Tag: TikTok

Is Social media done?

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

If you use any social media, you will probably be aware of the news regarding various platforms, and various information on ownership, and the like. It’s wound up with a lot of people being angry, and a lot of discussions on things like censorship. A conversation that started over the last few years on Twitter (X). Where abuse and death threats became the norm.

It seems as if a lot of the users of social media platforms are just coming to the realisation that we users are not the customers. The customers are the shareholders, the advertisers, the marketing teams, the ones who pay money to access the data of the users. That is where the money is. Not the photograph you took for dinner, but the information of where you bought that food, what bank you used, what shop, what brand of product did you buy. A lot of these things are simply things that your smart phone picks up. And that ‘stuff’ is what marketing companies want. That is how the social media companies make money, by showing you advertising that is targeted to you. As social media oligarchs make changes that benefit the money side of the company, but alienates huge portions of their user base.

I use TikTok a lot. I like watching different videos, and I have found a lot of really informative content on it. I like the whole video diary idea, and follow a lot of people who create daily videos in this way. However, different agencies have come out that TikTok is too liberal leaning, that it attacks the more conservative viewpoints. So there came this statement where the US government was going to close TikTok down, with the app actually closing their US app down. For 14 hours. For 14 hours, the rest of the world could access TikTok, and more local content rather than the US stuff. But after that 14 hours US users were welcomed back with a message thanking new US President Donald Trump.

The thing is, when the US users came back online, they noticed some changes. Various hashtags regarding the inauguration of Donald Trump, or LGBTQ+ things were unusable . With users being told that the topic couldn’t be referenced to for the ‘good’ of the TikTok community. People found that LGBTQ+ user pics were removed, with no indication from TikTok as to why. I, in fact ran a trial of my own after discussing the TikTok ban on my own profile, and found it go hardly any views, where as me asking whether people preferred kittens or puppies got my normal views, This, to me, proved that TikTok wasn’t sharing opinions that were negative in anyway about the TikTok ban. In fact, some users reported their videos just disappearing, without any warning or notification from TikTok themselves. This has lead to people talking about censorship, and try and understand why certain voices are being silenced.

The counter-argument was, that nobody cared when conservative voices were being silenced. But the truth is, they weren’t silenced. They maybe had accounts removed from social media, but that tended to be for threatening violence, spreading misinformation, and breaking the platforms terms and conditions. When Elon Musk purchased twitter in 2023, and renamed it X, he also reactivated a lot of the accounts which had been removed due to abuse. These people came back with gusto, as if nobody could stop them. The abuse they sent was awful. As a user who spoke up against them, I didn’t get a discussion, or even blocked, I got death threats. Every day. I didn’t even have a big account, with only a few hundred followers, but the site was rendered unusable. I closed my account in the wake of this, and ended up floating over to Meta’s Threads. Where I made a lot of bookish and formula 1 friends. And I saw the positives of social media again.

It looks like TikTok is going to be in US hands, when its CEO was trained by Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg. And I sit and wonder if this social media ‘fight’ has all been a ruse to make each platform more money, and whittle away the usability for us, the user. I mean, my Facebook and Instagram are currently unusable due to AI, and irrelevant US made bigoted content. What will these big tech billionaires do, if their platforms do become examples of the Dead Internet Theory? Will they simply just buy something else, or stick with their sinking ships? I mean, advertisers won’t pay for things human eye’s don’t actually see.

And then, today, I read the revelation that blogging is back. That people are going to divert away from social media and curate their own online spaces. It’s proof, to me, that if you keep at something long enough, it will eventually come back into fashion again. Look at me, ahead of the trend.

Take A Break

~ Sue ~ 1 Comment

Recently I have enjoyed some time off work. It wasn’t the usual, staying at home and pottering about. For once, I actually went away for some sunshine, away to Cyprus (with stops in Amsterdam and Paris). I hadn’t been abroad since 2019, before the pandemic, and it felt great to get away. I had never been to Amsterdam or Paris before, so it was nice to see somewhere different

Amsterdam was a flying visit, and was really hot. The transport into the city centre, from the airport, was very easy, and the city seems very walkable. You just need to be mindful for the bikes, as they are everywhere, and they don’t always follow the traffic lights. There are designated lanes for bikes, to keep them separate from cars and pedestrians. We took a trip on a canal cruise which offered wine and cheese along with the canal cruise. When I travel with my friend, we never really do tourist stuff, so it was a nice different experience.

It was a lovely way to see the city, and was so relaxing. I would recommend it to anyone who needs to see the city, as it was a lot of fun, and super relaxing. And I think it was the only way for someone, as clumsy as me, to see the city without being run over by a bike.

The main point of the holiday was for the Scotland football game in Cyprus. For me and and my friend, it is has been our annual holiday, our chance to experience another country. We were based in Paphos, which is a lovely part of the country. Spent a lot of time chilling out, and reading, which to me is a great holiday. And also spent a lot of time singing Scotland songs at the pub. Which is normal for a tartan army trip.

@suewantsariot

Scotland are in Cyprus. In Paphos, outside the wonderful flairspaphos. #bagpipes #scotland #footballawaydays #cyprus #tartanarmy #TAontour #holiday #paphos

♬ original sound – Sue

The stop on the way home was Paris. The plan was to spend a few hours in the city, and do some tourist things, like we had done in Amsterdam. But, alas, this did not happen to our expectations, mostly due to a run of bad luck with public transport, which concluded with arriving at the airport 30 minutes before gate closure. It was a nightmare. But all ended okay. We did spend a few hours in Paris. Saw the Louvre and Notre-Dame, and had a (late) breakfast at a wee cafe, which gave us free pastries. (Note: I will never say no to free food.) It was a lovely city, and I would really like to go back and explore more.

By the time we landed back in Edinburgh, it was pouring down with rain. And, with how hot it had been on our holiday, I, for one, was very happy to see it. I came home, got a take-away, and relaxed with a movie. But, to be honest, as much as I love going away on holiday, nothing beats getting back in your own bed. That night was the best sleep I had experienced in weeks. The only problem now, is that I feel like I need another holiday already.

TikTok

~ Sue ~ 1 Comment

I have been frequenting TikTok recently. People will sneer, as they have done already, as it is a ‘child’s app’.

No social media app is suitable for children to be left alone on. All parents should be aware of the content their child consumes, as you would if the child was playing outside. It is just as dangerous. There are people who will take advantage, as there is in the real world. Social media is even more dangerous, as people can pretend to be someone else, and get close to a child.

Since last year, with the first lockdown, TikTok became super popular. With people downloading the app in their millions, to beat boredom. Small 15 second videos can be uploaded by anyone. People talk about personal problems, hobbies, show a talent, discuss politics, anything. And it’s one of the few things my bad attention span is able to deal with.

I started making my own videos. Just moaning about life. Talking about my mental health and my struggles in losing weight. It’s so fast to do. And I think that is key to me using the app regularly. I find with a lot of social media, you are encouraged to edit everything, like a quest for perfection. I find, that 15 seconds is so quick. I can make a quick point, and upload before I can think too much. And I find it quite cathartic.