TikTok?

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Mendalla

Mendalla

Happy headbanging ape!!
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Anyone here partaken? Seems to be all the rage with the younger set these days. Seems like it will be joining Microsoft now, since many Western governments are taking exception to it having a Chinese owner. Which does worry me because it is not the only Western online service with a Chinese owner. Huge Chinese online conglomerate TenCent own Riot Games, maker of the popular online game League of Legends. Will that change, now. Sadly, it looks the outcome of this is going to be more corporate concentration online. At least MS got this one instead of online giants like Alphabet (Google) or Facebook, who already control a huge share of these kinds of sites. MS is a bit of an also-ran in the online world, with their business still focussed more on infrastructure and apps.
 
I've seen TikTok videos in places like FB or on TV. They can be cute and fun. I see no reason to join in.
 
I have to admit that I don't understand the politics about this at all.

I'm a high school teacher, and teens typically gravitate towards the the most recent social media platforms.

Tik Tok was all the rage last year in school (before the pandemic closure.)
(And Snapchat was all the rage the year before that.)
I saw kids in the hallway making Tik Tok videos.
I got this question all the time: "Can I make a Tik Tok video for my assignment?"

So I don't know how Tik Tok went from being a trendy teen social media platform to being a weapon of war between Donald Trump and China.

I certainly don't remember Snapchat, or Instagram, or any other teen social media platform becoming an international tug-of-war.
 
GO3838 said:
So I don't know how Tik Tok went from being a trendy teen social media platform to being a weapon of war between Donald Trump and China.
Click to expand...

The former kind of led to the latter. Tik Tok's popularity with Western kids is what put it in Donald Trump's sights. Had it remained obscure, he likely wouldn't have bothered.

And it's a bit stupid because Bytedance, the Chinese parent, operates it separate from their Chinese operations with its own servers here in North America. But just being owned by the Chinese is apparently enough to get you in trouble.

GO3838 said:
I certainly don't remember Snapchat, or Instagram, or any other teen social media platform becoming an international tug-of-war.
Click to expand...

Because they aren't owned by a foreign company. Snap is a US startup (that is not doing terribly well) and Instagram is owned by Facebook.
 
Kimmio Laughterlove said:
This was another problem with it, though:

www.forbes.com

Warning—Apple Suddenly Catches TikTok Secretly Spying On Millions Of iPhone Users

If you are a TikTok user, you should be worried—here's what you need to know.
www.forbes.com www.forbes.com
Click to expand...

Let's be clear, though, that TikTok was exploiting a vulnerability in Apple's OS. TikTok was in the wrong for sure and it's all the more reason not to use it. But that vulnerability could easily have been exploited by others who were not caught and I am a little disappointed that Apple users are having to wait for the next full upgrade rather than getting a patch. With Windows, you generally only have to wait a month at most, until the next Patch Tuesday.
 
Mendalla said:
Let's be clear, though, that TikTok was exploiting a vulnerability in Apple's OS. TikTok was in the wrong for sure and it's all the more reason not to use it. But that vulnerability could easily have been exploited by others who were not caught and I am a little disappointed that Apple users are having to wait for the next full upgrade rather than getting a patch. With Windows, you generally only have to wait a month at most, until the next Patch Tuesday.
Click to expand...
But why was TikTok exploiting a vulnerability in the Apple OS?
 
Read, Kim. Mendalla says that "Tiktok was in the wrong for sure", but notes that if Apple had protected its users properly, there would have been no vulnerability to exploit. If you're in the "operating system" business, you can't have that kind of errors. It's like airlines can't hire pilots "who occasionally like to fly into mountains".
 
Thanks for that, Mendalla, as you are connecting the dots for me of how we got from latest trend to war implement.

However, it doesn't seem like anything new. I try. as a high school teacher, to teach awareness about social media.
The students get lots of teaching about cyberstalking and cyberbullying. But they don't seem to know anything about consumer exploitation.
They all seem to think that cool apps have been invented by cool millennials that only want them to have fun.
I try to explain that apps and social media can be fun and even educational, but that they are invented by people who work for companies who have ulterior motives. The apps may be free, but the company may be wanting to manipulate the user through advertising, or phishing, or even cybercrimes like stealing passwords to steal money. But they don't seem to get that.
 
I thought about learning to use Tik Tok, but after my reading a Carey Niuewhof post, realized it would be invasion of the kids space by an old guy. Instead, I might put out a request to young people in the church to make their own Tik Tok posts for the church.
 
GO3838 said:
Thanks for that, Mendalla, as you are connecting the dots for me of how we got from latest trend to war implement.

However, it doesn't seem like anything new. I try. as a high school teacher, to teach awareness about social media.
The students get lots of teaching about cyberstalking and cyberbullying. But they don't seem to know anything about consumer exploitation.
They all seem to think that cool apps have been invented by cool millennials that only want them to have fun.
I try to explain that apps and social media can be fun and even educational, but that they are invented by people who work for companies who have ulterior motives. The apps may be free, but the company may be wanting to manipulate the user through advertising, or phishing, or even cybercrimes like stealing passwords to steal money. But they don't seem to get that.
Click to expand...
I think many do get it, but also understand it's the way things work.
There was a time when phones, debit cards, email, etc. didn't exist. Companies certainly used those things to their advantage. They pretty much became necessary for functioning within society though.
I remember when interact was fairly new, but I was young enough where I wasn't buying much of anything prior to it's existence. By the time I was old enough to be purchasing things it would have been odd to not use a debit card.

Apps for teens are pretty much the same. It's how the world works. It's how they access things, utilize a digital wallet, get a cab, order food, etc. Yes, there are options beyond apps to do those things, but when I was 18 it was also possibly for someone to write a cheque at the grocery story but it was inconvenient and odd.

If you opened it up to a discussion about the risks and benefits of how things have evolved over time - and all generations, not just making about what is the norm for them, they may be willing to share their thoughts over it. It would become much less of an us vs. them with generational differences and more about every generation has experienced new ways of doing things and with that, different risks.
 
jimkenney12 said:
I thought about learning to use Tik Tok, but after my reading a Carey Niuewhof post, realized it would be invasion of the kids space by an old guy. Instead, I might put out a request to young people in the church to make their own Tik Tok posts for the church.
Click to expand...
Maybe they will include you in one :)
 
In typical old millennial fashion I see them on FB. If there was a reason to use it other than for just personal enjoyment I could see doing so. I'm not going to use it just for me. Maybe my nephews will convince me to get into whatever the thing will be when they are old enough to use it but young enough to want to include me, and not just in a way that's a fair bit about poking fun.
 
And didn’t a couple of teens on TicTok set up the ticket scam for trumps Tulsa event. They got everyone requesting tickets, Trump bragging a million request for tickets, need overflow space....... and then 8000 people showed up
 
Lastpointe said:
And didn’t a couple of teens on TicTok set up the ticket scam for trumps Tulsa event. They got everyone requesting tickets, Trump bragging a million request for tickets, need overflow space....... and then 8000 people showed up
Click to expand...

Might have been. It was one of those teen-friendly social media apps.
 
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