I wrote about how the TikTok ban isn't just a platform reconfiguration, it will reshape the political leaning of the creator economy and permanently alter whose voices get heard online.
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Wether this is true or not, it doesn’t “feel” very true or relevant. The better argument right now is pointing out that our Reps don’t give a fuck about school shootings for decades, but tik tok gets banned after 8 years.
Today Trump says he will probably give it a 90 day extension. I'm curious, from people who did use TikTok - if Musk bought it, would that 'save it' for you? Would you keep using it if Musk owned it, assuming he applied the same shitty changes to it as he to Xitter that ruined it?
The TikTok ban will deplatform thousands of progressive content creators and skew online discourse to the right. It will consolidate media influence within right-leaning platforms like Meta and X. Over time, this reconfiguration will permanently alter the political landscape of the creator economy
While the majority of news content creators across the social media landscape are conservative men, a recent study found that TikTok is the *only* platform where left-leaning news influencers outnumber right-leaning ones.
TikTok also has more than double the concentration of news content creators who identify as LGBTQ+ or advocate for LGBTQ+ rights vs other platforms, and 73% of teens who identify as Democrats or lean left use TikTok, compared to 52% of teens who identify as Republican.
With Meta and X outright embracing right wing ideology, and YouTube becoming increasingly saturated, progressive creators who found a haven on TikTok, now face the near impossible task of rebuilding their communities on platforms that are hostile to their content. Most will fail.
TikTok is also my biggest platform, if you want to support my work please buy a yearly subscription to https://UserMag.co, if it's not something you can afford please subscribe for free and/or share links!! Every little bit helps when you're up against an entire massive right wing media structure.
Honest question by a Euro guy: Do you think another app or website can emerge now, if too many users feel they need a new home? Isn‘t this how the free market is supposed to work?
I understand that there are two photo/video sharing apps built on Bluesky's AT architecture that will be coming online (hopefully) in the next month or so. Does that give you any hope?
The youtube algorithm is definitely skewed to the right-wing crazy.
I have my liberal account, and before that I was under my Husband's (maga) account, and have a creator account. The other two are categorically being force fed fascism content.
Same on his phone because he is maga.
offering exciting ideas and energizing non-voters makes more sense to me then trying to change partisan voters’ choice. it’s what tr*^p did and it worked. liberals are too afraid to go left though.
love you Taylor. love your reporting. your passion. huge fan. but I’ve disagreed for two years, that’s when I left, with you about TikTok. it’s a security risk because of the part that’s owned and controlled by China. and it’s a fantastic app. no doubt. but there are other places. like here. ✌🏼
Progressive voices were there, but I suspect a lot more farmed outrage content circulates there daily, so one can argue that all commercial social media platforms were already aligned to the right, it's just that the algorithms fooled you to think these progressive people had any wide reach.
If a single platform can “reshape the political leaning of the creator economy”, then for a good reason it shouldn't be entirely controlled by our enemies.
???? I'm not defending China here. Two things can be bad at once and I think its clear that this ban isn't about national security, it's more about protecting US business interests.
This is why the time has come for decentralized social media. We have to take away government's power to constrain our freedoms of assembly, association, and speech.
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Well, that and the fact people were posting footage of Israeli war crimes.
I have my liberal account, and before that I was under my Husband's (maga) account, and have a creator account. The other two are categorically being force fed fascism content.
Same on his phone because he is maga.
Also TIL that locking Muslims up in concentration camps is now considered a left leaning ideology.
https://search.app/MSdwWMe5ZyAUVeWx6
Also, there is no TikTok ban. TikTok can still exist as long as it's not owned by an enemy of the United States.
BlueSky ain't it.