TikTok might start being not shit after this, but I’m not risking exposure until I have confirmation
Instagram reels about to get a whole lot worse
It weirds me out that I can easily see a post is in lemmy.world by the comments
nobody told me federated social media would be federated boofuckinghoo
Lol
That would go beyond the ban’s requirement for app stores to stop offering downloads of the app, but not immediately halt use of it.
Before the tankies get mad about the “censorship” of the US while failing to mention the LONG list of things you can get straight up arrested for in China
Or have a “tea drinking” session:
When I was able to speak to Ms. Wu about the “tea drinking” session (euphemism for police harassment), she sharply conveyed her sense of vulnerability due to the lack of interest in her stepping away from her popular Twitter account, stating,
Literally the only thing that was keeping me online for the past few years was they were worried it would make China look bad if they cracked down on me. Now that they know that I could be dead in a ditch tomorrow and no one would give a shit or say a word I’m 1000x less safe here.
[…]
Wu added,
After years of doing this without anyone saying anything, on June 30th, out of the blue, they send plainclothes thugs to my house. Surprise! They were real cops.
Why? because she’s LGBTQ+, has a Uyghur partner, and has some friends in Western nations.
reference: https://www.hackingbutlegal.com/p/naomi-wu-and-the-silence-that-speaks-volumes
Fantastic cant wait!
Is Loops ready for wide scale adoption and federation yet? We kinda need a replacement for tiktok, otherwise the addicts will jump to yet another Chinese platform.
Doesn’t look like it to me. I tried to sign up yesterday and haven’t received the validation email.
Edit: and the UI was very barren and minimal on the video I watched.
There’s a ton of domestic TikTok clones already, like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.
otherwise the addicts will jump to yet another Chinese platform.
Sadly it needs a lot of work, I went on it the other day and the app itself crashed at least seven times in the 15 minutes that I was using it
Is Loops ready for wide scale adoption and federation yet
Nowhere near imo. Download the app and see for yourself. It needs WORK.
Link to download? I checked the Play store and there’s a billion apps called Loops
Edit: I found it
People are already moving to rednote.
Cool
Bye tiktok
Or hello TikTok? I’m stoked to see a popular social network app without the US!
Great! You’re in luck!
funny, that not one has been euro/asian/african centric so far, that has gained enough momentum or content to peak your interest yet, lol
If you know of an English speaking socisl network with those characteristics, do let me know
Too bad you can’t find a guide to locating like-minded folks on TikTok anymore
It’s really making me super sad 😢
And no offense to US folks, I love their culture and when I visit people are the nicest. I’m just tired of US politics and it seems to touch everything these days
I wonder if they’ll sell or go down in flames.
If they sell, it’ll just become overly moderated like Facebook.
If they go down in flames, a bunch of overnight competitors will compete to succeed.
Did you see the post made by Zucker? They’re going to stop moderating posts, especially those made from, Right wing motherfuckers
They’re going to stop moderating posts
That just means they’ll favor the right wing content since it currently benefits them. They will continue to moderate and shadow hide whatever they don’t agree with or are paid to censor.
They can moderate by boosting certain opinions and downranking others. It doesn’t need fact checkers because it’s platform owner interests and not facts that matter.
removed by mod
It’s their second highest market after Indonesia? They dragged this out as much as possible in congress and in court because its valuable to them.
/c/upliftingnews
Get this Reddit shit out of here
Reminder: TikTok is not actually important. Everyone can live their lives without TikTok, YouTube, etc. There’s an infinite amount of ways to entertain ourselves and there’s a lot of competing apps.
This isn’t the government abusing its power to shut down some small business/upstart. It’s shutting down a serious national security threat and a monopoly. TikTok has abused their position many times in many ways, refused to cooperate, and has reached the, “find out” phase.
I’ve never even looked at it. Vine was pretty cool but then it died, Periscope was neat, but I dunno, something about Tiktok feels predatory, how addictive it is (from what I’ve seen of others using it).
Plus while they’re all as bad as each other, I still trust China less than Microsoft with my stuff, so yeah. I’m just not interested in it and don’t really see the appeal for myself. But I see why it’s popular and it’s not like, terrible, as a concept.
I’m bothered that the app is 2gb.
why?
Spyware takes up space, comrade.
Why can’t more of that be patched out via ReVanced or similar? Or is it so integral to the platform itself?
This is absurd. Facebook was literally used to sow division and help elect a fascist who constantly says he wants to rule for life and wants to imprison his enemies. Facebook and instagram is wayyyyy more of a national security threat.
A congressman explicitly stated tiktok videos are swaying the opinion of people against israel and america’s genocide in palestine and now its being shut down. This is an abuse of power and its laughable you dont care because “china bad”
If its not censorship because theres alternative ways to communicate than nothing is censorship other than being killed
I don’t entirely agree. TikTok isn’t just silly dances, thirst traps, and trends—it has played a significant role in community organizing and coalition-building across social movements. Consider the university Pro-Palestine encampments or mainstream news reporting on social media reaction to the United Healthcare CEO’s killing. Neither is solely attributable to TikTok, but the scale and nature of discussion on the platform have demonstrably influenced real-world conversation and activism. Another example is Keith Lee’s viral restaurant reviews transforming the viability of small mom and pop businesses overnight.
What sets TikTok apart isn’t just its massive reach (150 million monthly active users, nearly half the US population) but also its algorithm and features that enable collaborative, asynchronous discussion. Unlike YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels, where content is mostly one-off entertainment with fleeting comment sections, TikTok fosters actual conversations. Features like stitching allow users to directly respond to others, creating an evolving discourse where users can trace context. At times, entire feeds become dominated by discussion of a single topic—sometimes celebrity gossip, but often major events like October 7 or the United Healthcare CEO killing. This level of organic, large-scale discourse doesn’t happen the same way on other platforms. A great example of this dynamic was when TikTok users collectively decided to migrate to the actually Chinese app XiaoHongShu specifically to spite the US government. That didn’t just happen—it was discussed and coordinated.
In my view, TikTok is a national security threat not because of unproven claims about data leaks or state-authored propaganda, but because it provides an already restless and dissatisfied population with a real platform to discuss issues and organize. If a decentralized, open-source alternative existed at scale, TikTok itself wouldn’t be necessary. I acknowledge that TikTok—like any centralized platform—has real issues, particularly around privacy and censorship. But until such a decentralized alternative gains traction, TikTok remains important. And even then, I doubt the US government would be any more comfortable with a decentralized version, since it still wouldn’t give them control over what discussions take place.
National security threat?
So how come Twitter ain’t shut down then?
There is a false dichotomy on Lemmy, that the government should shut down Meta due to security threats too because of this. They can both be bad.
ok, i’m for that, when do we start
Yeah, they should shut down both. Honestly, X should be on the chopping block even faster that Meta, but Zuck seems committed to racing Musk to the bottom.
I finally drew the line last week and deleted my Meta accounts.
Everyone can live their lives without TikTok, YouTube…
I was an adult before YT and I don’t want to go back to a time before it existed. It’s just too damn useful as a self education tool. Need to learn how to DIY a plumbing problem? Youtube. Need to learn how to subnet a network? Youtube. Interested in the History of Moldova? Youtube.
I finished my basement by watching youtube videos and learning how to do everything from framing to electrical to drywall to finishing work. There isn’t anywhere else you can freely get the same breadth of knowledge on-demand.
Wait until you learn about “libraries.”
They’re what we used before everyone had the worlds store of knowledge in their pocket.
Wait until you learn about “libraries.”
I still remember the smell of Card Catalogs; a nice mix of old paper and even older wood. Video instructions are often faster and easier to understand. They’re also more accessible.
Yeah, lemme just put on a coat and walk an hour and a half in winter weather to my local library to find a book to tell me how to replace my car’s starter motor.
Can’t get ahold of your friend in Europe and you’re from the US? Just wait until you learn about “handwriting a letter and waiting weeks/months for it to get to them and having to wait even longer for a reply”
It’s what we used to do before everyone found a much faster and more convenient way of doing something through modern technology.
And I’m not sure the instant communication has been a benefit for us.
edit: especially when it becomes more and more misinformation and AI slop day by day
Libraries are good, and a great community resource that should be treasured. However, no library can have the sheer volume of information available that YouTube and the Internet do. There is also the benefit of having more kinds of content, plus the ease of putting information out there.
For example, say I want to learn about the specifics of the defense economics of the war in Ukraine. Sure, I could wait 15 years for books to be published about it, hope my local library buys it, and then go and read it. Or I could log on to YouTube right now and go watch the latest Perun video on it which is also more entertaining. This also is an example of speed of new information being available on current events.
Both of these things have their strengths and weaknesses but it is simply a fact that YouTube has changed the availability of information to quite a high degree.
Reminder: there’s an ongoing trade war between US and China and this is likely just a part of it.
I’m honestly surprised more content creators on TikTok haven’t raised a stink about this from what I’ve seen. Agree with it or not, for some people this is their livelihood.
IIRC TikTok is rather top heavy in terms of income and this highest tier of influencers is diversified across all media channels anyway.
Regular folk have better luck making money on YouTube and Instagram so TikTok creators are unusual bunch. In my experience (which is very likely shaped by the algorithm) they are a mix of talent show performers, odd personalities and no longer relevant one hit wonders that got lucky. They’re mostly sad about losing that space because it’s so different to alternatives. I don’t think anyone that doesn’t have much money feels in power anymore so what are they going to do?
Yeah, but those affiliate links made people bank, especially during the holidays.
I actually got like half my ideas and my daughters from the tiktok shop. (Then went and bought it on Aliexpress)
Most content creators that I know have either openly stated that they prefer it shutting down because it’s such a royal pain in the ass to use TikTok since it’s audience is so different than their other platforms, or have said they stopped using it without showing a position, the only reason they used it in the first place is because that’s where the audience is but they would much prefer other alternatives
“you can’t fire me, i quit” well, alright, that was always and option, lol
You shut down one app, ten other apps get more popular
Good! Hopefully one of those other apps is federated and free from any hostile interests.
Yes but diversity is good 👍
Why let the Chinese get all the eyeballs for propaganda? Surely we should give other nations a chance?
IMHO they should shut down every app that is both popular and has an exceedingly difficult to penetrate monopoly. Let the competitors rush in and do a it again when the same situation occurs!
I have my doubts that any app will collect the user base back together ever again. I may be wrong, but once TikTok is gone, people will splinter to different apps that are nowhere near as popular.
Ok.
(I bet tiktok doesn’t shut down, but if it does I can’t wait for my kids to tell me about all the meltdowns at middle school over tiktok shutting down. Too many parents let their kids have unfettered internet access. No, mine don’t have tiktok.)
No, mine don’t have tiktok
Bet they do
No. They don’t.
I installed the home LAN, set site restrictions, app restrictions, use parental controls on all their devices, use OpenDNS family shield, PiHole, and app installation controls on their devices.
Even of they did find a way to see it I would see the IP address flagged.
Sounds draconian, but social media is fucked up for kids. They can have access at 16. They have a shitload of other internet freedom, though. They’re good kids.
Good. TikTok is pure fucking brainrot. People acting like it’s disappearance is some great tragedy make me laugh.
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And all of their friends have the same firewalls when they go to hang out?
Not trying to be rude but it seems kinda naive.
My little sister is also not allowed on tiktok but she just uses it on her friend’s phones when they hang out.
Their web browsers are restricted off. They cannot install any apps. This discussion is about what my kids have on their devices, and telling me they might see it elsewhere is irrelevant.
I don’t think you understand my knowledge level, you do me disservice by assuming I’m naive, and your rudeness is because of changing the conditions of the discussion to make yourself right by changing the parameters based on that invented naïveté.
No, I can’t control what they see at their friend’s houses on someone else’s device. I saw the playboy channel at a friend’s house when I was a kid and I didn’t have cable at my house. That’s what kids do. I understand and accept this. I’m not a tyrant or control freak or clutching my pearls. That’s the part where you get to discuss good and bad about social media or any aspect of the internet with your kids, like a parent is supposed to do, and do your best to protect your kids’ mental and physical wellbeing within reason.
Ok I think this is a misunderstanding about what it means to “have tiktok”. If you mean in the context of your house sure.
But I had this same conversation with my parents. There is no reasonable way to actually prevent a kid from having access to tiktok in some contexts. Parents who say their kids don’t use tiktok because it’s not allowed at home are just incorrect.
My dad doesn’t get that when she hangs out with friends or goes to school, she IS seeing tiktok content.
Seems like we actually agree here though.
Cannot wait to stop receiving these fuckin links
