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WTF is going on with TikTok? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by wuphysics87@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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The sequence of events as far as I can recall:

Trump promised to ban TikTok
TikTok was slated to be "banned" in the twilight of Biden's term
Trump says he'd give it 90 days to make a decision
Biden decides not to ban it, handing it off to Trump
TikTok goes dark
It returns, but if you search for something anti-Trump in the United States, you can't find it
Using a VPN will give you that content
Various news outlets are now calling it Trump's "Propaganda Arm"

What the fuck is going on? From a political or technological standpoint.

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[–] teawrecks@sopuli.xyz 31 points 1 day ago (1 children)

He had to defend TikTok to win over youth votes for the election.

Now that he's pres again, he knows that in one year it will become very apparent that he can't lower grocery/gas prices, and isn't willing to take action on home prices, the deficit, AI, or wage inequality.

So instead he has a list of things that will prop up his approval rating, because that is the only metric that actually matters to him. Right now that seems to mean keeping TikTok, and annexing new territory (even if that just means renaming the Gulf of Mexico).

[–] christian@lemmy.ml 2 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

he has a list of things that will prop up his approval rating, because that is the only metric that actually matters to him

This almost feels overly forgiving to Trump, given what the remainder of our political body is. When judging US politicians by which metrics actually matter to them, "approval rating" puts someone way in the upper echelon.

[–] teawrecks@sopuli.xyz 2 points 7 hours ago

I would not agree. Every metric is subject to Goodhart's law, approval ratings is no exception. Putin has (allegedly) maintained an approval rating well over 50% for his entire career.

I'm not saying he wants to do right by his constituents, I'm saying he wants to be told he's a winner. Trump is a narcissist. He's all the other terrible things because at the end of the day he needs to feel liked. He will only do things that he thinks will fill that void.