Gen Xers and older millennials really just want to go back in time to before the

[In_Correct]

Being online 'all the time' is clearly having negative consequences on society.  Just ask anyone under 30 about their dating life.  Mobile apps have imploded that scene.
Then, I don't need to detail how people are being radicalized inside their customized information bubbles.
Or how twitter mobs will dog-pile on the slightest lapse in judgement in certain circumstances just 'cuz.

Suicidality and mass shootings are spiking all over the country.  It's not because we have more guns; we've always had that. It's because people's phones are destroying their mental health.  The constant online peer pressure and the fear of being branded some kind of outcast; it wears on them.  Combine that with nobody getting laid and ready-made radicalization bubble ready to swoop in to take advantage of their frustration and it's no wonder we regularly see psycho 'kids' doing bad shit.

Our brains are not evolved to handle this type of constant stream of information.  These phones were supposed to connect and unite us; instead they are mobile anxiety machines.  Always ready to remind you that shit is fucked and you should be mad/scared/angry.

But telling people to just put it down for a while; that's almost like telling people not to eat.  This shit is designed to be addictive; to hoard your attention so you spend more time with their stupid, goddamn app.  And outrageous shit holds your attention more than benign shit.  So yeah, mobile anxiety machine. And we're stuck with it until the next coronal mass ejection.

What’s even more scary is that we now have one generation and counting who have always had technology in their lives, especially since smartphones essentially took over in 2012. They literally have never known life without a screen, so all of the consequences will get worse.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/04/25/1171773181/social-media-teens-mental-health

Lots of generations have had technology..

How quickly we forget the definition, but even then, the fact the older generations forget how addicted they were to TV is hypocrisy in its fullest.

Fair enough, but I don’t think previous generations were watching 14 hours of TV a day.

I did that.

In a way I still do, just with different Electronics. ...

If you count that I simply leave them on for ambient sound and possible watching them as I do chores. I and probably many people fell asleep with the Television left on.

In Childhood I stayed at other peoples houses very often. It was not easy since there really was no permanent home. To help me sleep, I had with me a Boom Box with the volume turned low and C.D.s just in case my favourite Radio Stations did not get strong signal.

One of my several Boom Boxes I have is a Lenoxx Sound CD - 210 that I was able to purchase one again. It looks new in practically new condition and hate that in reality it is old and has not been made in years.

I have been researching all the different Boom Boxes I had. When I figure out what they were, I try to find them again.

I also purchased a Like New Lenoxx Sound CR - 776 and also CT - 769 Like New Condition.

And many Life Long Baby Boom Boxes.

There are some that I have not yet figured out what they were. I also loved C.D. Changers be cause they are a substitute for Radio Stations.

I shall Treasure them all ways. However, I regularly use .mp3 players even if some of them are repurposed Smart Phones. As for Televisions, I use Smart Phones, Tablets, and Regular Computers to watch. I have not watched Cable Satellite Television since 2008 and Outdoor Amplified Antenna Television since 2016. Any time I try, I loathe the Brainwashing Regimes that occur. It is worse than ever, much more than telling Children to buy as many toys as possible, what to eat not be cause of Nutrition but be cause there are Toys included, and lies spread in Prime Time Television since the 1990s be cause Northern Exposure dared to stand up against controversial discussions, and also unnecessary medical procedures.

After watching I Show Speed, it seems that peoples can interact with each other from any where while playing large scale video games.

However, it is very alarming that there are many peoples that do not understand that the designs are filled with problems that do not need to be there.

It most certainly does not need to have plug ins on top of plugins on top of emulators on top of emulators on top of scripts on top of scripts on top of widgets on top of widgets all smashed together copied and pasted with even more errors for every SECURE update; nor does there need to be an App for any thing.

You Tube does not need to gradually increase the amount of every available resource it consumes.

Some times peoples understand such as Tech Moan, and Technology Connections.

And an attempt to get other peoples to understand:

What about Cars ?? Many peoples are fed up with Cars, and do not like Paid Subscription Services shoved in their cars, and Cars being given decisions what to do and not do as if they are Tachikomas. Cars must be designed to have Function Before Form.

Even better example:

Obvious Weapons. Guns, ... Firearms ?? ... Muskets ?! ... Design them wrong and they might blow up in your face. Knives. I would hope that peoples would want handles to grip the Knives or Potato Peelers. If They keep designing for example Smart Phones badly ... end even worse ... if people keep buying low quality yet over priced items such as Electronics ... it is as if the Electronics have entirely made of Blades with no safe way to handle them.

[Rothman]

Basically all of the issues mentioned in this thread are due to peoples' inability to use these technologies responsibly and in moderation.

Asked whether they would like to return to a time before humanity was "plugged in" –meaning before people had wide access to the internet and smartphones–77% of Americans age 35-54 said they would, the highest of any group.

What we need to do is go back to the 1970s.

Nah.

But TikTok? If TikTok shut down tomorrow the world would legitimately be a better place. Poisonous, disgusting app.

Pfft.  TikTok's algorithm just sends you what you want.  If you're disgusting, its disgusting.  My daughter got me hooked on it and the food porn helped me through a tough medical time recently when my diet was restricted.  Now, I just get fed mostly cute animal stuf and stupid human tricks.  If the algorithm sends me something vulgar, I report it whether against their guidelines or not.  Keeps the feed clean.

Then, I use the screen time tracker to limit my time.

It's what you make of it.

[roadman65]

Well I heard the flip phone is making a comeback as folks are so weary of notifications and spam.

A drive time DJ brought that info on a local Tampa Radio Station.

[Scott5114]

You're ahead of us in Kansas--getting access to that kind of information in this county means driving to the courthouse to use the data terminals on the sixth floor.

It's surprising to me that kind of data isn't accessible online in all fifty states. It is in the public interest for such information to be easily accessible to the general public; I know someone who makes a OSCN search a routine part of due diligence research when making hiring decisions, for instance.

Well, yes, misanthropes would place less of a value on friendship...

Not disputing that I'm a misanthrope, but I do very greatly value friendship. It's just that there's nobody from my past for me to rekindle a friendship with, because, surprise, being a roadgeek with interest in computer programming in a rural Plains town of 1200 people in the mid-2000s is not a recipe for having many friends in high school to begin with.

Just for the sake of argument, this thread led me to do a search on my closest friend from high school and just afterward. I found out that she now has multiple felony convictions for possession of methamphetamine and was a defendant in several civil lawsuits involving payday loan outfits. I also found several speeding tickets I don't remember hearing about despite the fact that the tag number and vehicle description listed on the ticket corresponds to the car I owned at the time. Not really someone I'm interested in seeing ever again, unfortunately. And this has been a typical life path for people I went to school with. As Kyle said:

85% rednecks, 20% meth addicts

...although I suspect that he's lowballing the meth addict number, actually.

I'm hoping that after I move I might be able to find more people that I enjoy the company of. This isn't just a me problem, by the way; my wife and my best friend have also had the same experience here in Oklahoma. The three of us basically only hang out with each other.

[GaryV]

85% rednecks, 20% meth addicts

...although I suspect that he's lowballing the meth addict number, actually.

20% is the non-redneck meth addicts

[Scott5114]

85% rednecks, 20% meth addicts

...although I suspect that he's lowballing the meth addict number, actually.

20% is the non-redneck meth addicts

85 + 20 = 105, implying that he's already accounted for overlap in the two figures.

[CtrlAltDel]

Basically all of the issues mentioned in this thread are due to peoples' inability to use these technologies responsibly and in moderation. ... What portion of that 77% would say that they themselves spend too much time looking at screens? Probably a lot. But obviously it's easier to complain about what everyone else is doing than it is to fix your own issues.

Addictions are hard to break.  Whether or not it's clinically a form of addiction, I think it's apparent that a great many people want to moderate their smartphone usage but find themselves unable.

Please. Everyone is 100% capable of moderating their smartphone usage. If we treat every overindulgence of a thing as a legitimate addiction, the actual real and dangerous addictions will be watered down to people and they'll get worse.

And what's your point anyways? That we shouldn't have smartphones because some people are addicted?

I don't know. It seems like there are degrees to addiction, like there are degrees to pretty much everything else.

[GCrites]

You're ahead of us in Kansas--getting access to that kind of information in this county means driving to the courthouse to use the data terminals on the sixth floor.

It's surprising to me that kind of data isn't accessible online in all fifty states. It is in the public interest for such information to be easily accessible to the general public; I know someone who makes a OSCN search a routine part of due diligence research when making hiring decisions, for instance.

Well, yes, misanthropes would place less of a value on friendship...

Not disputing that I'm a misanthrope, but I do very greatly value friendship. It's just that there's nobody from my past for me to rekindle a friendship with, because, surprise, being a roadgeek with interest in computer programming in a rural Plains town of 1200 people in the mid-2000s is not a recipe for having many friends in high school to begin with.

Just for the sake of argument, this thread led me to do a search on my closest friend from high school and just afterward. I found out that she now has multiple felony convictions for possession of methamphetamine and was a defendant in several civil lawsuits involving payday loan outfits. I also found several speeding tickets I don't remember hearing about despite the fact that the tag number and vehicle description listed on the ticket corresponds to the car I owned at the time. Not really someone I'm interested in seeing ever again, unfortunately. And this has been a typical life path for people I went to school with. As Kyle said:

85% rednecks, 20% meth addicts

...although I suspect that he's lowballing the meth addict number, actually.

I'm hoping that after I move I might be able to find more people that I enjoy the company of. This isn't just a me problem, by the way; my wife and my best friend have also had the same experience here in Oklahoma. The three of us basically only hang out with each other.

There is wayyyy too much emphasis on high school on Facebook. I realize that a lot of people didn't go to as much school as I did on postsecondary basis but I look at it as just four years where I couldn't control where I lived or where I went to school like adults can. So these are mostly people I had no choice but to be around. I only see about 5 people from high school on a regular basis.

[SSOWorld]

Well I heard the flip phone is making a comeback as folks are so weary of notifications and spam.

A drive time DJ brought that info on a local Tampa Radio Station.

You can turn the notifications OFF. 

I do.

[thspfc]

Basically all of the issues mentioned in this thread are due to peoples' inability to use these technologies responsibly and in moderation.

Asked whether they would like to return to a time before humanity was "plugged in" –meaning before people had wide access to the internet and smartphones–77% of Americans age 35-54 said they would, the highest of any group.

What we need to do is go back to the 1970s.

Nah.

But TikTok? If TikTok shut down tomorrow the world would legitimately be a better place. Poisonous, disgusting app.

Pfft.  TikTok's algorithm just sends you what you want.  If you're disgusting, its disgusting.  My daughter got me hooked on it and the food porn helped me through a tough medical time recently when my diet was restricted.  Now, I just get fed mostly cute animal stuf and stupid human tricks.  If the algorithm sends me something vulgar, I report it whether against their guidelines or not.  Keeps the feed clean.

Then, I use the screen time tracker to limit my time.

It's what you make of it.

You're right to an extent - it ties into what I said earlier about using tech responsibly and in moderation. But here's what sets TikTok apart as a truly bad and even dangerous social media platform:

1. short form content and TikTok's UI which I already wasted my time ranting about:

TikTok is poison. I probably (definitely) spend too much time on YouTube, but at least there's plenty of decent, genuinely entertaining content to be found there. It's much easier to bypass the nonsense because you actually have to click on a video to watch it, whereas on TikTok, simply scrolling off of one video will bring you immediately to the next. And once the video starts, you tell yourself you might as well watch the whole thing, even if it's terrible, because it's only a few extra seconds of your life. That's how 5 seconds turns into 15, turns into 30, turns into a minute, turns into an hour of completely wasted time. TikTok is a time suck designed to do nothing but keep you scrolling. It's not supposed to be meaningful content, because if it was, you wouldn't scroll as much.

Also relating to the UI, how it immediately plays videos when you open the app. They don't want you to use the search bar, because going straight to the search bar means you opened the app with a purpose in mind, and once you achieve that purpose, you'll be fulfilled (gasp), and you're probably going to exit the app. They want you to get lost in the first thing you see and just keep scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. They don't want you to be fulfilled.

Also, somebody's TikTok unexpectedly blasting at full volume because they forgot that videos will play immediately seems to happen on a weekly basis.


2. how aggressively TikTok uses info such as your contacts, search history, and location. I know that basically all social media apps can access that stuff, but I haven't seen any of them use it nearly as aggressively as TikTok does. Things I literally just searched for on Google will pop up first thing upon opening TikTok. It suggests constantly that I follow my contacts' accounts. By comparison, Snapchat for example will tell you if someone is in your contacts if you search for them, but it won't shove all your contacts into your feed.

3. it capitalizes on peer pressure in children. Adults should be expected to know what is stupid and what isn't, but TikTok seems to have absolutely zero issues with their app being a platform for all sorts of harm to children. Bullying, for sure, but what's worse are these wild "trends"  such as the 2021 "school shooter challenge"  where kids were supposed to make threats and eventually carry out those threats on a certain day. There was another one earlier this year where kids were supposed to call in false active shooter reports. And there's been all sorts of other nonsense trends such as stealing stuff from schools and businesses. The reason why TikTok is the place where these things originate is the algorithm that makes it so easy for a random video from random account to blow up; a 12 year old kid with no followers can post something and get millions of views, easily. And if it's harmful content, they don't care, because it's engaging and keeps other kids on the app.

4. by far the most disturbing is some of the content that they promote. Especially regarding underage girls. The number of pedophiles scrolling through that app has to be staggering, and again, they don't care. Yes, you can report it and it won't show up on your feed again, but the fact that it was there in the first place is disturbing.

5. there's the whole thing about China spying on us. Whether that's actually a problem or just sensationalism, who knows.

[Rothman]

Basically all of the issues mentioned in this thread are due to peoples' inability to use these technologies responsibly and in moderation.

Asked whether they would like to return to a time before humanity was "plugged in" –meaning before people had wide access to the internet and smartphones–77% of Americans age 35-54 said they would, the highest of any group.

What we need to do is go back to the 1970s.

Nah.

But TikTok? If TikTok shut down tomorrow the world would legitimately be a better place. Poisonous, disgusting app.

Pfft.  TikTok's algorithm just sends you what you want.  If you're disgusting, its disgusting.  My daughter got me hooked on it and the food porn helped me through a tough medical time recently when my diet was restricted.  Now, I just get fed mostly cute animal stuf and stupid human tricks.  If the algorithm sends me something vulgar, I report it whether against their guidelines or not.  Keeps the feed clean.

Then, I use the screen time tracker to limit my time.

It's what you make of it.

You're right to an extent - it ties into what I said earlier about using tech responsibly and in moderation. But here's what sets TikTok apart as a truly bad and even dangerous social media platform:

1. short form content and TikTok's UI which I already wasted my time ranting about:

TikTok is poison. I probably (definitely) spend too much time on YouTube, but at least there's plenty of decent, genuinely entertaining content to be found there. It's much easier to bypass the nonsense because you actually have to click on a video to watch it, whereas on TikTok, simply scrolling off of one video will bring you immediately to the next. And once the video starts, you tell yourself you might as well watch the whole thing, even if it's terrible, because it's only a few extra seconds of your life. That's how 5 seconds turns into 15, turns into 30, turns into a minute, turns into an hour of completely wasted time. TikTok is a time suck designed to do nothing but keep you scrolling. It's not supposed to be meaningful content, because if it was, you wouldn't scroll as much.

Also relating to the UI, how it immediately plays videos when you open the app. They don't want you to use the search bar, because going straight to the search bar means you opened the app with a purpose in mind, and once you achieve that purpose, you'll be fulfilled (gasp), and you're probably going to exit the app. They want you to get lost in the first thing you see and just keep scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. They don't want you to be fulfilled.

Also, somebody's TikTok unexpectedly blasting at full volume because they forgot that videos will play immediately seems to happen on a weekly basis.


2. how aggressively TikTok uses info such as your contacts, search history, and location. I know that basically all social media apps can access that stuff, but I haven't seen any of them use it nearly as aggressively as TikTok does. Things I literally just searched for on Google will pop up first thing upon opening TikTok. It suggests constantly that I follow my contacts' accounts. By comparison, Snapchat for example will tell you if someone is in your contacts if you search for them, but it won't shove all your contacts into your feed.

3. it capitalizes on peer pressure in children. Adults should be expected to know what is stupid and what isn't, but TikTok seems to have absolutely zero issues with their app being a platform for all sorts of harm to children. Bullying, for sure, but what's worse are these wild "trends"  such as the 2021 "school shooter challenge"  where kids were supposed to make threats and eventually carry out those threats on a certain day. There was another one earlier this year where kids were supposed to call in false active shooter reports. And there's been all sorts of other nonsense trends such as stealing stuff from schools and businesses. The reason why TikTok is the place where these things originate is the algorithm that makes it so easy for a random video from random account to blow up; a 12 year old kid with no followers can post something and get millions of views, easily. And if it's harmful content, they don't care, because it's engaging and keeps other kids on the app.

4. by far the most disturbing is some of the content that they promote. Especially regarding underage girls. The number of pedophiles scrolling through that app has to be staggering, and again, they don't care. Yes, you can report it and it won't show up on your feed again, but the fact that it was there in the first place is disturbing.

5. there's the whole thing about China spying on us. Whether that's actually a problem or just sensationalism, who knows.

Regarding the data usage concerns, I suppose that can be a legitimate concern.  For me, personally, I prefer content to be tailored to my desires.  Don't really care about what's done with my data, especially since efforts to allow individuals to profit from their own data seem to have gone kaput.

But, regarding what content is on TikTok, that's just a matter of personal accountability.  If the stupid challenges aren't happening on TikTok, they'll be happening through other avenues, like Snapchat or wherever the kids hang out nowadays.  And, of course, the dark side of the Internet is everywhere, not just on TikTok.  So, if you're going object to using TikTok because of content it provides that you would never watch yourself and would even report to the authorities if you came across it, fine, but by that logic, don't get on the Internet at all.

Oh, and I'm sure China is so excited to discover that I'm entertained by cute animals and humans ending up falling in various bodies of water unintentionally.  I look forward to how they'll use that to their advantage in the ongoing negotiations with our country...

[epzik8]

I came later than this cohort, but in similar fashion, I'd do good deleting all of my social media accounts.

[thspfc]

Basically all of the issues mentioned in this thread are due to peoples' inability to use these technologies responsibly and in moderation.

Asked whether they would like to return to a time before humanity was "plugged in" –meaning before people had wide access to the internet and smartphones–77% of Americans age 35-54 said they would, the highest of any group.

What we need to do is go back to the 1970s.

Nah.

But TikTok? If TikTok shut down tomorrow the world would legitimately be a better place. Poisonous, disgusting app.

Pfft.  TikTok's algorithm just sends you what you want.  If you're disgusting, its disgusting.  My daughter got me hooked on it and the food porn helped me through a tough medical time recently when my diet was restricted.  Now, I just get fed mostly cute animal stuf and stupid human tricks.  If the algorithm sends me something vulgar, I report it whether against their guidelines or not.  Keeps the feed clean.

Then, I use the screen time tracker to limit my time.

It's what you make of it.

You're right to an extent - it ties into what I said earlier about using tech responsibly and in moderation. But here's what sets TikTok apart as a truly bad and even dangerous social media platform:

1. short form content and TikTok's UI which I already wasted my time ranting about:

TikTok is poison. I probably (definitely) spend too much time on YouTube, but at least there's plenty of decent, genuinely entertaining content to be found there. It's much easier to bypass the nonsense because you actually have to click on a video to watch it, whereas on TikTok, simply scrolling off of one video will bring you immediately to the next. And once the video starts, you tell yourself you might as well watch the whole thing, even if it's terrible, because it's only a few extra seconds of your life. That's how 5 seconds turns into 15, turns into 30, turns into a minute, turns into an hour of completely wasted time. TikTok is a time suck designed to do nothing but keep you scrolling. It's not supposed to be meaningful content, because if it was, you wouldn't scroll as much.

Also relating to the UI, how it immediately plays videos when you open the app. They don't want you to use the search bar, because going straight to the search bar means you opened the app with a purpose in mind, and once you achieve that purpose, you'll be fulfilled (gasp), and you're probably going to exit the app. They want you to get lost in the first thing you see and just keep scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. They don't want you to be fulfilled.

Also, somebody's TikTok unexpectedly blasting at full volume because they forgot that videos will play immediately seems to happen on a weekly basis.


2. how aggressively TikTok uses info such as your contacts, search history, and location. I know that basically all social media apps can access that stuff, but I haven't seen any of them use it nearly as aggressively as TikTok does. Things I literally just searched for on Google will pop up first thing upon opening TikTok. It suggests constantly that I follow my contacts' accounts. By comparison, Snapchat for example will tell you if someone is in your contacts if you search for them, but it won't shove all your contacts into your feed.

3. it capitalizes on peer pressure in children. Adults should be expected to know what is stupid and what isn't, but TikTok seems to have absolutely zero issues with their app being a platform for all sorts of harm to children. Bullying, for sure, but what's worse are these wild "trends"  such as the 2021 "school shooter challenge"  where kids were supposed to make threats and eventually carry out those threats on a certain day. There was another one earlier this year where kids were supposed to call in false active shooter reports. And there's been all sorts of other nonsense trends such as stealing stuff from schools and businesses. The reason why TikTok is the place where these things originate is the algorithm that makes it so easy for a random video from random account to blow up; a 12 year old kid with no followers can post something and get millions of views, easily. And if it's harmful content, they don't care, because it's engaging and keeps other kids on the app.

4. by far the most disturbing is some of the content that they promote. Especially regarding underage girls. The number of pedophiles scrolling through that app has to be staggering, and again, they don't care. Yes, you can report it and it won't show up on your feed again, but the fact that it was there in the first place is disturbing.

5. there's the whole thing about China spying on us. Whether that's actually a problem or just sensationalism, who knows.

Regarding the data usage concerns, I suppose that can be a legitimate concern.  For me, personally, I prefer content to be tailored to my desires.  Don't really care about what's done with my data, especially since efforts to allow individuals to profit from their own data seem to have gone kaput.

But, regarding what content is on TikTok, that's just a matter of personal accountability.  If the stupid challenges aren't happening on TikTok, they'll be happening through other avenues, like Snapchat or wherever the kids hang out nowadays.  And, of course, the dark side of the Internet is everywhere, not just on TikTok.  So, if you're going object to using TikTok because of content it provides that you would never watch yourself and would even report to the authorities if you came across it, fine, but by that logic, don't get on the Internet at all.

Oh, and I'm sure China is so excited to discover that I'm entertained by cute animals and humans ending up falling in various bodies of water unintentionally.  I look forward to how they'll use that to their advantage in the ongoing negotiations with our country...

The difference is that TikTok promotes this dangerous content. Yes, it exists on all other platforms, but it's not allowed to reach the front page completely unchecked like it is on TikTok.

I'm kinda with you on the China thing, which is why I only threw it in there at the end. By itself it's not a reason to stop using the platform, but people should be aware of pro-Chinese censorship.

[kalvado]

Basically all of the issues mentioned in this thread are due to peoples' inability to use these technologies responsibly and in moderation.

Asked whether they would like to return to a time before humanity was "plugged in" –meaning before people had wide access to the internet and smartphones–77% of Americans age 35-54 said they would, the highest of any group.

What we need to do is go back to the 1970s.

Nah.

But TikTok? If TikTok shut down tomorrow the world would legitimately be a better place. Poisonous, disgusting app.

Pfft.  TikTok's algorithm just sends you what you want.  If you're disgusting, its disgusting.  My daughter got me hooked on it and the food porn helped me through a tough medical time recently when my diet was restricted.  Now, I just get fed mostly cute animal stuf and stupid human tricks.  If the algorithm sends me something vulgar, I report it whether against their guidelines or not.  Keeps the feed clean.

Then, I use the screen time tracker to limit my time.

It's what you make of it.

You're right to an extent - it ties into what I said earlier about using tech responsibly and in moderation. But here's what sets TikTok apart as a truly bad and even dangerous social media platform:

1. short form content and TikTok's UI which I already wasted my time ranting about:

TikTok is poison. I probably (definitely) spend too much time on YouTube, but at least there's plenty of decent, genuinely entertaining content to be found there. It's much easier to bypass the nonsense because you actually have to click on a video to watch it, whereas on TikTok, simply scrolling off of one video will bring you immediately to the next. And once the video starts, you tell yourself you might as well watch the whole thing, even if it's terrible, because it's only a few extra seconds of your life. That's how 5 seconds turns into 15, turns into 30, turns into a minute, turns into an hour of completely wasted time. TikTok is a time suck designed to do nothing but keep you scrolling. It's not supposed to be meaningful content, because if it was, you wouldn't scroll as much.

Also relating to the UI, how it immediately plays videos when you open the app. They don't want you to use the search bar, because going straight to the search bar means you opened the app with a purpose in mind, and once you achieve that purpose, you'll be fulfilled (gasp), and you're probably going to exit the app. They want you to get lost in the first thing you see and just keep scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. They don't want you to be fulfilled.

Also, somebody's TikTok unexpectedly blasting at full volume because they forgot that videos will play immediately seems to happen on a weekly basis.


2. how aggressively TikTok uses info such as your contacts, search history, and location. I know that basically all social media apps can access that stuff, but I haven't seen any of them use it nearly as aggressively as TikTok does. Things I literally just searched for on Google will pop up first thing upon opening TikTok. It suggests constantly that I follow my contacts' accounts. By comparison, Snapchat for example will tell you if someone is in your contacts if you search for them, but it won't shove all your contacts into your feed.

3. it capitalizes on peer pressure in children. Adults should be expected to know what is stupid and what isn't, but TikTok seems to have absolutely zero issues with their app being a platform for all sorts of harm to children. Bullying, for sure, but what's worse are these wild "trends"  such as the 2021 "school shooter challenge"  where kids were supposed to make threats and eventually carry out those threats on a certain day. There was another one earlier this year where kids were supposed to call in false active shooter reports. And there's been all sorts of other nonsense trends such as stealing stuff from schools and businesses. The reason why TikTok is the place where these things originate is the algorithm that makes it so easy for a random video from random account to blow up; a 12 year old kid with no followers can post something and get millions of views, easily. And if it's harmful content, they don't care, because it's engaging and keeps other kids on the app.

4. by far the most disturbing is some of the content that they promote. Especially regarding underage girls. The number of pedophiles scrolling through that app has to be staggering, and again, they don't care. Yes, you can report it and it won't show up on your feed again, but the fact that it was there in the first place is disturbing.

5. there's the whole thing about China spying on us. Whether that's actually a problem or just sensationalism, who knows.

Regarding the data usage concerns, I suppose that can be a legitimate concern.  For me, personally, I prefer content to be tailored to my desires.  Don't really care about what's done with my data, especially since efforts to allow individuals to profit from their own data seem to have gone kaput.

But, regarding what content is on TikTok, that's just a matter of personal accountability.  If the stupid challenges aren't happening on TikTok, they'll be happening through other avenues, like Snapchat or wherever the kids hang out nowadays.  And, of course, the dark side of the Internet is everywhere, not just on TikTok.  So, if you're going object to using TikTok because of content it provides that you would never watch yourself and would even report to the authorities if you came across it, fine, but by that logic, don't get on the Internet at all.

Oh, and I'm sure China is so excited to discover that I'm entertained by cute animals and humans ending up falling in various bodies of water unintentionally.  I look forward to how they'll use that to their advantage in the ongoing negotiations with our country...

The difference is that TikTok promotes this dangerous content. Yes, it exists on all other platforms, but it's not allowed to reach the front page completely unchecked like it is on TikTok.

I'm kinda with you on the China thing, which is why I only threw it in there at the end. By itself it's not a reason to stop using the platform, but people should be aware of pro-Chinese censorship.

.... They do not remove things at will! Beware of this dangerous censorship strategy!...

[thspfc]

Basically all of the issues mentioned in this thread are due to peoples' inability to use these technologies responsibly and in moderation.

Asked whether they would like to return to a time before humanity was "plugged in" –meaning before people had wide access to the internet and smartphones–77% of Americans age 35-54 said they would, the highest of any group.

What we need to do is go back to the 1970s.

Nah.

But TikTok? If TikTok shut down tomorrow the world would legitimately be a better place. Poisonous, disgusting app.

Pfft.  TikTok's algorithm just sends you what you want.  If you're disgusting, its disgusting.  My daughter got me hooked on it and the food porn helped me through a tough medical time recently when my diet was restricted.  Now, I just get fed mostly cute animal stuf and stupid human tricks.  If the algorithm sends me something vulgar, I report it whether against their guidelines or not.  Keeps the feed clean.

Then, I use the screen time tracker to limit my time.

It's what you make of it.

You're right to an extent - it ties into what I said earlier about using tech responsibly and in moderation. But here's what sets TikTok apart as a truly bad and even dangerous social media platform:

1. short form content and TikTok's UI which I already wasted my time ranting about:

TikTok is poison. I probably (definitely) spend too much time on YouTube, but at least there's plenty of decent, genuinely entertaining content to be found there. It's much easier to bypass the nonsense because you actually have to click on a video to watch it, whereas on TikTok, simply scrolling off of one video will bring you immediately to the next. And once the video starts, you tell yourself you might as well watch the whole thing, even if it's terrible, because it's only a few extra seconds of your life. That's how 5 seconds turns into 15, turns into 30, turns into a minute, turns into an hour of completely wasted time. TikTok is a time suck designed to do nothing but keep you scrolling. It's not supposed to be meaningful content, because if it was, you wouldn't scroll as much.

Also relating to the UI, how it immediately plays videos when you open the app. They don't want you to use the search bar, because going straight to the search bar means you opened the app with a purpose in mind, and once you achieve that purpose, you'll be fulfilled (gasp), and you're probably going to exit the app. They want you to get lost in the first thing you see and just keep scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. They don't want you to be fulfilled.

Also, somebody's TikTok unexpectedly blasting at full volume because they forgot that videos will play immediately seems to happen on a weekly basis.


2. how aggressively TikTok uses info such as your contacts, search history, and location. I know that basically all social media apps can access that stuff, but I haven't seen any of them use it nearly as aggressively as TikTok does. Things I literally just searched for on Google will pop up first thing upon opening TikTok. It suggests constantly that I follow my contacts' accounts. By comparison, Snapchat for example will tell you if someone is in your contacts if you search for them, but it won't shove all your contacts into your feed.

3. it capitalizes on peer pressure in children. Adults should be expected to know what is stupid and what isn't, but TikTok seems to have absolutely zero issues with their app being a platform for all sorts of harm to children. Bullying, for sure, but what's worse are these wild "trends"  such as the 2021 "school shooter challenge"  where kids were supposed to make threats and eventually carry out those threats on a certain day. There was another one earlier this year where kids were supposed to call in false active shooter reports. And there's been all sorts of other nonsense trends such as stealing stuff from schools and businesses. The reason why TikTok is the place where these things originate is the algorithm that makes it so easy for a random video from random account to blow up; a 12 year old kid with no followers can post something and get millions of views, easily. And if it's harmful content, they don't care, because it's engaging and keeps other kids on the app.

4. by far the most disturbing is some of the content that they promote. Especially regarding underage girls. The number of pedophiles scrolling through that app has to be staggering, and again, they don't care. Yes, you can report it and it won't show up on your feed again, but the fact that it was there in the first place is disturbing.

5. there's the whole thing about China spying on us. Whether that's actually a problem or just sensationalism, who knows.

Regarding the data usage concerns, I suppose that can be a legitimate concern.  For me, personally, I prefer content to be tailored to my desires.  Don't really care about what's done with my data, especially since efforts to allow individuals to profit from their own data seem to have gone kaput.

But, regarding what content is on TikTok, that's just a matter of personal accountability.  If the stupid challenges aren't happening on TikTok, they'll be happening through other avenues, like Snapchat or wherever the kids hang out nowadays.  And, of course, the dark side of the Internet is everywhere, not just on TikTok.  So, if you're going object to using TikTok because of content it provides that you would never watch yourself and would even report to the authorities if you came across it, fine, but by that logic, don't get on the Internet at all.

Oh, and I'm sure China is so excited to discover that I'm entertained by cute animals and humans ending up falling in various bodies of water unintentionally.  I look forward to how they'll use that to their advantage in the ongoing negotiations with our country...

The difference is that TikTok promotes this dangerous content. Yes, it exists on all other platforms, but it's not allowed to reach the front page completely unchecked like it is on TikTok.

I'm kinda with you on the China thing, which is why I only threw it in there at the end. By itself it's not a reason to stop using the platform, but people should be aware of pro-Chinese censorship.

.... They do not remove things at will! Beware of this dangerous censorship strategy!...

You think it's totally fine for them to not remove a video going viral that encourages teenagers to threaten to bomb their school?

[Rothman]

Basically all of the issues mentioned in this thread are due to peoples' inability to use these technologies responsibly and in moderation.

Asked whether they would like to return to a time before humanity was "plugged in" –meaning before people had wide access to the internet and smartphones–77% of Americans age 35-54 said they would, the highest of any group.

What we need to do is go back to the 1970s.

Nah.

But TikTok? If TikTok shut down tomorrow the world would legitimately be a better place. Poisonous, disgusting app.

Pfft.  TikTok's algorithm just sends you what you want.  If you're disgusting, its disgusting.  My daughter got me hooked on it and the food porn helped me through a tough medical time recently when my diet was restricted.  Now, I just get fed mostly cute animal stuf and stupid human tricks.  If the algorithm sends me something vulgar, I report it whether against their guidelines or not.  Keeps the feed clean.

Then, I use the screen time tracker to limit my time.

It's what you make of it.

You're right to an extent - it ties into what I said earlier about using tech responsibly and in moderation. But here's what sets TikTok apart as a truly bad and even dangerous social media platform:

1. short form content and TikTok's UI which I already wasted my time ranting about:

TikTok is poison. I probably (definitely) spend too much time on YouTube, but at least there's plenty of decent, genuinely entertaining content to be found there. It's much easier to bypass the nonsense because you actually have to click on a video to watch it, whereas on TikTok, simply scrolling off of one video will bring you immediately to the next. And once the video starts, you tell yourself you might as well watch the whole thing, even if it's terrible, because it's only a few extra seconds of your life. That's how 5 seconds turns into 15, turns into 30, turns into a minute, turns into an hour of completely wasted time. TikTok is a time suck designed to do nothing but keep you scrolling. It's not supposed to be meaningful content, because if it was, you wouldn't scroll as much.

Also relating to the UI, how it immediately plays videos when you open the app. They don't want you to use the search bar, because going straight to the search bar means you opened the app with a purpose in mind, and once you achieve that purpose, you'll be fulfilled (gasp), and you're probably going to exit the app. They want you to get lost in the first thing you see and just keep scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. They don't want you to be fulfilled.

Also, somebody's TikTok unexpectedly blasting at full volume because they forgot that videos will play immediately seems to happen on a weekly basis.


2. how aggressively TikTok uses info such as your contacts, search history, and location. I know that basically all social media apps can access that stuff, but I haven't seen any of them use it nearly as aggressively as TikTok does. Things I literally just searched for on Google will pop up first thing upon opening TikTok. It suggests constantly that I follow my contacts' accounts. By comparison, Snapchat for example will tell you if someone is in your contacts if you search for them, but it won't shove all your contacts into your feed.

3. it capitalizes on peer pressure in children. Adults should be expected to know what is stupid and what isn't, but TikTok seems to have absolutely zero issues with their app being a platform for all sorts of harm to children. Bullying, for sure, but what's worse are these wild "trends"  such as the 2021 "school shooter challenge"  where kids were supposed to make threats and eventually carry out those threats on a certain day. There was another one earlier this year where kids were supposed to call in false active shooter reports. And there's been all sorts of other nonsense trends such as stealing stuff from schools and businesses. The reason why TikTok is the place where these things originate is the algorithm that makes it so easy for a random video from random account to blow up; a 12 year old kid with no followers can post something and get millions of views, easily. And if it's harmful content, they don't care, because it's engaging and keeps other kids on the app.

4. by far the most disturbing is some of the content that they promote. Especially regarding underage girls. The number of pedophiles scrolling through that app has to be staggering, and again, they don't care. Yes, you can report it and it won't show up on your feed again, but the fact that it was there in the first place is disturbing.

5. there's the whole thing about China spying on us. Whether that's actually a problem or just sensationalism, who knows.

Regarding the data usage concerns, I suppose that can be a legitimate concern.  For me, personally, I prefer content to be tailored to my desires.  Don't really care about what's done with my data, especially since efforts to allow individuals to profit from their own data seem to have gone kaput.

But, regarding what content is on TikTok, that's just a matter of personal accountability.  If the stupid challenges aren't happening on TikTok, they'll be happening through other avenues, like Snapchat or wherever the kids hang out nowadays.  And, of course, the dark side of the Internet is everywhere, not just on TikTok.  So, if you're going object to using TikTok because of content it provides that you would never watch yourself and would even report to the authorities if you came across it, fine, but by that logic, don't get on the Internet at all.

Oh, and I'm sure China is so excited to discover that I'm entertained by cute animals and humans ending up falling in various bodies of water unintentionally.  I look forward to how they'll use that to their advantage in the ongoing negotiations with our country...

The difference is that TikTok promotes this dangerous content. Yes, it exists on all other platforms, but it's not allowed to reach the front page completely unchecked like it is on TikTok.

I'm kinda with you on the China thing, which is why I only threw it in there at the end. By itself it's not a reason to stop using the platform, but people should be aware of pro-Chinese censorship.

.... They do not remove things at will! Beware of this dangerous censorship strategy!...

You think it's totally fine for them to not remove a video going viral that encourages teenagers to threaten to bomb their school?

Back in my day, that was Heathers and Pump Up the Volume and who knows what other movies, so...sure.

[thspfc]

Basically all of the issues mentioned in this thread are due to peoples' inability to use these technologies responsibly and in moderation.

Asked whether they would like to return to a time before humanity was "plugged in" –meaning before people had wide access to the internet and smartphones–77% of Americans age 35-54 said they would, the highest of any group.

What we need to do is go back to the 1970s.

Nah.

But TikTok? If TikTok shut down tomorrow the world would legitimately be a better place. Poisonous, disgusting app.

Pfft.  TikTok's algorithm just sends you what you want.  If you're disgusting, its disgusting.  My daughter got me hooked on it and the food porn helped me through a tough medical time recently when my diet was restricted.  Now, I just get fed mostly cute animal stuf and stupid human tricks.  If the algorithm sends me something vulgar, I report it whether against their guidelines or not.  Keeps the feed clean.

Then, I use the screen time tracker to limit my time.

It's what you make of it.

You're right to an extent - it ties into what I said earlier about using tech responsibly and in moderation. But here's what sets TikTok apart as a truly bad and even dangerous social media platform:

1. short form content and TikTok's UI which I already wasted my time ranting about:

TikTok is poison. I probably (definitely) spend too much time on YouTube, but at least there's plenty of decent, genuinely entertaining content to be found there. It's much easier to bypass the nonsense because you actually have to click on a video to watch it, whereas on TikTok, simply scrolling off of one video will bring you immediately to the next. And once the video starts, you tell yourself you might as well watch the whole thing, even if it's terrible, because it's only a few extra seconds of your life. That's how 5 seconds turns into 15, turns into 30, turns into a minute, turns into an hour of completely wasted time. TikTok is a time suck designed to do nothing but keep you scrolling. It's not supposed to be meaningful content, because if it was, you wouldn't scroll as much.

Also relating to the UI, how it immediately plays videos when you open the app. They don't want you to use the search bar, because going straight to the search bar means you opened the app with a purpose in mind, and once you achieve that purpose, you'll be fulfilled (gasp), and you're probably going to exit the app. They want you to get lost in the first thing you see and just keep scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. They don't want you to be fulfilled.

Also, somebody's TikTok unexpectedly blasting at full volume because they forgot that videos will play immediately seems to happen on a weekly basis.


2. how aggressively TikTok uses info such as your contacts, search history, and location. I know that basically all social media apps can access that stuff, but I haven't seen any of them use it nearly as aggressively as TikTok does. Things I literally just searched for on Google will pop up first thing upon opening TikTok. It suggests constantly that I follow my contacts' accounts. By comparison, Snapchat for example will tell you if someone is in your contacts if you search for them, but it won't shove all your contacts into your feed.

3. it capitalizes on peer pressure in children. Adults should be expected to know what is stupid and what isn't, but TikTok seems to have absolutely zero issues with their app being a platform for all sorts of harm to children. Bullying, for sure, but what's worse are these wild "trends"  such as the 2021 "school shooter challenge"  where kids were supposed to make threats and eventually carry out those threats on a certain day. There was another one earlier this year where kids were supposed to call in false active shooter reports. And there's been all sorts of other nonsense trends such as stealing stuff from schools and businesses. The reason why TikTok is the place where these things originate is the algorithm that makes it so easy for a random video from random account to blow up; a 12 year old kid with no followers can post something and get millions of views, easily. And if it's harmful content, they don't care, because it's engaging and keeps other kids on the app.

4. by far the most disturbing is some of the content that they promote. Especially regarding underage girls. The number of pedophiles scrolling through that app has to be staggering, and again, they don't care. Yes, you can report it and it won't show up on your feed again, but the fact that it was there in the first place is disturbing.

5. there's the whole thing about China spying on us. Whether that's actually a problem or just sensationalism, who knows.

Regarding the data usage concerns, I suppose that can be a legitimate concern.  For me, personally, I prefer content to be tailored to my desires.  Don't really care about what's done with my data, especially since efforts to allow individuals to profit from their own data seem to have gone kaput.

But, regarding what content is on TikTok, that's just a matter of personal accountability.  If the stupid challenges aren't happening on TikTok, they'll be happening through other avenues, like Snapchat or wherever the kids hang out nowadays.  And, of course, the dark side of the Internet is everywhere, not just on TikTok.  So, if you're going object to using TikTok because of content it provides that you would never watch yourself and would even report to the authorities if you came across it, fine, but by that logic, don't get on the Internet at all.

Oh, and I'm sure China is so excited to discover that I'm entertained by cute animals and humans ending up falling in various bodies of water unintentionally.  I look forward to how they'll use that to their advantage in the ongoing negotiations with our country...

The difference is that TikTok promotes this dangerous content. Yes, it exists on all other platforms, but it's not allowed to reach the front page completely unchecked like it is on TikTok.

I'm kinda with you on the China thing, which is why I only threw it in there at the end. By itself it's not a reason to stop using the platform, but people should be aware of pro-Chinese censorship.

.... They do not remove things at will! Beware of this dangerous censorship strategy!...

You think it's totally fine for them to not remove a video going viral that encourages teenagers to threaten to bomb their school?

Back in my day, that was Heathers and Pump Up the Volume and who knows what other movies, so...sure.

Back in your day domestic terrorism in schools wasn't an issue.

Not sure if you have kids, but I guess you'd be comfortable with a student at your child's school making overt threats to kill other students via social media, and the platform not reporting it to police, taking it down, banning the account, or doing anything about it at all.

[hotdogPi]

For some reason, I had always thought until now that Rothman wasn't that much older than I am, likely in his early 30s. I must have been confusing him with vdeane: both work for NYSDOT in the Albany area, and both have Interstate shield avatars. (I just checked Rothman's first few posts on the forum, which shows that my belief was way off.)

(I had to check because someone in that age group likely would have encountered threats of domestic terrorism in schools.)

[kalvado]

Basically all of the issues mentioned in this thread are due to peoples' inability to use these technologies responsibly and in moderation.

Asked whether they would like to return to a time before humanity was "plugged in" –meaning before people had wide access to the internet and smartphones–77% of Americans age 35-54 said they would, the highest of any group.

What we need to do is go back to the 1970s.

Nah.

But TikTok? If TikTok shut down tomorrow the world would legitimately be a better place. Poisonous, disgusting app.

Pfft.  TikTok's algorithm just sends you what you want.  If you're disgusting, its disgusting.  My daughter got me hooked on it and the food porn helped me through a tough medical time recently when my diet was restricted.  Now, I just get fed mostly cute animal stuf and stupid human tricks.  If the algorithm sends me something vulgar, I report it whether against their guidelines or not.  Keeps the feed clean.

Then, I use the screen time tracker to limit my time.

It's what you make of it.

You're right to an extent - it ties into what I said earlier about using tech responsibly and in moderation. But here's what sets TikTok apart as a truly bad and even dangerous social media platform:

1. short form content and TikTok's UI which I already wasted my time ranting about:

TikTok is poison. I probably (definitely) spend too much time on YouTube, but at least there's plenty of decent, genuinely entertaining content to be found there. It's much easier to bypass the nonsense because you actually have to click on a video to watch it, whereas on TikTok, simply scrolling off of one video will bring you immediately to the next. And once the video starts, you tell yourself you might as well watch the whole thing, even if it's terrible, because it's only a few extra seconds of your life. That's how 5 seconds turns into 15, turns into 30, turns into a minute, turns into an hour of completely wasted time. TikTok is a time suck designed to do nothing but keep you scrolling. It's not supposed to be meaningful content, because if it was, you wouldn't scroll as much.

Also relating to the UI, how it immediately plays videos when you open the app. They don't want you to use the search bar, because going straight to the search bar means you opened the app with a purpose in mind, and once you achieve that purpose, you'll be fulfilled (gasp), and you're probably going to exit the app. They want you to get lost in the first thing you see and just keep scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. They don't want you to be fulfilled.

Also, somebody's TikTok unexpectedly blasting at full volume because they forgot that videos will play immediately seems to happen on a weekly basis.


2. how aggressively TikTok uses info such as your contacts, search history, and location. I know that basically all social media apps can access that stuff, but I haven't seen any of them use it nearly as aggressively as TikTok does. Things I literally just searched for on Google will pop up first thing upon opening TikTok. It suggests constantly that I follow my contacts' accounts. By comparison, Snapchat for example will tell you if someone is in your contacts if you search for them, but it won't shove all your contacts into your feed.

3. it capitalizes on peer pressure in children. Adults should be expected to know what is stupid and what isn't, but TikTok seems to have absolutely zero issues with their app being a platform for all sorts of harm to children. Bullying, for sure, but what's worse are these wild "trends"  such as the 2021 "school shooter challenge"  where kids were supposed to make threats and eventually carry out those threats on a certain day. There was another one earlier this year where kids were supposed to call in false active shooter reports. And there's been all sorts of other nonsense trends such as stealing stuff from schools and businesses. The reason why TikTok is the place where these things originate is the algorithm that makes it so easy for a random video from random account to blow up; a 12 year old kid with no followers can post something and get millions of views, easily. And if it's harmful content, they don't care, because it's engaging and keeps other kids on the app.

4. by far the most disturbing is some of the content that they promote. Especially regarding underage girls. The number of pedophiles scrolling through that app has to be staggering, and again, they don't care. Yes, you can report it and it won't show up on your feed again, but the fact that it was there in the first place is disturbing.

5. there's the whole thing about China spying on us. Whether that's actually a problem or just sensationalism, who knows.

Regarding the data usage concerns, I suppose that can be a legitimate concern.  For me, personally, I prefer content to be tailored to my desires.  Don't really care about what's done with my data, especially since efforts to allow individuals to profit from their own data seem to have gone kaput.

But, regarding what content is on TikTok, that's just a matter of personal accountability.  If the stupid challenges aren't happening on TikTok, they'll be happening through other avenues, like Snapchat or wherever the kids hang out nowadays.  And, of course, the dark side of the Internet is everywhere, not just on TikTok.  So, if you're going object to using TikTok because of content it provides that you would never watch yourself and would even report to the authorities if you came across it, fine, but by that logic, don't get on the Internet at all.

Oh, and I'm sure China is so excited to discover that I'm entertained by cute animals and humans ending up falling in various bodies of water unintentionally.  I look forward to how they'll use that to their advantage in the ongoing negotiations with our country...

The difference is that TikTok promotes this dangerous content. Yes, it exists on all other platforms, but it's not allowed to reach the front page completely unchecked like it is on TikTok.

I'm kinda with you on the China thing, which is why I only threw it in there at the end. By itself it's not a reason to stop using the platform, but people should be aware of pro-Chinese censorship.

.... They do not remove things at will! Beware of this dangerous censorship strategy!...

You think it's totally fine for them to not remove a video going viral that encourages teenagers to threaten to bomb their school?

Back in my day, that was Heathers and Pump Up the Volume and who knows what other movies, so...sure.

Back in your day domestic terrorism in schools wasn't an issue.

Not sure if you have kids, but I guess you'd be comfortable with a student at your child's school making overt threats to kill other students via social media, and the platform not reporting it to police, taking it down, banning the account, or doing anything about it at all.

One may either complain about failure to remove or complain about censorship, but not both. At least not on the same line.
Sincerely,
Captain Obvious

[J N Winkler]

I had to check because someone in that age group likely would have encountered threats of domestic terrorism in schools.

Columbine happened in 1992, when I was still in high school, and our current DA--whom I would estimate is about five to ten years older than I am--has cited a mid-1980's shooting at his (then rural, now suburban) high school as a formative experience that prompted him to pursue a career in public service.  In terms of domestic terrorism more generally, the Oklahoma City bombing was in 1995, almost 30 years ago now.

The biggest differences your generation faces have to do with the cultural normalization and much greater availability of "black guns" (military-style rifles) due to expiry of the assault weapon ban, the emergence of "couch commando" culture over the course of 20 years of war in Afghanistan, the collapse of the gentlemen's agreement among shooting-sports journalists not to promote black guns, the Bush-era liability shield for gun manufacturers, and so on.

[thspfc]

Basically all of the issues mentioned in this thread are due to peoples' inability to use these technologies responsibly and in moderation.

Asked whether they would like to return to a time before humanity was "plugged in" –meaning before people had wide access to the internet and smartphones–77% of Americans age 35-54 said they would, the highest of any group.

What we need to do is go back to the 1970s.

Nah.

But TikTok? If TikTok shut down tomorrow the world would legitimately be a better place. Poisonous, disgusting app.

Pfft.  TikTok's algorithm just sends you what you want.  If you're disgusting, its disgusting.  My daughter got me hooked on it and the food porn helped me through a tough medical time recently when my diet was restricted.  Now, I just get fed mostly cute animal stuf and stupid human tricks.  If the algorithm sends me something vulgar, I report it whether against their guidelines or not.  Keeps the feed clean.

Then, I use the screen time tracker to limit my time.

It's what you make of it.

You're right to an extent - it ties into what I said earlier about using tech responsibly and in moderation. But here's what sets TikTok apart as a truly bad and even dangerous social media platform:

1. short form content and TikTok's UI which I already wasted my time ranting about:

TikTok is poison. I probably (definitely) spend too much time on YouTube, but at least there's plenty of decent, genuinely entertaining content to be found there. It's much easier to bypass the nonsense because you actually have to click on a video to watch it, whereas on TikTok, simply scrolling off of one video will bring you immediately to the next. And once the video starts, you tell yourself you might as well watch the whole thing, even if it's terrible, because it's only a few extra seconds of your life. That's how 5 seconds turns into 15, turns into 30, turns into a minute, turns into an hour of completely wasted time. TikTok is a time suck designed to do nothing but keep you scrolling. It's not supposed to be meaningful content, because if it was, you wouldn't scroll as much.

Also relating to the UI, how it immediately plays videos when you open the app. They don't want you to use the search bar, because going straight to the search bar means you opened the app with a purpose in mind, and once you achieve that purpose, you'll be fulfilled (gasp), and you're probably going to exit the app. They want you to get lost in the first thing you see and just keep scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. They don't want you to be fulfilled.

Also, somebody's TikTok unexpectedly blasting at full volume because they forgot that videos will play immediately seems to happen on a weekly basis.


2. how aggressively TikTok uses info such as your contacts, search history, and location. I know that basically all social media apps can access that stuff, but I haven't seen any of them use it nearly as aggressively as TikTok does. Things I literally just searched for on Google will pop up first thing upon opening TikTok. It suggests constantly that I follow my contacts' accounts. By comparison, Snapchat for example will tell you if someone is in your contacts if you search for them, but it won't shove all your contacts into your feed.

3. it capitalizes on peer pressure in children. Adults should be expected to know what is stupid and what isn't, but TikTok seems to have absolutely zero issues with their app being a platform for all sorts of harm to children. Bullying, for sure, but what's worse are these wild "trends"  such as the 2021 "school shooter challenge"  where kids were supposed to make threats and eventually carry out those threats on a certain day. There was another one earlier this year where kids were supposed to call in false active shooter reports. And there's been all sorts of other nonsense trends such as stealing stuff from schools and businesses. The reason why TikTok is the place where these things originate is the algorithm that makes it so easy for a random video from random account to blow up; a 12 year old kid with no followers can post something and get millions of views, easily. And if it's harmful content, they don't care, because it's engaging and keeps other kids on the app.

4. by far the most disturbing is some of the content that they promote. Especially regarding underage girls. The number of pedophiles scrolling through that app has to be staggering, and again, they don't care. Yes, you can report it and it won't show up on your feed again, but the fact that it was there in the first place is disturbing.

5. there's the whole thing about China spying on us. Whether that's actually a problem or just sensationalism, who knows.

Regarding the data usage concerns, I suppose that can be a legitimate concern.  For me, personally, I prefer content to be tailored to my desires.  Don't really care about what's done with my data, especially since efforts to allow individuals to profit from their own data seem to have gone kaput.

But, regarding what content is on TikTok, that's just a matter of personal accountability.  If the stupid challenges aren't happening on TikTok, they'll be happening through other avenues, like Snapchat or wherever the kids hang out nowadays.  And, of course, the dark side of the Internet is everywhere, not just on TikTok.  So, if you're going object to using TikTok because of content it provides that you would never watch yourself and would even report to the authorities if you came across it, fine, but by that logic, don't get on the Internet at all.

Oh, and I'm sure China is so excited to discover that I'm entertained by cute animals and humans ending up falling in various bodies of water unintentionally.  I look forward to how they'll use that to their advantage in the ongoing negotiations with our country...

The difference is that TikTok promotes this dangerous content. Yes, it exists on all other platforms, but it's not allowed to reach the front page completely unchecked like it is on TikTok.

I'm kinda with you on the China thing, which is why I only threw it in there at the end. By itself it's not a reason to stop using the platform, but people should be aware of pro-Chinese censorship.

.... They do not remove things at will! Beware of this dangerous censorship strategy!...

You think it's totally fine for them to not remove a video going viral that encourages teenagers to threaten to bomb their school?

Back in my day, that was Heathers and Pump Up the Volume and who knows what other movies, so...sure.

Back in your day domestic terrorism in schools wasn't an issue.

Not sure if you have kids, but I guess you'd be comfortable with a student at your child's school making overt threats to kill other students via social media, and the platform not reporting it to police, taking it down, banning the account, or doing anything about it at all.

One may either complain about failure to remove or complain about censorship, but not both. At least not on the same line.
Sincerely,
Captain Obvious

Nah, I can do both. I draw the line at threats to physically harm people or property. And so does the law; such threats can put you in jail.

[Rothman]

Basically all of the issues mentioned in this thread are due to peoples' inability to use these technologies responsibly and in moderation.

Asked whether they would like to return to a time before humanity was "plugged in" –meaning before people had wide access to the internet and smartphones–77% of Americans age 35-54 said they would, the highest of any group.

What we need to do is go back to the 1970s.

Nah.

But TikTok? If TikTok shut down tomorrow the world would legitimately be a better place. Poisonous, disgusting app.

Pfft.  TikTok's algorithm just sends you what you want.  If you're disgusting, its disgusting.  My daughter got me hooked on it and the food porn helped me through a tough medical time recently when my diet was restricted.  Now, I just get fed mostly cute animal stuf and stupid human tricks.  If the algorithm sends me something vulgar, I report it whether against their guidelines or not.  Keeps the feed clean.

Then, I use the screen time tracker to limit my time.

It's what you make of it.

You're right to an extent - it ties into what I said earlier about using tech responsibly and in moderation. But here's what sets TikTok apart as a truly bad and even dangerous social media platform:

1. short form content and TikTok's UI which I already wasted my time ranting about:

TikTok is poison. I probably (definitely) spend too much time on YouTube, but at least there's plenty of decent, genuinely entertaining content to be found there. It's much easier to bypass the nonsense because you actually have to click on a video to watch it, whereas on TikTok, simply scrolling off of one video will bring you immediately to the next. And once the video starts, you tell yourself you might as well watch the whole thing, even if it's terrible, because it's only a few extra seconds of your life. That's how 5 seconds turns into 15, turns into 30, turns into a minute, turns into an hour of completely wasted time. TikTok is a time suck designed to do nothing but keep you scrolling. It's not supposed to be meaningful content, because if it was, you wouldn't scroll as much.

Also relating to the UI, how it immediately plays videos when you open the app. They don't want you to use the search bar, because going straight to the search bar means you opened the app with a purpose in mind, and once you achieve that purpose, you'll be fulfilled (gasp), and you're probably going to exit the app. They want you to get lost in the first thing you see and just keep scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. They don't want you to be fulfilled.

Also, somebody's TikTok unexpectedly blasting at full volume because they forgot that videos will play immediately seems to happen on a weekly basis.


2. how aggressively TikTok uses info such as your contacts, search history, and location. I know that basically all social media apps can access that stuff, but I haven't seen any of them use it nearly as aggressively as TikTok does. Things I literally just searched for on Google will pop up first thing upon opening TikTok. It suggests constantly that I follow my contacts' accounts. By comparison, Snapchat for example will tell you if someone is in your contacts if you search for them, but it won't shove all your contacts into your feed.

3. it capitalizes on peer pressure in children. Adults should be expected to know what is stupid and what isn't, but TikTok seems to have absolutely zero issues with their app being a platform for all sorts of harm to children. Bullying, for sure, but what's worse are these wild "trends"  such as the 2021 "school shooter challenge"  where kids were supposed to make threats and eventually carry out those threats on a certain day. There was another one earlier this year where kids were supposed to call in false active shooter reports. And there's been all sorts of other nonsense trends such as stealing stuff from schools and businesses. The reason why TikTok is the place where these things originate is the algorithm that makes it so easy for a random video from random account to blow up; a 12 year old kid with no followers can post something and get millions of views, easily. And if it's harmful content, they don't care, because it's engaging and keeps other kids on the app.

4. by far the most disturbing is some of the content that they promote. Especially regarding underage girls. The number of pedophiles scrolling through that app has to be staggering, and again, they don't care. Yes, you can report it and it won't show up on your feed again, but the fact that it was there in the first place is disturbing.

5. there's the whole thing about China spying on us. Whether that's actually a problem or just sensationalism, who knows.

Regarding the data usage concerns, I suppose that can be a legitimate concern.  For me, personally, I prefer content to be tailored to my desires.  Don't really care about what's done with my data, especially since efforts to allow individuals to profit from their own data seem to have gone kaput.

But, regarding what content is on TikTok, that's just a matter of personal accountability.  If the stupid challenges aren't happening on TikTok, they'll be happening through other avenues, like Snapchat or wherever the kids hang out nowadays.  And, of course, the dark side of the Internet is everywhere, not just on TikTok.  So, if you're going object to using TikTok because of content it provides that you would never watch yourself and would even report to the authorities if you came across it, fine, but by that logic, don't get on the Internet at all.

Oh, and I'm sure China is so excited to discover that I'm entertained by cute animals and humans ending up falling in various bodies of water unintentionally.  I look forward to how they'll use that to their advantage in the ongoing negotiations with our country...

The difference is that TikTok promotes this dangerous content. Yes, it exists on all other platforms, but it's not allowed to reach the front page completely unchecked like it is on TikTok.

I'm kinda with you on the China thing, which is why I only threw it in there at the end. By itself it's not a reason to stop using the platform, but people should be aware of pro-Chinese censorship.

.... They do not remove things at will! Beware of this dangerous censorship strategy!...

You think it's totally fine for them to not remove a video going viral that encourages teenagers to threaten to bomb their school?

Back in my day, that was Heathers and Pump Up the Volume and who knows what other movies, so...sure.

Back in your day domestic terrorism in schools wasn't an issue.

Not sure if you have kids, but I guess you'd be comfortable with a student at your child's school making overt threats to kill other students via social media, and the platform not reporting it to police, taking it down, banning the account, or doing anything about it at all.

Pretty much.  I'd expect in this day and age the kid would be reported to police by someone who saw the video.

[Scott5114]

What I think is particularly silly about TikTok is the fact that the content of the videos is not policed, but the language is. You can't actually say the word 'kill', for instance. So TikTok users have to self-censor it to something stupid like 'unalive'. (No word on whether that would apply if you were talking about, say, a road project in Fishunalive, New York.)

P.S. The longer the quote, the happier the goat.

[CtrlAltDel]

I had to check because someone in that age group likely would have encountered threats of domestic terrorism in schools.

Columbine happened in 1992

Columbine happened in 1999. A Google search suggests that you may be referring to Lindhurst, which happened in 1992.

[Max Rockatansky]

I had to check because someone in that age group likely would have encountered threats of domestic terrorism in schools.

Columbine happened in 1992

Columbine happened in 1999. A Google search suggests that you may be referring to Lindhurst, which happened in 1992.

What tripped me up about Columbine was the two perpetrators were still into making Doom tech base levels in 1999.