company would ever be.

mytailorisrich 4y ago

Workphones should be locked so that nothing can be installed unless IT white-lists it, IMHO. Otherwise, either IT does not know what's on their devices at all. Or they need to install scanning software to keep track and sonehow take action as needed. So best to go at the source and start by preventing users from installing anything.

mrtksn 4y ago

People with privileged access should certainly use appropriate devices but I don't see how can you expect that they don't use the apps that everyone else uses? Does this feed from the illusion that bureaucrats are different species? I find this very problematic. I'm sure however I can't prove it, but I think that this is a result of the propaganda that makes you think that the society is controlled by external forces referred as "Washington", "Brussels", "Moscow" or "Beijing" on which you have no power. Especially in the west the voting rates are comically low and people speak as if they don't have power on what's happening. Why do you do that? These are just regular people who grew up among you or your parents. They definitely need social media or whatever else everyone else needs.

bluGill 4y ago
If you have a work device you should only install work related things on it. I don't care if you work for government or are a tiny company, keep work and personal things separate. I will sometimes let my boss call me on my personal phone - but if I got work related calls often I would expect my boss to pay for the phone.
- mrtksn 4y ago
  Convenience is an universal need. Remember, those are people too and all people break rules all the time for convenience. Not ideal but pretty understandable. So, outright limiting the work phone will likely result in using two phones and using the personal one for work, for convenience.

londons_explore 4y ago

Tiktok is a platform for speaking to the younger voters you can't reach on any other platform. You can talk about your policies, get feedback on proposals, etc, all on the platform. And because the audience is different, you'll probably get a different answer on tiktok than you would on say facebook.

jasonlotito 4y ago

> Why does a bureaucrat need Tiktok on their workphone? Communication. Do they "need" it? No. They don't need it like they don't need Facebook, or Twitter, or any other social media apps. > Can they not work without watching twerking videos in the background? Either you are ignorant of TikTok -- in which case, I should point out that TT is not about watching twerking videos -- or you are just telling on yourself, which isn't a problem, to each their own. I assume you're ignorant (which isn't a bad thing, mind you), so I'll answer by using something you said: Yes I know we should have our own website but non-techy types use TikTok.

luckylion 4y ago
Could you expand on how TikTok is used for executive purposes by staffers at the EU? Is there some obscure side of TikTok where bureaucrats and lawyers negotiate regulatory proposals through interpretative dance?