this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2025
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TikTok was never good. Have at it.
Though, he is always free to start his own MAGA-themed video service, much like he did with Truth Social. I think the problem is — and if he doesn't know it, he's been advised, with crayons and hand puppets — that running a server serving video is orders of magnitude more expensive than running a server hosting a text-based social network.
i really think you are minimizing how bad this is. This is the government weaponizing social media, much like elon musk weaponized twitter. Only this time, the social media is directly owned by a fascist government regime. This is a massive massive conflict of interest which is going to 100% turn tik tok into a propaganda machine.
TikTok was run by a fascist regime: China. It's just, most Americans are not of much interest to Beijing. Their intelligence probably wants to know what is trendy in America so it can better appeal to us and influence our elections to serve their interests, but Beijing is probably not concerned at all with you or I as individuals. But if they can get us to vote for a candidate they support by showing us the parts of that candidate that we agree with, we can be used as a tool by Beijing. Now Washington wants that power.
I don't like it either way.
China absolutely has interest in Americans, just not in the way you'd think. Social media is addictive, and TikTok is no exception. Quick bursts of media that result in dopamine hits creates addiction and eyes glued to a screen that can push whatever agenda China wants. Studies have shown social media and ai have an affect on intelligence and learning, and China knows full well that in the long game, this results in the dumbing down of society.
TikTok is doing exactly what it was designed for, sowing division and misinformation to destabalize the US. It works too.
At least China builds infrastructure. At least China has near universal healthcare. China seems to actually give a shit about its people to at least some extent.
"He made the trains run on time"
Doesn’t America also have near universal healthcare then? The system is pretty similar, get insurance through work unless old or poor
Lol wut. Not even remotely.
But then neither does China. Is what I'm saying.
By the Chinese definition of it, it's very close.
For China it was 95%
Neither country gives you free insurance unless you're old or poor enough.
no.
I think you’re unfamiliar with at least one of the two systems then because they're described as pretty similar by people who have lived in both countries. Both are pay 2 play, American one is just more expensive.
TikTok and Instagram were never good, but they provided a platform for people on the streets to provide real time updates on current events that countered the state narrative/propaganda on main stream media.
TikTok and Instagram exposed the truth about the American empire to a significant portion of the population. They want to make sure it's all controlled state approved content, they want to eliminate our ability to reach eyes and ears.
So sure, have at the Chinese propaganda platform, but not without an alternative that allows us to reach wide audiences... And we don't have an alternative... Not enough people are on the fediverse and the learning curve is pretty massive.
they've made protest illegal by classifying antifa as terrorist, now they're coming after social media to make sure there is no outlet for protest online either. I don't think people are making a big enough deal about this. This is extremely bad.
Eh, I'll "have at" TikTok for being shit because historically, it has been. It's driven by memes and trash.
That said, over the past couple years I've heard lots of good things. "BookTok" and other -Tok's being communities within the service — I admit I don't know how it is because I've never used it — but also, the rapid decline of YouTube has made me seriously consider getting on TikTok just to have something different. My resolve to be anti-TikTok has greatly reduced over the last couple years, as an "old guy" who does not like "social media".
So yeah, credit where it's due.
I'd love for the Fediverse to have a strong alternative, but again, the costs of running a video server that is anywhere close to being "widely used"...