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TikTok hits 1.5B downloads, outperforming Instagram

(www.businessinsider.com)
298 points elorant | 1 comments | 19 Nov 19 14:09 UTC | HN request time: 0.41s | source
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ksec ◴[19 Nov 19 15:28 UTC] No.21573839[source]▶
Outperforming when Instagram is banned in China.

I remember there was a vaguely similar services from Twitter, and that somehow never caught on.

replies(3): >>21574445 #>>21575659 #>>21576143 #
1. headsupftw ◴[19 Nov 19 18:12 UTC] No.21576143[source]▶
Do you even know TikTok is not available in China? The brand was specifically created for western countries. In China the same company (ByteDance) owns a hugely popular short-video app called Douyin. These two apps do not share content for obvious reasons (yes, communist censorship and all that).

I think what boggles HN readers' mind (mine included and I'm Chinese btw), is that in a place that's purportedly Orwellian or at least bearing resemblance to it, creativity is supposed to be severely oppressed and virtually non-existent. Yet the reality is quite the opposite.