TikTok is fumbling critical business partnerships and cluttering its app with unpopular features. It could be the beginning of the end.

The most obvious example is the TikTok Shop. The company is pushing its eCommerce so hard you hear about it more than any other topic on the app, both in ads and organic videos from creators hoping for a share of the profits. The app is even testing a new feature that uses AI to identify products in the background of regular content and turn every single video into an ad.

Then there’s the videos themselves. In a bid to compete with YouTube, TikTok is reportedly preparing to allow users to post 30-minute videos and prompting creators to upload horizontal content instead of the app’s standard vertical format. TikTok is even encouraging people to upload photo slideshows instead of videos altogether. On top of that, TikTok just fumbled a relationship with Universal Music Group, which pulled its music catalog off the platform and silenced any video featuring Taylor Swift, the Weeknd, and every other Universal artist.

  • astronaut_sloth@mander.xyzEnglish
    121·
    10 months ago

    I think a big difference, though, is that there is political force to ending TikTok. The US government has no major issues with Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, etc. existing. Remember, there’s actual legislation banning TikTok. Whether that makes a real difference or not, well, I guess we just wait and see. Personally, I think they all should go down in flames.

    • Crack0n7uesday@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      10 months ago

      The only ban on tiktok in the US refers to phones specifically given out by the government to be engaged in government business. Basically uncle sam said his employees can’t play one specific video game on their work phone.

    • Wappen@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      10 months ago

      What’s the actual argument behind banning TikTok though? IMO it’s just so that US firms remain the monopoly in the social media market.

      • astronaut_sloth@mander.xyzEnglish
        5·
        10 months ago

        Like @[email protected] said, it’s on government phones. The thinking goes that TikTok, which is a Chinese company, is exporting too much data from US government devices. In other words, the government is worried the Chinese are spying. Given the amount of data that the TikTok app actually collects, the fear is probably not unreasonable. All corporate-owned social media collects way too much data, but TikTok really is next level from what I’ve read.

      • Crack0n7uesday@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        Social media in general collects a lot of private information, so part of the reason is that bytedance as a whole company and their headquarters and owners is in China where they wouldn’t be subjected to US laws and regulations. If Facebook moved over seas they would probably do the same to Facebook.