US Politics 3

Victor Mildew wrote:I've ditched twitter and Facebook, it's beautiful. I've never used tick tock or Instagram so thankfully I don't have that gooseberry fool in my life.

Outrunner wrote:

Grumpy David wrote:How would the end user experience change if a different company to ByteDance owned Tik Tok? Is the assumption that the algorithms would push different content?

I don't know what stuff the TikTok algorithms currently push but despite my very left leaning politics I am regularly pushed:

Transphobic/Homophobic stuff
Anti-green content
Stuff by Ben Shapiro, Tim Pool, Jordan Peterson
Misogynistic content
Racist stuff

Twitter/X became unusable. I'm only sticking with Facebook because I have no other way of staying in touch with friends overseas otherwise the content would be driving me away. I stick with Youtube because I get a lot out of it but the algorithm usually goes like this: Watches video about anti-fascist movements or lgbt support groups or mental health support - Youtube - "Here's some videoes about nazis why you're an evil member of the lgbt community and also weak because real men don't have depression". I'm constantly curating stuff to try to stop seeing gooseberry fool like this but it's always a short term solution

Like I said, I don't know what currently gets pushed on TikTok but if Facebook, Google or X get their hands on it then I can't see them altering their approach about what gets pushed.

Grumpy David wrote:The worst case scenario is the status quo whilst potentially there is huge room for improvement.

Lex-Man wrote:

Outrunner wrote:

Grumpy David wrote:How would the end user experience change if a different company to ByteDance owned Tik Tok? Is the assumption that the algorithms would push different content?

I don't know what stuff the TikTok algorithms currently push but despite my very left leaning politics I am regularly pushed:

Transphobic/Homophobic stuff
Anti-green content
Stuff by Ben Shapiro, Tim Pool, Jordan Peterson
Misogynistic content
Racist stuff

Twitter/X became unusable. I'm only sticking with Facebook because I have no other way of staying in touch with friends overseas otherwise the content would be driving me away. I stick with Youtube because I get a lot out of it but the algorithm usually goes like this: Watches video about anti-fascist movements or lgbt support groups or mental health support - Youtube - "Here's some videoes about nazis why you're an evil member of the lgbt community and also weak because real men don't have depression". I'm constantly curating stuff to try to stop seeing gooseberry fool like this but it's always a short term solution

Like I said, I don't know what currently gets pushed on TikTok but if Facebook, Google or X get their hands on it then I can't see them altering their approach about what gets pushed.

That feels like Facebook. I get a lot of very left stuff and a lot of hard right. I seem to also be getting stuff about flat earth and creationism. I honestly don't know why I check it Facebook it terrible at what it was meant to be.

Grumpy David wrote:
Sounds like Tik Tok is already a shitshow. Hard to see how a change in ownership would make it worse for you? The worst case scenario is the status quo whilst potentially there is huge room for improvement.

Grumpy David wrote:

Alvin Flummux wrote:

Grumpy David wrote:

Alvin Flummux wrote:
79 US senators voted to ban it. They can't get 60 votes for a minimum wage hike, they can't address climate change or Christian nationalism or corruption or kids being shot in school, but they can recruit a ton of Democrats to destroy their own best messaging system.

So my original point isn't actually disputed then? Strong bipartisan support seems to only exist when it comes to tackling the Chinese Communist Party & winning Cold War II.

But it's not really about tackling China, or the new Cold War, at all - that's just how they sell it in the press, how the Democrats are able to justify betraying their voters - many of whom are avid TikTok users. It's all about money and power, and about controlling the ability of the American people (and whoever the lobbyists also hate) to communicate.

I know the "both parties equally bad" rhetoric is nonsense, and they really aren't the same, but in some respects, at some times, like this, they're only slightly different shades of the same foul and fetid color.

It doesn't need to be really tackling the CCP (although I think it is since it has got cross party support), if you can spin legislation as being tough on the CCP, you can get strong bipartisan support for legislation.

I've assumed most Tik Tokkers are too young to vote so there isn't a betrayal of voters? And it's not really a ban either, Tik Tok can just be legally separated from Bytedance so long as the new owners are not beholden to the CCP, problem solved. How does the end user get impacted by this change in ownership?

twitter.com/bidenhq/status/1783890599868793000

Hexx wrote:If assumed it because of a number of factors.

We’ve had, I believe, far more mass public protests against the genocide. Students can be part of those.

Carlos wrote:Interesting that we haven’t seen more campus protests over here given the large amount of students we have with skin in the game.

I can’t decide whether this is either a reflection of the keep-it-to-yourself British way of life, better knowledge of the complex problems of the Middle East by virtue of geography* or desensitisation.

*Id like to think that most students in the UK are aware that whilst it’s easy to say ‘free Palestine’ and the civilian casualties inflicted by Israel have been appalling that the situation is an incredibly complex mix of politics going all the way back to the Crusades.