2 ms·

>Maybe there should be a guiding hand to society so that vapid entertainment isn't promoted and we don't get a society of airheads. Vapid entertainment has bee

by krapp 3y ago

>Maybe there should be a guiding hand to society so that vapid entertainment isn't promoted and we don't get a society of airheads. Vapid entertainment has been around since the beginning of time. Luckily, society doesn't work that way. Vapid entertainment doesn't create vapid people any more than violent videogames create violence. If there is to be a "guiding hand" in society it should be better education rather than censorship. And at one time, for a long time, science fiction was considered degenerate and childish. In a world where vapid entertainment isn't promoted, everything Frank Herbert wrote probably gets burned in a big pile.

fragmede 3y ago
I'm glad we agree that there should be better education. It's up to the platform what it pushes, and while the banal evil implementation of the algorithm is optimized to sell more so we consume more, there's a very real effect on the zeitgeist that TikTok has above that. It's very much able to shape the nation's culture and politics, and that just should not be in the hands of a foreign power. We're already in World War III, and the big weapon in this war is information and ideas. China would love to divide the US and cause a civil war, and control of TikTok's algorithm is a weapon in such a war.
- krapp 3y ago
  Show me all of the dangerous CCP propaganda on TikTok, because as far as I can tell, China's algorithm is just showing me girls dancing, memes and clips of Fortnite. If I were to accept, for the sake of argument, the premise that China wanted to trigger a civil war in the US through some massive psyop, literally any social media platform other than TikTok would be better suited for the task. Facebook and Twitter are already radicalization machines. No one is getting radicalized by TikTok.
  - fragmede 3y ago
    If you think the CCCP is creating propaganda videos and posting them to TikTok then you're misunderstanding the situation. What they have the power to do, is amplify divisive messages. If all you're getting on TikTok is Fortnite videos, then it seems the algorithm has selected you out of watching videos about acab or Jan 6th or such. if Facebook and Twitter are getting in on the fun, why wouldn't TikTok? does TikTok have some magic social media exception that Facebook and Twitter just can't seem to grasp?

by krapp 3y ago

fragmede 3y ago

I'm glad we agree that there should be better education. It's up to the platform what it pushes, and while the banal evil implementation of the algorithm is optimized to sell more so we consume more, there's a very real effect on the zeitgeist that TikTok has above that. It's very much able to shape the nation's culture and politics, and that just should not be in the hands of a foreign power. We're already in World War III, and the big weapon in this war is information and ideas. China would love to divide the US and cause a civil war, and control of TikTok's algorithm is a weapon in such a war.

krapp 3y ago
Show me all of the dangerous CCP propaganda on TikTok, because as far as I can tell, China's algorithm is just showing me girls dancing, memes and clips of Fortnite. If I were to accept, for the sake of argument, the premise that China wanted to trigger a civil war in the US through some massive psyop, literally any social media platform other than TikTok would be better suited for the task. Facebook and Twitter are already radicalization machines. No one is getting radicalized by TikTok.
- fragmede 3y ago
  If you think the CCCP is creating propaganda videos and posting them to TikTok then you're misunderstanding the situation. What they have the power to do, is amplify divisive messages. If all you're getting on TikTok is Fortnite videos, then it seems the algorithm has selected you out of watching videos about acab or Jan 6th or such. if Facebook and Twitter are getting in on the fun, why wouldn't TikTok? does TikTok have some magic social media exception that Facebook and Twitter just can't seem to grasp?