#87: TikTok is too dangerous
...for backbench MPs
Hi.
This is Understanding TikTok. Your weekly TT newsletter. My name is Marcus. We are seeing a vertical video race these days. The WSJ has a nice intro video TikTok vs. Instagram Reels vs. YouTube Shorts and – yes – it includes racing cars ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Here is an additional New Yorker article that i found helpful. It explains TikTok’s rejection of the social-graph model.
Today we talk about:
🪕 Politicians, Politics and TikTok
🧘 Journalism and Vibes
🎧 TikTok Music
🪕 Politicians, Politics and TikTok
This week the British parliament has shut down its TikTok account (Politico) after a successful lobbying campaign by Conservative MPs (The Guardian). “We've got a Schrodinger's app situation, where TikTok is too dangerous for backbench MPs and parliament marketing staff to use, but is safe enough for Cabinet ministers with access to top-secret decisions to use freely”, tweets Chris Stokel-Walker.
Meanwhile New Zealand MPs have been warned not to use the self-proclaimed entertainment-first platform TikTok over fears China could access data (The Guardian). All this echoes efforts in the US where a growing number of US lawmakers are calling for the Biden administration to take action against TikTok (CNN). Maybe you heard that one before…
New analysis of the 2022 French elections by Tracking Exposed (PDF) shows how TikTok is a political platform, even if it is against their own will. Content related to the 2022 French Elections on TikTok has been viewed more that 1 billion times in under four months. But: candidate popularity on TikTok “does not directly translate into voting intentions.”
With the US Midterm elections coming closer (Midterm elections in the United States are the general elections that are held near the midpoint of a president's four-year term of office, on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November) it will be interesting to see how US parties are using TikTok: Twerking (Boston.com), trying (Politico), niche humor (USA Today), lobbying (Washington Examiner), misinfo (Poynter), or basically just using it (The Hill).
🧘 Journalism and Vibes
I updated my list of german media on TikTok in case you are into that. Thanks to the help of Elea there is an updated and extensive swiss list too. Meanwhile another couple of publications have joined the platform like Polygon – if you are into digital games or Dirt (come on guys, there is only one video yet) – if you like entertainment.
Sophia Smith Galer (just hit 100 million views) does make some valid points about media companies and journalists on the platform: I think we need to stop asking 'should newsrooms get on TikTok' (most are on there now, irrelevant of how long it took them) what we need to be asking is: who is actually doing a good job with it. Yes please!
An example to check out is Dazed (162.8K Followers 3.6M Likes). I think they did a pretty good job transitioning from paper to digital to TikTok. The process is not yet completed (of course not and never ever) and i see room for improvement but they are willing to try and that shows.
🎧 TikTok Music
A lot of could, would and maybe in the stories after the news broke that TikTok’s parent company ByteDance filed a trademark application for a service called “TikTok Music”. Will TikTok Music be the next big podcast platform, asks The Verge. Well, we do not know yet, do we?! TikTok like all other platforms is trying out a lot. Well, music is deep down in the DNA of the platform and the implications can be felt throughout the entire music industry up to Kate Bush’s castle manor.
What we do know: TikTok is signaling an aggressive audio-forward strategy (The Publish Press). The move could mean: The company might try to convert parts of TikTok’s user base into paying subscribers. It could represent a shift toward more lucrative corporate relationships. For artists it might offer a new path toward being discovered. We’ll see. Stretch out and wait.
Quote of the week
when people say "tiktok is just dance videos" they are actually saying "i refuse to engage with a massive shift in the way that people use the internet that is implicating over 1 billion monthly active users because i think it makes me seem more intellectual on twitter" Amanda Silberling
5 +1 More
Transparency again – TikTok is making it easier for researchers to delve into the data and protocols that make up the platform. In a blog post, TikTok COO Vanessa Pappas says TikTok will soon provide access to the “public and anonymized data” on the platform so “selected researchers” can “assess content and trends or conducts tests. (The Verge)
FoodTok – What Makes a TikTok Recipe? A conversation with Fran Magazine's Fran Hoepfner. If you like your lemon pasta you will enjoy this tasty conversation (Marianbull.substack).
How to find (and delete) your TikTok history. It is pretty easy. And useful. But please do not look up how many times you opened the app in a day. Not necessarily suited for digital wellbeing. (A lot of The Verge this time)
Content Moderation Africa – it is a mess. It sounds terrible. It is important to know. Suicide and animal cruelty for less than $3 an hour. (Insider)
You want Bama Rush? Bama Rush Tok consists of countless videos of University of Alabama pledges (known as PNMs, or prospective new members) doing various outfit-of-the-day videos for their week-long rush (Rolling Stone, The Cut). Well, here you are…
