Dear TikTok, here is your new tagline:
Vine2.0 but with more Chinese surveillance.
You're welcome. Now give me a million dollars.
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Thirty seven languages, TIK TOK means “vibrating sound in Chinese” (Wikipedia) and I am officially old because I remember being amazed by MTV.
Just one question, WILL GEN Z VOTE?
Andy Warhol is laughing.....
5
It’s be great if the NYT could include mentions of TikTok and other platforms in their breathless coverage aimed at breaking up American tech. The next wave of platforms are Chinese, and good luck regulating the next wave of foreign interference there.
4
You have his name spelled as "Neon" in one of the captions. I'm aware that this makes me that guy who drops in only to point out a mistake. I am ok with that.
5
Life is magic when you're 18 and beautiful!
9
Ah, the compensatory joy of being Uber-relevant for 18 - 24 months and, then, not having to work another day in one's life due to over-the-top fees - Ugh! TikTok, and a host of almost-wannabe sites will flourish quickly, and like the Biblical plague of locusts, just a quickly disappear into the ethernet of "so very yesterday". Have fun, kids, and turn off the videocam when you're done. The next group of Generation Z++ will be scanning eBay for your cast-offs!
Another case of tech laying waste to what little intelligence remains within much of the general populace. Devoting one's life to social media for the purpose of providing mindless entertainment is a vapid existence that contributes nothing positive to our world. It is today's version of A Brave New World.
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Don't forget TikTok is made by Tencent, which is controlled by the Chinese government. I sure don't trust that on my phone.
4
Time to learn Mandarin.
National security concerns in the US
In January 2019, an investigation by the American think tank Peterson Institute for International Economics described TikTok as a "Huawei-sized problem" that poses a national security threat to the West,[55][56][57] noting the app's popularity with Western users including armed forces personnel, and its ability to convey location, image and biometric data to its Chinese parent company, which is legally unable to refuse to share data to the Chinese government.[56][57] Observers have also noted that ByteDance's founder and CEO Zhang Yiming issued a letter in 2018 stating that his company would "further deepen cooperation" with Communist Party of China authorities to promote their policies.[58] TikTok's parent company ByteDance claims that TikTok is not available in China and its data is stored outside of China, but its privacy policy has reserved the right to share any information with Chinese authorities.[59] In response to national security, censorship, and anti-boycott compliance concerns, in October 2019, Senator Marco Rubio asked the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to open an investigation into TikTok and its parent company ByteDance.[60]
2
that's all so extremely funny
Grampa Simpson said it best: "I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’ anymore and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary. It’ll happen to you!"
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I've never even HEARD of TikTok, and have no idea what this article is about. I must be officially too old.
5
Great, another social media platform to avoid like the plague.
These things are becoming like the Kardashians. Completely irrelevant and yet unavoidable.
13
How incredibly inane.
"But “the ants” boils down to something like this: The creator of the video mimics the act of discarding an item, like a piece of fruit, as if it were covered in ants. The next shot is of the same person pretending to be the indignant ant, scowling and waving its antenna."
5
Humans are so inventive.
I have no idea with TikTok is. I'll have to keep up.
1
One more side note, rather a question. is Facebook available in Tik Tok's country of origin? What controls for facial recognition are in place?
2
Hey kids. Good luck in the future. You're gonna need it!
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OK, this story was posted on Oct. 9 and I am the first person to comment. Not sure what that implies and may be this trend story -- and trend -- ought to be left that way but .... I will admit that I have never been on TikTok but why does it feel like the new, new thing that is soon going to be the old, discarded thing, like Vine (which I did used to be one), as the story notes? That said, I will report that a 10-year-old (not nerdy, not weird, just really sincere and sort of worried) told me the other day that she doesn't like the internet and all of our devices and our digital connections because people don't *talk to each other.* This morning I read a story on nj.com about the increase in teen suicide. Why are we promoting gimmicks that create less interaction, more manufactured environments and less face-to-face contact?
11
In doing my part to support a communist authoritarian regime that stifles human rights and freedom of speech, I will download and use this product and vote for Trump, drive an SUV, and do my best to ruin America. You have my word. Tik Tok is number One!
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Another gen another innane thing, mine was Tiger Beat in the 60s.
5
Kudos to Noen for taking control of his life! Los Angeles should be a great place for him to thrive and broaden his cultural horizons. Hopefully he will find a path to success, whether or not college is in his future, although I do hope that he will take advantage of the great educational opportunities in Los Angeles and explore a career in communications, given the direct experience he is getting through his Tik Tok work!
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Racing toward Idiocracy at lightning speed. I wouldn’t pay that kid to flip hamburgers, but some really “smart” tech people are throwing money down another rabbit hole on a kid no one will remember in five years- if they’ve ever heard of at all.
11
Thanks to your previous article about TikTok I have downloaded the app. I’ve been playing with it for a couple of days and the feeling is very unlike the rest of social media. TikTok makes me happy. The videos are funny, creative, goofy, weird and crazy enjoyable. Dancing grandmother s, cute puppies, Japanese monks, cops, oddly satisfying recipes, stop motion, or simply sharing a few seconds with someone singing or dancing who could be your neighbor, it’s the crazy blend that makes it really fun. So thanks, NYT, for the discovery!!
3
If "the ants" is put forward as an example of the supposed cleverness of TikTok, I think I'll give it a miss. Sounds like a lame "inside" joke shared by millions.
7
Sure, they are goofy and fun to see, unless the person tuning in online is a old white male. My age is 70 yr and for a brief time, a few hours, I experienced some delightful child and teenager performers. But soon my mere presence viewing Tik Tok triggered a cascade of hateful and slanderous exhortations from both performers and parents, for no other reason, as their comments made clear, than being a 70 yr white male. I was humiliated and so disappointed, I immediately erased my enrollment. Hindsight tells me I should have known better in the first place.
4
When emotionally vulnerable children and teens live their lives online, even while living through "the lowest point emotionally" they have ever been through, there is the danger that online bullying can exacerbate depression into catastrophic consequences. See the instances of pre-teen and teen suicide, the highest rates in history and caused by the advent and addiction to social media.
There is great value in living one's private life.....in private.
Additionally, see the NYT piece in the same episode of how easily "adoration" can turn into bullying:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/15/nyregion/shooting-dressage-social-media.html?action=click&module=News&pgtype=Homepage
7
"...the company won a Digiday Award for best brand partnership for an episode..." They give awards for best product endorsement in an episode of a show!? Ok, I'm a "boomer" and I guess I really am out of it. My Screen Time Tracking Tool showed just 1.5 hours last week. Fine with me. Ok, well, this has been interesting. I am going back outside to play IRL now.
2
People dividing up their 15 minutes of allotted fame into 6 second snippets - perfect for today's short-attention-span culture shared by all ages.
5
@GSB
What was that? I got distracted about half way through.
1
tiktok, I was curious about the app and spent a few hours watching. It is very funny and completely addictive. I didn't find the evil spirit of so many social media. I love the challenges and see different people doing dances or skits. It is very fun and creative.
Regarding the influencer, I say he has a lot of future in social media
2
Something tells me Mr. Eubanks' "anxiety and self-hate" isn't going to be eradicated by making content for anonymous viewers on an app. A meaningful life comes from other sources. That said, hey, everyone should be given the grace to grow up on their own terms.
13
I recently got curious about TikTok and spent a few hours this weekend watching and - I love it! It's very funny and very human and completely addictive. I really like the way the young people include their parents in the tiktoks- very adorable. I didn't find the mean spiritedness of so much social media- just zany, funny, heartfelt sharing and interacting. I love the challenges and seeing different people doing the dances or skits. It's very entertaining and creative.
6
Empty nester (meaning old) here. I'm fascinated by TikTok. I completely see the appeal and their focus on keeping it fun. The challenges are, essentially, virality built right in.
Will it go the way of Vines? Only if the influencing becomes too obvious or if it gets filled with old people like me.
5
Definitely the internet is getting more and more of us human beings and more and more people are becoming famous and influencing other people through the internet which is a well accepted medium in today's community, it helps a lot to make life easier but there are also negative points like addictions, but if everything is used with control will always be well accepted.
We can see the presence of technology increasingly helping us and even making money over the internet through many different methods.
1
Yeah...I'm officially old...I don't get the appeal of this stuff AT ALL. That, and all the music I started out loving is on either the Oldies or Classic Rock stations.
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@Renee Hoewing Don't get me started on the whole "influencer" thing. It's ridiculous. It's mind-boggling what passes as a "celebrity" and entertainment these days. And the music today? That's a completely different rage rant. It's all auto-tune and empty lyrics. Anyway...yes...I must be officially old as well. You kids get off my lawn (waves fist in air)!
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