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TikTok hits 1.5B downloads, outperforming Instagram

(www.businessinsider.com)
298 points elorant | 2 comments | 19 Nov 19 14:09 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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bransonf ◴[19 Nov 19 15:30 UTC] No.21573859[source]▶
What amazes me is that Tik-Tok fills the void created when Twitter killed vine.

Given the popularity of Vine, and the outrage when Twitter killed it, I have no idea why they thought it was a good move.

I’m bullish on Tik-Tok because I think it’s the next logical evolution of social media (and totally captures the Vine fan base which was pretty big to begin with)

First there was text, both Facebook and Twitter. Then images with instagram. Now people want videos that they can consume in short bits of time en mass.

I think you would be amiss to not see TikTok as a potentially big player in social media in the future.

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JohnJamesRambo ◴[19 Nov 19 15:52 UTC] No.21574184[source]▶
> First there was text, both Facebook and Twitter. Then images with instagram. Now people want videos that they can consume in short bits of time en mass.

What you are describing is the continued fall to smaller and smaller bits of stimulation and information. I’m worried about the consequences of this on the human mind and humanity in general. Our tech is gradually eroding our ability to focus on anything for more than a few seconds. I don’t want a future that is some weird mix of Idiocracy and getting the Black Shakes from Johnny Mnemonic. We need people that aren’t easily manipulated by ads and disinformation campaigns and that can think long and clearly about something.

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nbardy ◴[19 Nov 19 15:58 UTC] No.21574291[source]▶
At the same time we have the rise of long form podcasts. Producing quite the opposite effect.
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asdff ◴[19 Nov 19 20:04 UTC] No.21577643[source]▶
Podcasts that many people have playing constantly. In the car or on the train. In the elevator. At work. In the bathroom. At the store. At home. For many people, it's mindless banter they put on in the background while doing other tasks. Youtube, but you can use your eyes.

But when do you get a free thought that's entirely your own? Just a moment when someone or something isn't barking at you to listen to this or buy that. I at least can't think clearly about something else if someone is reciting a story to me. Scary when most podcasts also have advertising, so you are getting a subconscious dose of that during all your waking hours.

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filoleg ◴[19 Nov 19 20:36 UTC] No.21577985[source]▶
This reminds me of that "alarming" picture[0] taken on a Philadelphia train used to scaremonger people about how everyone is addicted to the newspapers and how it degrades the fabric of society and thought by making everyone antisocial.[1]

Yes, there are many arguments that can be brought up about differences between newspapers and social media, etc., but I strongly feel like it is essentially the same kind of neo-ludditism that will play out the exact same way. Something new will come up after social media, and then people will jump on that as the next thing that "degrades the society". We can already see a micro-version of that, with people lamenting how "back in the old days, blog posts were long form and meaningful, not like those tweets and instagram posts".

0. https://imgur.com/gallery/WkHHpZ1

1. https://xkcd.com/1227/

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1. dmix ◴[19 Nov 19 21:30 UTC] No.21578523[source]▶
Just like all of the people pushing FUD that Tinder/Grindr and one night stand culture would kill true relationships (or worse implications on wider society). Even though everyone I know who used those earlier in their life and are now in serious relationships with people, often one's they met online.

People are always looking for the 'surprising' reasons why society is really in decay and everyone's living their day-to-day lives completely blind to it - except us few who know better.

There's huge demand for this sort of thing to be true, it's been the basis of every cult ever, plenty of extreme political movements, religions, and a million think pieces through history. Yet life and culture always ends up being far more boring and resilient than predicted.

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2. filoleg ◴[19 Nov 19 21:42 UTC] No.21578614[source]▶
>Just like all of the people pushing FUD that Tinder/Grindr and one night stand culture would kill true relationships (or worse implications on wider society). Even though everyone I know who used those earlier in their life and are now in serious relationships with people, often one's they met online.

Oh wow, I haven't even thought of that one until you mentioned it, but it certainly seems to ring true for the people I know as well.