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dilldoeorg t1_jdac0os wrote

how does that help their case with government workplace ban?

12

briendoesitallbad t1_jdac4yn wrote

I'm a Xennial and im on there. I don't know if it's been curated for me over time or what, but I almost never get younger people in my feed. It's usually people similar in age to me (44).

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Pillonious_Punk t1_jdad0o9 wrote

I mean, adults are active on social media just as much as kids. But they're supposed to know better where as kids don't.

239

vkashen t1_jdajjph wrote

LOL. "I promise you we're not spying on you and your entire country even though we found all the exploits in iOS and iPad OS and use them" - Fat and ugly Pooh Bear

1

LADYBIRD_HILL t1_jdajuvt wrote

Replying to briendoesitallbad (#2,310,450)

I use it to build a social media presence for my Lego room- I see a ton of other AFOLs (adult fan of Lego) on my feed and go live with some of them, but I only ever see teens when they're commenting on stuff. Never posts from them.

11

rayinreverse t1_jdaloal wrote

I hate to say it, but remember when Trump said we should ban TikTok?

−6

96matt_rob t1_jdarfqm wrote

Never used it but I’m tired of hearing of it, good riddance.

−3

bigjojo321 t1_jdaticy wrote

From the guy who claimed 50% of the country are active users, this means less than nothing.

107

littleMAS t1_jdawia6 wrote

Let me interpret, "Most of our users can vote."

32

matts1 t1_jdaymn1 wrote

Replying to vkashen (#2,311,020)

Please enlighten us on:
- How you know what they have and haven't seen.
- What ages of those they have or haven't seen.
- Why you think curation isn't the same as the "algorithm" learning what you do and don't like.
- How any of what they said implies they are technologically ignorant.

Go on, I'll wait.

9

matts1 t1_jdaz97j wrote

Replying to rayinreverse (#2,312,138)

Or he was using that as a smokescreen after users of tiktok made him look bad by conducting a campaign to inflate his rally numbers. For one or two of his rallies before the 2020 election, users would signup for tickets to his rallies in the thousands. When they had set things up expecting thousands and only a fraction showed up. Kinda irked him.

He didn't give a shit about "national security" especially since Facebook collects the same "data."

5

Cranky0ldMan t1_jdazh3x wrote

A millionaire and nine people making minimum wage have an average income of over $100,000.

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matts1 t1_jdb0nb2 wrote

Replying to rayinreverse (#2,312,323)

I agree but that's because Facebook paid for the lobbying to make tiktok look like the boogeyman. Just because they couldn't compete with tiktok.

Whether or not its really a security issue is up for debate so far as I am concerned. Considering the existence of data brokers. That any country can just buy data from which contains the same stuff that come from apps.

3

ModsGropeKids t1_jdb30so wrote

lol never installed that garbage once, with youtube there's no need cause everyone posts their bullcrap from tiktok onto that anyways

−2

probono105 t1_jdb47mb wrote

the average person is an adult well past college the title means nothing

1

rogerflog t1_jdb6ksc wrote

“Average” is often misleading and does not tell the whole story. You have 5 people, ages 19, 20, 21, 22 and 93. The average user is 35 ( Add all ages together and get 175 then divide by 5, which is the number of people in the group. This averages out to 35. ) That’s “well past college age,” as most of us would consider it.

However, we can clearly see that most of the users in our sample group are ages 19-22. The metric that makes more sense to use here is the “Mode” of the sample, which counts how many users belong to the largest group.

In our sample here, the Mode shows that 80% of users are still 19-22 years old, even though the inclusion of someone’s great-great grandmother raises the Average to 35.

People can manipulate numbers like they manipulate emotions; do your research, use multiple sources, trust your instincts, don’t accept someone else’s “truth” at face value.

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cptnamr7 t1_jdb8bx5 wrote

Replying to bigjojo321 (#2,311,781)

Bowling for Soup has a song out called "Getting Old Sucks (but everybody's doing it)" Where they're pretty much the old guy-get-off-my-lawn guys. At one point they're listing off their health conditions and end the verse with "what the fuck is tiktok?". That pretty much sums it up. Very few people over the age of I would guess 35 even know what it actually is other than the news constantly telling them it's making all the kids crazy

Edit: holy shit this angered some folks. I'm 40. I don't know a single person that uses it, though their kids do. That's the extent. I was agreeing with the original comment here that this dude seems to be full of shit if he's going to claim it's mostly used by young professionals.

−19

coach_carter2 t1_jdb9npb wrote

average age is meaningless less here. i’m more interested in median age.

18

SmokingBirdz t1_jdbaydh wrote

Replying to cptnamr7 (#2,313,060)

You’re crazy if you think people in their 30’s don’t know what tik tok is lol. Maybe 50, but 30 year olds are either on tik tok themselves, or know exactly what it is but don’t have one themselves.

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listur65 t1_jdbc4mb wrote

Replying to cptnamr7 (#2,313,060)

I'm 37 and don't know a single person in my age range who doesn't either use it or know exactly what it is. If you changed your 30 to 45 or 50(Coincidently Bowling for Soups age) I would agree.

5

stopcounting t1_jdbcbjg wrote

Gonna bet the young demographic skews female and the older one skews male

0

Thick_Royal_3198 t1_jdbce6y wrote

Yeah people seem to think gen z are still kids and millennials are in there late 30s and 40s. This is not surprising

4

tallkitty t1_jdbcqni wrote

Believe. I stopped watching TikTok on accident and have so many more three days in a row.

−2

taisui t1_jdbf44p wrote

Average means jack shit, one 80 year old and 10x 12 years old has the average of

( 80+120 ) / 11 = 18, so they are saying this is like 11x 18 year olds?

The average person on Earth probably have like 0.8 testicle, on average, too.

−1

EqualityZucchini t1_jdbfm2x wrote

Replying to cptnamr7 (#2,313,060)

Bro I'm not angry but people over 40 know what TikTok is.

You remind me of those people in 2010 who claimed people over 30 couldn't use a smartphone. Or the same in 2000 for the Internet.

I'm.sure there are some slow learners out there but it's not like cloud computing or something. Most people know what TikTok is.

My mom is pushing 70. She knows what TikTok is.

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PissedFurby t1_jdbg0lc wrote

even if these stats were slightly correct, (we all know this is far from the truth) the phone or the ipad belongs to an adult, but its the kid thats using it. so its a meaningless stat. Its like saying 50% of children drive cars because they take a ride in the back seat.

3

AnotherSoulessGinger t1_jdbgu9b wrote

Replying to ForeverJung (#2,313,534)

I am pushing 50 - I know about it but don’t use it. Most of my peer group knows it but doesn’t use it. We’re stuck on Facebook so we can keep our elderly parents up to date.

My mother in law is almost 70 and she was chiding me for not using TikTok. But she’s an anomaly, I think.

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Faelix t1_jdbk5sq wrote

Dammit! This was the thing they were not supposed to find out!

−1

OrangeNood t1_jdbo570 wrote

Is he counting the 80 years old bots?

Even if there aren't that many 80 y.o. bots. I bet most TikTok users are over 12. So it really does not take a lot of users in the age of 30 to 60 to push the average over 25.

0

poopoomergency4 t1_jdbr4fc wrote

Replying to matts1 (#2,312,373)

>Just because they couldn't compete with tiktok.

if they took some of the effort and funding out of this "meetings but in VR" concept, they could probably afford to build a viable competitor, but lobbying is cheaper so why bother?

2

whiteycnbr t1_jdbtlkv wrote

I'm.sure they could tell you a lot more about them too

−1

GoNinjaGoNinjaGo69 t1_jdbtwin wrote

Replying to briendoesitallbad (#2,310,450)

Its because it has an amazing algo that does this for you. Its so stupid when people post that its teenagers dancing. I haven't seen that in years. All you do is swipe past one of those videos fast or click and say dont show content and it never does again. They know what you want.

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Steel_Neuron t1_jdbu394 wrote

Replying to noobgolang (#2,311,540)

I know a couple of 50+ YOs that got completely absorbed by TikTok. Like, leave their jobs and "work" on TikTok fame full time. They're now estranged from all their friends and, for all I know, family.

And these numbers ain't precisely going up either.

3

Phillyfuk t1_jdbwx78 wrote

Yeah, and everybody's birthday on Steam is the 1st of January.

0

mok000 t1_jdbxiko wrote

The dreaded granma/granpa takeover. Soon the kids will move on to the next platform, and TikTok will be homebaked cookies only.

0

kmbthethird t1_jdc1h3a wrote

The average CEO lies about numbers as they please, I say.

0

UNLEASHTHEFURY8 t1_jdc363w wrote

WTF is wrong with people?

Between Bitcoin, more invasive social media, Twitter - all of it just needs to go.

And this CEO is shady at best, an average can be skewed by just a handful of data points.

Furthermore, the issue isn't the consent aspect of the platform - it is the fact is used by the Chinese government to harvest data on American users and utilize that data to manipulate their minds, the same way Russia did with Cambridge Analytica.

Delete the app, go and breathe some fresh air, and live your life.

−1

marketlurker t1_jdc4h0d wrote

Is it an indicator that he even knows this? I am not a TikTok users and I really hope they ask your age. If they don't ask that is a privacy problem.

−1

nadmaximus t1_jdc5hms wrote

There is no such thing as "college age".

0

RideSpecial7782 t1_jdc8603 wrote

Thats what they "say" they are...

Unless you are using other methods to verify who is actually using the phone, but I'm sure chinese companies wouldn't use that existing tech in TikTok right..... Right..?

−2

anima-vero-quaerenti t1_jdce1ia wrote

If TikTok was an American company, this wouldn’t even be up for discussion.

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pvii t1_jdckt2j wrote

The amount of you that seem ok with data collection and sales when it is a US company but not when it's a Chinese company is pretty telling. If you're going to ban tiktok, ban anyone who engages in this practice. They would never do that because big companies like meta are lobbying HARD for a tiktok ban. They see this as a financial gain to them, and we see it as 'protecting kids'. In reality, this is a form of internet censorship and protectionism for domestic companies that we ALREADY KNOW sell America's data and abuse our privacy... completely legally.

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GTthrowaway27 t1_jdcmi3k wrote

Replying to newjackcity0987 (#2,316,730)

But if there aren’t any 2 year old users then they’re excluded from the distribution anyways and both mean and median aren’t going to be impacted anyways

And if there are it’s not going to meaningfully affect the mean or median. Unless there’s more 2 year olds online than I expected…

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GTthrowaway27 t1_jdcquu3 wrote

Replying to newjackcity0987 (#2,317,104)

Of course. Mean and media won’t be exact unless it’s normal, bimodal, etc

But why act as though it’s going to be a meaningful difference?

The CEO is saying the average user is older than you would assume(teenagers/college). That’s it. Even if the median and mean are different by several years, that’s still generally going to be the same point.

It just seems the easy Reddit contrarian point of “um aktually median is better” (hence multiple comments saying the same thing) when they’re probably not that much different to begin with

8

cookingboy t1_jdctzdb wrote

Replying to pvii (#2,316,757)

Lol when America can't compete we just bully and sanction in the name of "national security". We literally did this to Toshiba to fuck over Japan's semi-conductor business in the 80s and they are an ally for god's sake: https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/how-us-prevented-japan-s-toshiba-from-becoming-no-1-chipmaker-62393

So yeah, "National Security" and "Please think of the children!!!!" are the two trump cards always played by our politicians to win over their ignorant voters. In this case both applies so it's a double whammy to win political points.

>companies like meta are lobbying HARD for a tiktok ban

Yep: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/03/30/facebook-tiktok-targeted-victory/

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hiko7819 t1_jdcyf6q wrote

Social media needs to be banned. Pandora’s box was open and it’s made society worse.

1

No-Tip3419 t1_jdd5qwb wrote

Isn't warning users that TikTok is a "China based social media site" good enough for Americans to choose if they want to use it? If you are concern about China having your data or influencing your decision, don't use it.

1

DevAway22314 t1_jddars3 wrote

Average is a neat little math trick to use here. Median is a much more meaningful number to use

Imagine 5 people use TikTok with ages of: 10, 15, 15, 15, and 65

The average age for that group is 24. You can technically claim the average age of those users is an adult, out of college. The median, however, is only 15. 15 is a much more accurate descriptor of that group than 24. It's obvious why TikTok is choosing average here. It's very easy for a small segment of older users to drag the average way up

0

DevAway22314 t1_jddb0j5 wrote

Replying to wankerbot (#2,312,321)

Mean and average are synonymous. He was precise and correct in his terminology. It is only you that does not understand the meaning of a mathematical average

Edit: And to drive it home a bit more, the advantage of using the term mean is that it is more specific. Mean is less likely to be misunderstood for another meaning than average, but both convey the precise meaning he intended

I wouldn't normally add that level of pedantry, but wanted to point out you misused precise when you meant specific. Solely because you're attempting to be overly pedantic

2

wrgrant t1_jddddom wrote

Well I am affecting that stat for my part. Over 60 YO, made 1 post to TikTok as an experiment after spending about 20 mins watching the most pointless shit I have seen on the Internet, have never returned there and likely won't do so. Social Media is pretty crap most of the time these days. FB is mostly pointless to me, Instagram is filled with ads disguised as regular posts, Twitter is a massive waste of time etc. Tiktok hasn't proven to be different for my purposes. But since I have an account I am no doubt skewing the average to whatever degree while also not participating.

Reddit is of course also a massive waste of time, filled with pointless posts and content, but at least I don't get inundated with as many ads and I can filter most of the content to just the subjects that interest me.

1

JohrDinh t1_jdddpwq wrote

Replying to Pillonious_Punk (#2,310,522)

Most adults just don’t fill their lives with much meaningful stuff, or don’t have the money/time either…sadly. The amount of people I know that just get off work and sit around smoking weed gaming/scrolling is pretty intense.

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Hentai_For_Life t1_jddjm8i wrote

There is no such thing as 'well past college age'. It's never too late to get a college education.

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honeybaby2019 t1_jddlevk wrote

I am an adult well past college age and I do not use Tik Tok so nice try CEO. I have more faith in being on Reddit and keeping my anonymity.

1

Galactus_is_coming t1_jddsvsg wrote

How is this surprising? The first ppl in who grew up with social media are in their late 20s and 30s and grandparents love tiktok bc it's incredibly user-friendly

1

SomethingMatter t1_jddul3l wrote

Replying to bigjojo321 (#2,311,781)

Yeah, this claim is total bullshit. All of the kids in my daughters school are on tiktok but very few parents in the area use it. Even then, the numbers will always skew higher because babies and toddlers aren't going to be using this and there is no limit on the upper end. For example, if you have 5 x 13 year olds, a 15 year old, a 16 year old, a 22 year old and 2 x 46 year old people. That averages out to 21 years. The vast majority of people are school kids with only one college student, and 2 older people. He should be giving the median age and he knows it.

All of that is also ignoring that a lot of kids stick fake ages into these apps.

−8

Vegan_Honk t1_jddunc2 wrote

well, you've just made your platform sound cringe as shit so I hope you like burying it.

1

SomethingMatter t1_jddvpw6 wrote

Replying to GTthrowaway27 (#2,316,306)

Because toddlers and babies don't use something like TikTok and there is no upper limit on the age to skew the average upwards. There is also the problem where a lot of you people stick in fake ages. Back on point, though. You don't need a 10k person to skew the age up. I gave an example in another comment where a couple of 46 year old people can skew an average with a majority school aged group up to 22. Here it is:

If you have 5 x 13 year olds, a 15 year old, a 16 year old, a 22 year old and 2 x 46 year old people. That averages out to 21 years with the median being 14 years.

−2

glonq t1_jddwe2q wrote

My wife watches TikTok a lot. She often sends me links. I have never once followed those links. I don't want/need TikTok to be part of my life.

1

Badgerdont t1_jde0mic wrote

I always write that I'm 99 whenever an app asks for my age but I'm sure those numbers are legit.

1

wankerbot t1_jde4ytf wrote

Replying to DevAway22314 (#2,319,638)

>Mean and average are synonymous. He was precise and correct in his terminology.

No, he wasn't precise and it isn't synonymous.

First words from the wiki:

>In ordinary language, an average is ...

Ordinary language, as used by the wiki, means "colloquially", which is not precise mathematical/statistical/scientific language.

Later in the wiki entry, we have this:

>Depending on the context, an average might be another statistic such as the median, or mode.

...which blows your assertion of the precision out of the water.

−1

geenaleigh t1_jdecy3x wrote

Replying to SomethingMatter (#2,321,615)

I think we all agree with that. If congress actually cares about privacy they would be passing laws to protect us from ALL social media companies. But that’s not what is happening here because our congress runs on lobbying and Meta is hustling to get this killed.

8

Kleanish t1_jdedf8h wrote

Replying to SomethingMatter (#2,321,581)

With 150 million people it’s becomes very normalized and the average is closer to the median.

Can’t compare a sample of 10 to 150 million.

Yes the average and median are different but the median is still near whatever they said the average was.

7

groundhog5886 t1_jdef3dr wrote

And that’s 150 million voters they better not screw with. And if they only knew more liberals get banned and have videos pulled than conservatives.

1

Abadazed t1_jdegmj4 wrote

Replying to coach_carter2 (#2,313,177)

No the average age is meaningless because kids lie about their age on the internet. I haven't used my real age in the decade or so I've been spelunking through the internet I can almost guarantee that hasn't changed with the new generation.

1

jonhuang t1_jdei9d4 wrote

Replying to rogerflog (#2,312,923)

Sure, but it's not believable that tiktok's user base is 80% kids and 20% folks over 90 years old. There's going to be a normal distribution curve and the mean and median will be close together in this case.

5

SomethingMatter t1_jdeinsm wrote

Replying to Kleanish (#2,323,435)

But those 150 million people would have a similar distribution. Lets say that the minimum age on TikTok is 12 and the highest age is 65. An average/mean age of 23 would have to include more people in the 12-23 block than the 23-65 block because the people in the upper end count "more". Populations that skew right (assuming age goes from a lower to a higher value) will always have a mean that is higher than the median (https://www.statology.org/left-skewed-vs-right-skewed/).

That is why the median is much more important because it tells us the skew of the data. The mean is bullshit in this case.

−2

SomethingMatter t1_jdej2ji wrote

Replying to geenaleigh (#2,323,377)

I agree that congress is screwing up because they are targetting TikTok as a product instead of targeting the data collection policies. They have absolutely no reliable way of enforcing any laws that they make that specifically target TikTok. This isn't China with it's locked down Internet. It also makes perfect sense for the government to ban TikTok from government devices. TikTok has to obey the laws of the Chinese government and will have to hand over any information that the Chinese government requests from them.

1

SomethingMatter t1_jdejiiu wrote

Replying to Kleanish (#2,323,993)

Like WTF? Do you even understand statistics? Do you understand skewed populations? 150 million people won't become a normalized population just because you think it should. For example, voters in the USA skew older. That's a fact. If you look at the number of people who vote and their age then it will not form a normalized population. It will skew left. It doesn't matter that there are 150 million people voting. That fact holds true.

−2

Kleanish t1_jdekbzc wrote

Replying to SomethingMatter (#2,324,070)

You’re right. My statement should read “more” normalized.

The difference in mean and average is not applicable to the discussion at hand. There is a difference, but, most likely, not enough to warrant a change in discussion. Aka the point still stands “users on TikTok are older than most think”

5

SomethingMatter t1_jdekli9 wrote

Replying to GTthrowaway27 (#2,317,922)

The skew of the data matters a lot. The tail on the upper end extends much further than the tail on the lower end which means that the data will more than likely skew right. That would make the median lower than the mean. How much lower depends on the skew of the data but there is a huge difference between a median of 16 and an mean of 25 compared to a median of 22 and a mean of 25.

1

SomethingMatter t1_jdelefh wrote

Replying to Kleanish (#2,324,165)

What does older in “users on TikTok are older than most think” mean? Older can refer to the majority (median) or average (mean). Most people think of it in terms of the first. TikTok used the mean for a reason, because it's lower than the median. If the data was skewed the other way around, they would have used the median. Hell, if the median user was past college age then they probably would have said that "there are more users past college age than younger".

1

littleMAS t1_jdemb88 wrote

Replying to SomethingMatter (#2,321,647)

"More than 150 million people in the United States use TikTok on a monthly basis, with the average user today being an adult well past college age." Refers not to the average age but the average user, a reference to the median or the central tendency of the distribution. If he has said 'average age,' you would have been right to call him out. However, his remarks were pre-published, and the nuances seem well polished.

4

SomethingMatter t1_jdend1j wrote

Replying to littleMAS (#2,324,375)

I don't think we can make that assumption. Average typically refers to the mean and average user can be referring to the median user or a fictitious "average user" that is drawn up by using the mean.

1

guscrown t1_jdeq74n wrote

Can I just say that I'm glad this is happening? I use Tiktok and I'm seeing a lot of clips from this hearing in Tiktok and the Zoomers can see how incredibly stupid our representatives are about technology. Hopefully this will galvanize the youth into voting for younger and smarter people.

There was one guy asking if Tiktok could access the WiFi Network, ffs!!!

1

Kleanish t1_jdes0jb wrote

Replying to SomethingMatter (#2,324,388)

I don't. Its very unlikely with the age they gave and the total population of users.

Like I said in the first comment, with a sample 10 or 20, its to be expected the median and average would vary a lot.

It is very unlikely, given the age they provided of the average, the median would stoop as low as a kid's age, under 13, or even under 16.

Here

Disclaimer: that is monthly active users. Though the second theory, while total number of users will be different than this graph, I imagine that the older the person is, the less likely they will continue using the app, or use it less often per month. As in monthly active users will skew lower in age than the total number of users.

So then maybe at one point in time, lets say hourly, the age of active users on TikTok may be very low.

​

See how nuanced we are getting?

Itll never be one data point. With how big TikTok is, single data points lose value.

4

SevanOO7 t1_jdeu69z wrote

Its the same dumbasses that use facebook

1

Persianx6 t1_jdexpjf wrote

They're going to ban the hell out of this app and a lot of people are about to suffer some losses.

Tik Tok is the best platform for influencers. It's been paying the best and is steady. It's more focused on search. By result it's the easiest platform to grow any form of business on, whatsoever.

The alternative to Tik Tok is paying Meta for it's blue check mark system on IG, being in an app that doesn't emphasize search at all, and doesn't pay.

It's going to be a major win for Meta at everyone's expense.

1

SomethingMatter t1_jdey99p wrote

Replying to Kleanish (#2,324,956)

I agree with this. We can see the skew from that graph but it depends what data points we look at. Daily users probably skew younger than monthly or total users. I also agree that I don't think the median would get as low as 16 years but even having half of your users under 18 isn't a good sign.

That's why I said the claim in the first place is bullshit. Obviously TikTok will pick the best data points to make their argument. They have all of the data and can cheery pick something to make their case.

Ironically, this is probably far less relevant than the algorithms that they use to push content to people. For example, anyone under 14 in China can't use TikTok for more than 40 minutes per day but that restriction doesn't exist here. And those users are also shown different content (educational) instead of the regular content. So the algorithm in China for youth is different from the algorithm for youth here.

3

MoreOfAnOvalJerk t1_jdezhau wrote

Right, just like how theres an overwhelming number of steam users who happen to share the same birthday. Self reported age are unreliable.

1

littleMAS t1_jdf0heb wrote

Replying to SomethingMatter (#2,324,496)

True, 'average' can be vague. If TikTok had every American under the age of 18, it would still have the average user as adult since only 73 million are below 18. Given they have 150 million Americans users, the average being of voting age is the only conclusion. While the document goes into great detail about how TikTok protects children and the privacy rights of all Americans, the paper presented to Congress led by stating that their American users are adults, hence of voting age, regardless of whether we look at it as the mean, median, or multi-modal distribution.

1

bubster15 t1_jdf1pzd wrote

He should realize that’s very bad news for him. The kids are the ones that will raise a stink on this, the adults will see this for what it is and move on to another app. Kids also have extremely little influence on our society.

TikTok/CCP realllllyyy misread the US response to this. They screwed up doubly with the balloon incident. Congress just galvanized around this in bipartisan showing, there will be more resolve now to do something about TikTok. I would not have imagined this was possible 2 months ago.

1

bubster15 t1_jdf2rq4 wrote

Replying to skilliard7 (#2,323,855)

I’m the opposite. I’m 28 and know a lot of people including myself that suffered a mental health crisis from social media consumption and I don’t touch it with a 10 foot pole now. No regrets, holy hell did that shit consume me and others. I’m glad to be more rooted in the physical world now, it has brought me an immense amount more happiness.

I know very few people that talk about the app or care about it in a meaningful way, I cannot imagine people my age lashing out at a ban whatsoever. Adults have more important things going on and there are dozens of alternatives that aren’t owned by a country that views us as it’s mortal enemy and banned our social media without hesitation.

We are drastically overestimating the backlash to this decision to ban them, which is a prudent decision based on the CCPs own statements, countless vague threats and aggressive anti-democracy and U.S. rhetoric

−2

SomethingMatter t1_jdf4liz wrote

Replying to littleMAS (#2,325,824)

It's tricky because TikTok are talking about 150 million users but are those people that installed the app once, monthly, or daily users? My guess is total users. Those distributions are likely to skew differently. Distributions could also mean a very large gap between the median and mean or one that differs by only a year. We don't have enough information and the only people who do won't give us that information. I don't doubt that the median age is on or above 18 but that also depends on what we are looking at. Daily/Monthly/Total users.

Even if it was 18 or 20, that would put almost half of their users in school and at that point content pushing algorithms become really important. A lot of the protections for children either started in January this year or a commitments for things that they will do.

To be fair. My criticisms here aren't just about TikTok. I have the same problems with all social media companies and trust them to respect people's privacy about as far as I can spit. The only times that they have done things in favor of the privacy of people, and more especially children, is when they have been compelled to by law. Their business model relies on the data that they acquire from users.

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FeezusChrist t1_jdf4t45 wrote

Replying to bubster15 (#2,326,069)

“Adults have more important things going on and there are dozens of alternatives that aren't owned by a country that views us as it's mortal enemy and banned our social media without hesitation”

A reason TikTok is particularly popular is because it’s not controlled by our government or big tech that dominates U.S media. On TikTok you are exposed to news and content that the media simply does not cover. For example, how much U.S media coverage do you see of the France protests against raising the age of retirement? You see it a lot on TikTok, rarely covered otherwise by the media. I wonder if there’s a conflict of interest?

And saying adults have more important things to do is so pretentious, you’re on Reddit right now so you’re already invalidating your own implication of social media being some low form of entertainment.

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skilliard7 t1_jdf6vik wrote

Replying to bubster15 (#2,326,069)

> I’m 28 and know a lot of people including myself that suffered a mental health crisis from social media consumption and I don’t touch it with a 10 foot pole now.

You say this yet you're on a social media account that you seem to post very regularly to. I don't understand.

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matts1 t1_jdf8wgo wrote

Replying to vkashen (#2,326,259)

So you think briendoesitallbad and I are the same person or a self-aware bot? What bot have you seen that can craft those specific questions? And you've never spoken to me, so what am I supposed to have already seen to become a lost cause?

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rogerflog t1_jdf8yi8 wrote

Replying to SomethingMatter (#2,324,356)

True you are correct, no normal distribution curve here. Standard normal curve occurs with many natural phenomenon. Intentional actions don’t have to follow a standard normal curve, and usually don’t.

For instance, the speed limit on the interstate by me is 75mph. It’s just my subjective measurement but I’m guessing at least twice as many people are driving 85mph than those that are driving 65mph. Human beings have intentional behavior, so this is just one of many instances that doesn’t follow a standard normal curve.

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bubster15 t1_jdf98il wrote

Replying to skilliard7 (#2,326,445)

Yes true. I allow Reddit because I actually have a ton of friendly interactions on it and usually makes me laugh! Fair point though. I deleted twitter, Facebook and insta permanently and haven’t looked back, those are all huge wins for me and my mental health

Shows how easy it is to get sucked back in. I catch myself all the time sinking back to the habit.

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littleMAS t1_jdfa21g wrote

Replying to SomethingMatter (#2,326,228)

Of the 73.7 million Americans under the age of 18, 20 million are under the age of five. It seems likely that very few of them are TikTok users. My point is that at least 75 million Americans, roughly the number who voted for Trump, were identified as TikTok users and, therefore, potentially voters. Given the state of our politics, I believe they made their point to those elected officials, who will grumble about it and move on.

Yes, social media has shown limited regard, at best, for user privacy. "The user is the product" has been their mantra. TikTok is no different. Like all 'too big to fail' social media companies, TikTok is making its point, "We are too big to ban."

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SomethingMatter t1_jdfc4n3 wrote

Replying to littleMAS (#2,326,771)

The whole talk of banning them make absolutely no sense. The US has no reasonable mechanism to block their website and people can side load applications onto their phones and other devices. It's completely unenforceable. That's ignoring that it probably steps on quite a few laws and the constitution along the way.

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sulu1385 t1_jdfwqyv wrote

This Tiktok hearing was a total joke, these politicians had already made up their mind to ban tiktok and its done not for national security concerns but at the behest of American tech companies like Meta and Alphabet who are losing out in this short video format.. YouTube shorts may blow up once tiktok is banned, same on Instagram as well

So, I guess big time tiktok creators in US should think about moving to other platforms but I would there's any that's as engrossing and easy to use as Tiktok

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