I’m curious as to how many of you are TikTok users. If not do you watch short form videos anywhere else such as YouTube Shorts or Reels?

  • cobysev@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    11 months ago

    No, I have never used TikTok. I was serving in the US military when it became a thing, and we were explicitly banned from using it.

    I worked in the IT field while serving, and we discovered that the app gave itself root access to your phone (full administrative privileges), prevented you from fully removing it once it was installed, and would then slowly copy all the data on your phone and send it to IP addresses in China. It was a massive security vulnerability, so all military members with security clearances were banned from using it.

    As for other short-form videos, I block all YouTube Shorts and refuse to touch Facebook Reels. I actually have F.B. Purity on my computer, which allows me to remove certain types of content from my Facebook feed. I have no games, no marketplace, no reels, and no ads or suggested content. Just a feed of posts from my friends list and that’s all.

    I really should get rid of Facebook completely, but it’s my one social media site that keeps me in touch with people I’ve known since childhood. If everyone I know moved to a better platform, I’d remove FB immediately. But for now, I just keep it for the easy contact with people.

      • cobysev@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        11 months ago

        When I turned 18, I joined the US military and left home. I spent 20 years living all over the world, wherever the military sent me. Every 1-3 years, I was in a new home where I knew nobody. If it wasn’t for Facebook (and MySpace for the first handful of years I was serving), I would’ve lost contact with everyone I knew every few years.

        The Internet was pretty primitive back then and smartphones weren’t a thing yet, so I had to keep a phone/email address book on me, along with a bunch of phone calling cards if I wanted to contact people I know.

        2 years ago, I retired and moved back home. Thanks to my Facebook connections, and staying in touch with people over the years, I had a community to return to. My wife and I are introverts with ADHD, so making new friends is really difficult. We’d basically be living like hermits if I didn’t already know people in the area. So I personally think it’s very important to maintain the social connections I have.

    • dill333@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      0·
      11 months ago

      It gains root access and transfers all of your data? Any source on that, other than “trust me”?

      I agree with others that it’s full of disinformation and can be used for propaganda, but getting root access to your phone (which usually disables a bunch of banking apps and others) seems like a stretch. Unless there’s a different type of rooting going on?

      I’m sure there’s shady shit going on, but I’d really love to see a reputable report on it.

    • Chozo@fedia.io
      0·
      11 months ago

      we discovered that the app gave itself root access to your phone (full administrative privileges), prevented you from fully removing it once it was installed

      This is untrue. To the best of my knoweldge, the TikTok app doesn’t even check for root access, let alone utilize it. Nor can it receive root access on a non-rooted device in the first place.

      I don’t like TikTok either, but there’s many more things that we can criticize them over which are actually true.