Journalist writes about discovering she’d been surveilled by TikTok
If you hate tiktok, I get it —- I really do. But please just know that you’re missing out on something wonderful, unique, and delightful; in fact, delightful in ways remarkably similar to the feeling that <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;highlights" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;highlights</a> gives you.<p>There’s a commonality between HN and TikTok that I haven’t yet been able to put into words. They’re both “bookish”. You feel like you’re exploring. Often times I’ll swipe past 6 or 7 memes in about 3 seconds, when something incredible catches my attention. And it’s often incredible in exactly the same way as HN: you feel like you’ve unearthed some fascinating gemstone. (And much like HN, it’s designed for entertainment, so you can waste arbitrary amounts of time if you fall under its spell too long.)<p>I wrote a comment at <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=34573893" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=34573893</a> showcasing the three lists I was particularly proud of: educational, physics, and math. But I have dozens more. There’s guitar tutorials, handyman repairs, a collection of 18 videos teaching you how to tie all kinds of useful knots, art tutorials, cute animals, hardcore ML discussions, and everything in between. Someday I’ll showcase them properly. (Theoretically you can view them on my TikTok profile, but I doubt it’s presented well: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.tiktok.com&#x2F;@theshawwn" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.tiktok.com&#x2F;@theshawwn</a>)<p>Just know that if you stomp TikTok out of existence, it’ll be a real loss. It’ll feel to me like you’d feel if someone burned down HN. And the calls for banning TikTok sound to me how you’d feel if Reddit was urging everybody to ban HN.<p>Now imagine that politicians are seriously considering whether to ban HN. That’s how it feels to read through the comments here about TikTok. The outrage is deserved and understandable, but it’ll be a real loss if it disappears.<p>If this comment coaxes you into trying out TikTok, one tip: use the “not interested” button ruthlessly. (Long press on a video.) The algorithm will dial you in after around 45 minutes, which isn’t so long. The first experience can feel jarring the same way that YouTube in incognito mode looks like a weird dystopian universe filled with people screaming at each other.