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So I have a relatively large extended family covering a wide age range and we talk pretty frequently in a shared SMS group - most of them have noted the ban wit

So I have a relatively large extended family covering a wide age range and we talk pretty frequently in a shared SMS group - most of them have noted the ban with a passing level of irritation but nobody's "freaking out" like if you lost access to a platform like Facebook, Twitter, or Discord that's more oriented around communication rather than consumption. I understand that people spend a lot of time doomscrolling on it, but even with millions of daily users the optimistic side of me really wants to believe that it won't affect anyone's mental health in any measurable way.

rvz 2y ago
Perhaps this TikTok ban is a time to reflect around their addictions and cravings. A new year's resolution to go cold turkey and a chance to change a cure their own addictions. It is not the end of the world. Just the end of someone's supply of a brand of digital drug.
- FpUser 2y ago
  >"Perhaps this TikTok ban is a time to reflect around their addictions and cravings." And tell "go fuck yourself" to FB, Instagram, X ... etc.
- conradfr 2y ago
  At the end of The Truman Show when it goes dark the cops don't switch off the TV, they look for another channel.
- croes 2y ago
  And the government won’t have a problem if the new digital drug is under their control.
andrewflnr 2y ago
That's weird, my optimistic side is hoping it'll have a noticeable positive effect on people's mental health.
- doom2 2y ago
  Maybe once they also ban American propaganda on American social media platforms.
  - bearjaws 2y ago
    I feel like I see so much negative, anti-America news I am not sure what propaganda you are even talking about. It's all over Reddit, Twitter, and TikTok. I would say Reels is suspiciously missing unless you subscribe to people directly.
    - saturn8601 2y ago
      How old are you? The younger generation grew up post 9/11, post the great recession, post the COVID lockdowns. There has never been a time of economic stability. Combine that with being informed of world events at lightning speed, Its naturally going to lead to pessimism.
      - fastball 2y ago
        They weren't talking about pessimism, they were talking about propaganda.
        saturn8601 2y ago
        The propaganda sticks because its rooted in some truth.
        goatlover 2y ago
        That the world isn't a utopian place and economic downturns happen? That was also true in the 20th century. The one with 2 world wars and a cold war between nuclear powers.
        saturn8601 2y ago
porridgeraisin 2y ago
There won't really be a noticeable effect IMO. It was banned in India a few years ago, everyone pretty much instantly moved to reels/youtube shorts. I don't know how creators managed, but the consumption just moved to another app. Nothing specific to TikTok either. PUBG mobile was also banned here around the same time, and people just moved to Call of Duty mobile.
- aprilthird2021 2y ago
  Well, in India people are used to authoritarian government banning random online stuff. Or shutting the entire Internet down for days This is the first largely used anything online the government has banned, and I'm personally still upset it even got this far. The internet was supposed to be free speech incarnate, and banning apps and websites for Americans on it, isn't something I honestly thought I'd ever see
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - heeen2 2y ago
    From the POV of the users it doesn't really make any difference whether the government bannd tiktok, vine went bankrupt, google decided wave was not worth it or any other reason a service becomes unavailable. They will cope by moving to a different service or changing their consumption habits
starfezzy 2y ago
Except for people who's income depends on it. And their families. And their friends.
- seb1204 2y ago
  Most things sold there appear to be cheap, fast waste products. happy to have them gone and their unsustainable practices.
  - t-writescode 2y ago
    That certainly doesn’t reflect my experience with authors selling their books, musicians their music. Things I would never have found on my own.
    - AlexandrB 2y ago
      This is silly. It's like a TV channel going off the air. People who need to advertise will use other available channels (Facebook, Twitter, Bluesky, Reddit, etc.) instead.
      - t-writescode 2y ago
        Yeah, no… Bluesky is the best potential alternative. It’s worth knowing I don’t go seeking new music on TikTok. Music that resonated with me was brought to me while looking for other things. Topics which I found interesting lead me to books by new authors I didn’t know were authors on topics I didn’t know I wanted to read about. I’m not even much of an avid reader
      - ascorbic 2y ago
        No it's not. These aren't people just buying ads - they have a whole following that they need to rebuild somewhere else.
- Aloisius 2y ago
  People had years to prepare.
dmonitor 2y ago
there are a decent number of people who make money and market their business on tiktok. those people are probably concerned about their future
- kelvinjps10 2y ago
  They only care about the userbase they will just start publishing to whichever platform users choose
- tivert 2y ago
  > those people are probably concerned about their future As they should be, because they stupidly made their lives dependent on a single platform that anyone with a brain could see was likely to run into trouble sooner rather than later. The lesson for the is: don't put your eggs in one basket.
  - sethammons 2y ago
    Your response is very unempathetic. I am not a "content creator," and hn is the closest thing I use to social media, until TikTok a year or more ago. I won't be following anyone anywhere; I'm not on those platforms. I listened to the final, farewell videos of several people. Some have leveraged TikTok on other platforms, but for a great many, TikTok was the only platform that let them reach an audience. TikTok was eating the competition because it was simply better at matching content. It is a completely different beast in that regard. Calling people stupid who leveraged an unrivaled technology to build a community and/or a business feels particularly anti-human.
    - tivert 2y ago
      > Calling people stupid who leveraged an unrivaled technology to build a community and/or a business feels particularly anti-human. I'm not calling them stupid for that, I'm calling them stupid because they didn't have a back up plan. Public policy should revolve around what they need or want (e.g. I'm sure some farmer somewhere could make a sob story video about how growing opium poppy has been so good for them, so heroin shouldn't be banned, but it's not about him).

rvz 2y ago

Perhaps this TikTok ban is a time to reflect around their addictions and cravings. A new year's resolution to go cold turkey and a chance to change a cure their own addictions. It is not the end of the world. Just the end of someone's supply of a brand of digital drug.

FpUser 2y ago
>"Perhaps this TikTok ban is a time to reflect around their addictions and cravings." And tell "go fuck yourself" to FB, Instagram, X ... etc.
conradfr 2y ago
At the end of The Truman Show when it goes dark the cops don't switch off the TV, they look for another channel.
croes 2y ago
And the government won’t have a problem if the new digital drug is under their control.

andrewflnr 2y ago

That's weird, my optimistic side is hoping it'll have a noticeable positive effect on people's mental health.

doom2 2y ago
Maybe once they also ban American propaganda on American social media platforms.
- bearjaws 2y ago
  I feel like I see so much negative, anti-America news I am not sure what propaganda you are even talking about. It's all over Reddit, Twitter, and TikTok. I would say Reels is suspiciously missing unless you subscribe to people directly.
  - saturn8601 2y ago
    How old are you? The younger generation grew up post 9/11, post the great recession, post the COVID lockdowns. There has never been a time of economic stability. Combine that with being informed of world events at lightning speed, Its naturally going to lead to pessimism.
    - fastball 2y ago
      They weren't talking about pessimism, they were talking about propaganda.
      - saturn8601 2y ago
        The propaganda sticks because its rooted in some truth.
        goatlover 2y ago
        That the world isn't a utopian place and economic downturns happen? That was also true in the 20th century. The one with 2 world wars and a cold war between nuclear powers.
        saturn8601 2y ago

porridgeraisin 2y ago

There won't really be a noticeable effect IMO. It was banned in India a few years ago, everyone pretty much instantly moved to reels/youtube shorts. I don't know how creators managed, but the consumption just moved to another app. Nothing specific to TikTok either. PUBG mobile was also banned here around the same time, and people just moved to Call of Duty mobile.

aprilthird2021 2y ago
Well, in India people are used to authoritarian government banning random online stuff. Or shutting the entire Internet down for days This is the first largely used anything online the government has banned, and I'm personally still upset it even got this far. The internet was supposed to be free speech incarnate, and banning apps and websites for Americans on it, isn't something I honestly thought I'd ever see
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- heeen2 2y ago
  From the POV of the users it doesn't really make any difference whether the government bannd tiktok, vine went bankrupt, google decided wave was not worth it or any other reason a service becomes unavailable. They will cope by moving to a different service or changing their consumption habits

starfezzy 2y ago

Except for people who's income depends on it. And their families. And their friends.

seb1204 2y ago
Most things sold there appear to be cheap, fast waste products. happy to have them gone and their unsustainable practices.
- t-writescode 2y ago
  That certainly doesn’t reflect my experience with authors selling their books, musicians their music. Things I would never have found on my own.
  - AlexandrB 2y ago
    This is silly. It's like a TV channel going off the air. People who need to advertise will use other available channels (Facebook, Twitter, Bluesky, Reddit, etc.) instead.
    - t-writescode 2y ago
      Yeah, no… Bluesky is the best potential alternative. It’s worth knowing I don’t go seeking new music on TikTok. Music that resonated with me was brought to me while looking for other things. Topics which I found interesting lead me to books by new authors I didn’t know were authors on topics I didn’t know I wanted to read about. I’m not even much of an avid reader
    - ascorbic 2y ago
      No it's not. These aren't people just buying ads - they have a whole following that they need to rebuild somewhere else.
Aloisius 2y ago
People had years to prepare.

dmonitor 2y ago

there are a decent number of people who make money and market their business on tiktok. those people are probably concerned about their future

kelvinjps10 2y ago
They only care about the userbase they will just start publishing to whichever platform users choose
tivert 2y ago
> those people are probably concerned about their future As they should be, because they stupidly made their lives dependent on a single platform that anyone with a brain could see was likely to run into trouble sooner rather than later. The lesson for the is: don't put your eggs in one basket.
- sethammons 2y ago
  Your response is very unempathetic. I am not a "content creator," and hn is the closest thing I use to social media, until TikTok a year or more ago. I won't be following anyone anywhere; I'm not on those platforms. I listened to the final, farewell videos of several people. Some have leveraged TikTok on other platforms, but for a great many, TikTok was the only platform that let them reach an audience. TikTok was eating the competition because it was simply better at matching content. It is a completely different beast in that regard. Calling people stupid who leveraged an unrivaled technology to build a community and/or a business feels particularly anti-human.
  - tivert 2y ago
    > Calling people stupid who leveraged an unrivaled technology to build a community and/or a business feels particularly anti-human. I'm not calling them stupid for that, I'm calling them stupid because they didn't have a back up plan. Public policy should revolve around what they need or want (e.g. I'm sure some farmer somewhere could make a sob story video about how growing opium poppy has been so good for them, so heroin shouldn't be banned, but it's not about him).