> The headline makes it sound uniquely sinister, but [it's not] Does this matter? TikTok is one of the, if not the, most popular apps in the US and the world[

> The headline makes it sound uniquely sinister, but [it's not] Does this matter? TikTok is one of the, if not the, most popular apps in the US and the world[0]. It makes sense to talk about the biggest offenders. You're right that the problems are more systemic and TikTok is far from alone, but at the end of the day, if this is the gateway to having the broader conversation, I would not dismiss it[4]. Laws that reduce the harm that TikTok is doing applies much more broadly than to TikTok. That is a win for us. It is difficult to write laws to specifically target a single company, and whenever that happens they serve as leverage to go after others too. Treating TikTok as the face does not absolve others of their actions. It may shift focus off of others, but frankly, we're living in a time where focus is incredibly difficult to achieve. I don't think you're wrong, but we've been trying to have the more nuanced conversation for over a decade and it doesn't catch people. So I'm personally okay with targeting an extremely popular platform like TikTok or Meta and using them as the gateway to the more nuanced conversations. IME if you just start by talking about "Surveillance Capitalism" it is common for people's eyes glaze over or they throw up their arms as the problem seems so large it is insurmountable. IME being more specific, talking about specific companies and specific actions[5] is the right gateway. It enables the deeper conversations without overloading people. Remember, you've had years to process all this and they're still new. Give them time. -- [0] In the US looks like >136M adult users[1], which looks to be about half of all adult Americans[2], or 66% of Americans between 18 and 65[3] [1] https://www.theglobalstatistics.com/us-tiktok-users-statistics/ https://www.theglobalstatistics.com/us-tiktok-users-statisti... [2] (Adults = 136e6 / (340,110,988 * (1-0.215)): https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045224 https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045224 [3] Intended as upper bound as certainty there are some seniors on TikTok. [4] Unfortunately I think it is easy for bad actors to use whataboutism and that while I don't think you're doing this, bad actors try to snake in through claims like yours. Using the legitimacy of your claim to control the conversation and shift focus (the same way dog whistles are only intended to be heard by dogs). [5] DO NOT start with the most egregious, as that's too abstract and leads people to believe you're a conspiracy nut. Same shit as when talking about Snowden, it doesn't matter if you can show them the evidence, the claims appear more like that out of a movie than reality and it doesn't feel like we live in the dystopia where we see this kind of tech on screen.