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Amazon Submits Bid for TikTok with US Sale Deadline Nearing
- pvg 2y agohttps://archive.is/k2NSu https://archive.is/k2NSu
- jeffwask 2y agoMakes sense, Bezos is the only oligarch without a pet social media app.
- samlinnfer 2y agoHe has twich.tv
- pests 2y ago#28 by DAU https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_platforms_with_at_least_100_million_active_users https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_platforms_with_... Barely even makes the list. TikTok at #4 would be much more influential.
- explain 2y agoBut a huge amount of propagation of Twitch content onto YouTube, TikTok and X. Influentially outsized.
- asveikau 2y agoThis kind of thing also has me surprised to see TikTok only at #4. A lot of content on Meta properties are now reposts from TikTok. It feels like the latter is driving conversation.
- dylan604 2y agoBut then add to that repost content the amount of Meta properties only posts that do not make TikTok. Essentially, TikTok + Meta > TikTok only
- asveikau 2y agoThat's not the sentiment I tend to hear from people who use both. I've heard a number of people point out that Meta platforms are stale copy of what you saw on TikTok a long time ago.
- abdullahkhalids 2y agoAlso many streamers have Discord servers for their fans.
- dylan604 2y agoCould you imagine if Bezos makes the same algo changes Musk did to Twitt...er,X so that you always see a Bezo video?
- RobRivera 2y agoEh, I feel like twitch.tv is different enough. I agree with your observation, tho. I feel like twitch is more about e-celeb fan access. I dont think Destiny 'feed nathan' Dusty fans are doing a lot of peer to peer socialization. (Then again, maybe Im wrong).
- jajuuka 2y agoThat's a good point. It would be like calling a music concert a social club. Some socializing occurs, but you're all there to watch someone entertain you.
- candiddevmike 2y agoTwitch is bleeding users to YouTube--watch time is consistently decreasing YoY. IMO, they're stuck between YouTube and Discord and can't figure out a compelling offering over the two.
- swyx 2y agosource of stats please?
- stale2002 2y agoThe stats are pretty public. https://twitchtracker.com/statistics https://twitchtracker.com/statistics This is on top of the fact that they laid off over half the company in the last couple years.
- swyx 2y agoi'm not deep on this world so thank you for this. honestly yeah its declined some but not as bad as feared. it's still well above pre covid trendline.
- dmix 2y agoWhy is that? Is it because the streaming creators are so chaotic? Or convergence on a centralized platform people already use (youtube)?
- stale2002 2y agoFormer Twitch employee of 4 years here. Its a combinations of 2 things. 1: The Malaise of Big Tech caught up to them years ago, and Twitch simply can't build anymore. They are way too slow, bloated, and they have a list of dozens and dozens of failed/shutdown products/feature that failed to create growth. They laid off over half the company in the last 3 years. 2: More nimble competitors like Kick.com have finally started seeing success. This is compounded by the fact that kick has an unlimited wallet, because it is funded by the massively successful crypto gambling company Stake. This war-chest has allowed them to buy streamers by simply paying everyone on the platform an hourly rate to stream, based on viewership. And they can do so, profitably, because the streaming platform is simply a loss leader for the gambling platform. Short story is, Twitch is screwed. They can't wait out the competitors like they did with previous platforms like mixer, because the new competitor isn't losing money. Gambling is massively profitable. And they are too slow and have laid off too many people, to be able to innovate their way out of its current mess. The only two paths they have left are a slow, but steady decline, or a hail mary play of firing their entire executive team and replacing it with people who will run Twitch like a wartime startup.
- jeffwask 2y agoDifferent kind of animal. A lot less reach into the older generations and a lot less control of the content.
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- bsenftner 2y agoIt is to acquire and destroy Tiktok Shop, a serious pain in his ass.
- walterbell 2y agoTikTok hired former TLA officers (2022), https://www.scrippsnews.com/science-and-tech/social-media/tiktok-has-been-hiring-former-cia-fbi-and-nsa-officers https://www.scrippsnews.com/science-and-tech/social-media/ti... The U.S. intelligence community sees China as its top threat. But Americans who have left intelligence agencies are getting jobs at TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance.. the lines between business and government get blurred in China, in part because of Beijing's national intelligence law, which compels citizens and businesses to share information with state intelligence-gathering efforts.. America's freedoms give China an advantage.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- blitzar 2y agoTIL China has their own version of the Patriot Act.
- siliconc0w 2y agoIt's crazy to me that TikTok is still operating. A law was passed, the supreme court even weighed in, and a EO cannot undo that. The president has an obligation to faithfully execute the law.
- jckahn 2y ago[flagged]
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- pests 2y agoI do agree and not trying to even comment on the current administration. Hasn't it always kind of been like that? Isn't marijuana illegal too?
- davorak 2y agoI would not say marijuana laws are an apples to apples comparison. There are state laws in place legalizing marijuana sales in some states so that ends up being states rights/power vs federal rights and power. In the tiktok case it is federal law apparently not being followed by the federal government.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- Herring 2y ago> The president has an obligation to faithfully execute the law. No no. The president himself is a felon so everything cancels out, see?
- BryantD 2y agoThe law provided for a a 90-day extension on the deadline at the President's discretion. However, the extension required certain things to be true (significant progress made on the divestiture, legally binding contracts in place, and so on) -- so I'd agree that this wasn't faithful execution of the law.
- afavour 2y agoDepressing but inevitable. TikTok is too big for anyone other than a giant to buy it. But it does make me wonder about Bezos’s recent Trump-admin friendly moves, particularly with the Washington Post. An attempt to curry favor for this purchase? Entirely possible.
- blitzar 2y agoI presume there is a "bidders fee" payable in cash to register a bid.
- blitzar 2y agoThe whole affair is/has been pretty tawdry, American Oligarchs trying to outbid each other for it is just the cherry on top.
- dkjaudyeqooe 2y agoThis is all pointless since TikTok's parent has said it won't sell and is very likely being menaced by the PRC in this respect.
- Leary 2y agoNah, ByteDance will sell if the US lets Nvidia sell them some B200s
- eddythompson80 2y ago[flagged]
- Ifkaluva 2y agoI wonder if the US govt would be willing to go as far as seizing the US operations, which are headquartered in LA. I take your point that the PRC is threatening ByteDance, but what is to stop them from being menaced over here as well?
- theyinwhy 2y agoNever thought I will see this country cheering expropriation in my lifetime.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- dmix 2y agoCopying the Chinese government policies seems to be popular right now. Huge public investments in private industry (CHIPS) and restricting foreign ownership in companies. If you can't beat them, copy them, or something.
- palmotea 2y ago> Copying the Chinese government policies seems to be popular right now. Huge public investments in private industry (CHIPS) and restricting foreign ownership in companies. If you can't beat them, copy them, or something. Not all of them, but some of them. It's not like the Chinese are dumb and can't do anything right. Also, the previously fashionable neoliberal policies were stupid and exploitable.
- lefstathiou 2y agoMeh, you aren’t seeing it. You are likely noticing a fringe view of a minority of people being greatly magnified through coordinated and uncoordinated social media campaigns and broad sweeping statements intended to covey that a totality of people (ie “a country”) hold a given view. Now, if we framed it not as an “expropriation of a company” but a “100% tax on billionaires profiting from the work of the creative class” then the numbers would get real very quick.
- ygjb 2y agoNot to get too political, but the US is built on expropriation. From Indigenous peoples, the British, Mexicans, and a variety of other folks. It's baked into laws and policies like eminent domain and civil asset forfeiture. The biggest issue is who is being targetted and why. Heck, even taxation is a form of expropriation. This is also not unique to the US - the political aspect is how and why expropriation happens.
- nimbius 2y agoim frankly a little dumbfounded at the state of the tiktok "ban" in the USA. Bytedance has been absolutely adamant that it cannot, and will not sell. This has not stopped droves of American politicians from stepping forward and insisting they can facilitate the sale, find buyers, begin negotiations, draft contracts, review and finalize deals, you name it... Nothing has changed. Bytedance will. not. sell. if history is any indication, Trump will kick the can down the road a little further with another 90 day delay. This is after all, arguably, the platform that helped him win a presidency. banning it is pointless, as in the first day of the ban nearly every US user flocked to other chinese social media platforms.
- TMWNN 2y ago> Bytedance has been absolutely adamant that it cannot, and will not sell. You haven't been paying attention. Beijing has signaled for a while that it is open to a deal, in the context of other US-Chinese issues.
- calimoro78 2y agosource?
- aardvarkr 2y agoThe Chinese government could potentially let the sale happen if it’s part of a larger tariff deal
- maxglute 2y agoPRC / Byte dance won't sell TikTok global. PRC won't export TikTok algos. There's probably some JV / oracle / project texas arrangment PRC alright with. But yeah, 100% US ownership not happening, especially as "concession" in exchange for tarrifs / export control list relief etc, which basically would reward US leverage / behaviour.
- Ifkaluva 2y agoI’m confused why you think a voluntary sale is the only possible way it can be “sold”. What if they seize the US operations, which are headquartered in LA, and sell those seized assets?
- moralestapia 2y agoAny idea on how much they offered?
- Beijinger 2y agoAmazon has become an unreliable company. Opaque return practices, overbilling and break of contract have become common. "TikTok Shop is an integrated e-commerce platform within the TikTok app that allows users to shop directly from videos, live streams, and profiles." Amazon just tries to destroy a competitor. We can only hope that authorities won't allow an acquisition by Amazon (EU maybe?). I personally still use Amazon, but often use ebay. I don't use TikTok. I found the acquisition of Abebooks by Amazon long time ago already unfortunate.
- anon7000 2y ago> We can only hope that authorities won't allow an acquisition by Amazon (EU maybe?). This would only be for the US arm of TikTok, yeah? So EU will have no oversight
- Beijinger 2y agoAs far as I understand, this is wrong. "The European Union (EU) cannot directly veto Amazon's acquisition of TikTok's U.S. operations, as the EU's jurisdiction is limited to transactions that impact the European market. However, if TikTok has significant operations or revenue in Europe, the EU could review the deal under its merger control and foreign investment regulations, such as the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR). This applies to acquisitions involving companies with an EU turnover exceeding €500 million and substantial foreign financial contributions"
- sdoering 2y ago> Amazon has become an unreliable company. Opaque return practices, overbilling and break of contract have become common. It has? I have never had that experience. And I would say, that comes from quite strong customer protection laws in Germany. So I would say your legal system has enabled it to become that way. Because Amazon - in Germany and other markets with strong regulations - clearly is capable of performing very admirably. Even better than quite many competitors. > Amazon has become an unreliable company. "The US has become an unreliable environment" might fit better.