If you ask me, they both have those properties.
I mean, they have completely different models.
I would much prefer reddit to TikTok, the latter genuinely terrifies me…
Reddit is partly owned by Tencent, the biggest social media company in China. They also own TikTok. They’re not that different and are almost certainly converging in business models as we speak.
My point was that reddit is based around the concept of discussion and freedom (at least in theory, it’s kind of shady now), while TikTok is very restrictive, with very strict guidelines for content and no discussion. Users are blindly forced with content that they cannot even choose.
You cant really compare them like that. One is a discussion platform, the other is an entertainment platform. TV is probably a better comparison for TikTok than Reddit is.
Regarding privacy, companies like Reddit definitely dont have any right to point fingers. Personally I would always prefer the company that is not under US jurisdiction.
I would always prefer the company that is not under US jurisdiction.
This is the most important thing IMO. I’d rather have the Chinese government collecting my info than the US. China doesn’t have any power over me.
Yea from an individualistic perspective it makes sense, but ultimately you’re supporting quasi-orwellian surveillance practices by using it. The US is far from squeaky clean but it pales in comparison.
Gonna have to give a hard disagree there. US surveillance capability is far more widespread and powerful than China’s, partly because it’s composed of so many multinational corporations, it’s not just the government working on its own. They just don’t have as bad of a reputation because the US still maintains global hegemonic economic, political, military, and cultural control.
As the US empire falls we’re gonna be seeing that power used more and more as it tries to cling to that hegemony. Heck, it’s already happening. I know that’s why some of us are here now.
Still, I think the privacy implications specifically are similar.
TikTok is literally designed to learn your preferences for content, from which a lot more sensitive information can be inferred, like very detailed information about your psychology, which can later be used for all kinds of scary shit. Reddit certainly has tracking, but I don’t think it’s as bad…
TikTok is literally designed to learn your preferences for content
Reddit does this too. Maybe not as invasively, but they do it, especially for choosing which ads to serve you. They also do show you “recommended” content and “recommended” subreddits, especially if you use the app or the new webclient. You can apparently turn it off somewhat but how much you trust that is your call.
Yes, but I think that much much more information can be extracted with context preference with TikTok, than if, say, a person clicks on a suggested subreddit or not most and other suggested content…
Aaron Swartz also helped create Reddit. Yet he isn’t mentioned anywhere in the site description (at least I couldn’t find a mention). How much do you want to wager that it was because he kept pushing for privacy and even more so, free access to scientific information (which the government thinks is piracy)? Or maybe it’s simply because the other founders are so hungry for recognition they don’t even want a third name competing with theirs in the about page.
ironic
