TikTok | TechCrunch

‘For You’ feeds fail on election night, offering outdated information, angering users

Sarah Perez — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 15:49:06 +0000

“For You” algorithms that promote the most interesting content across a social network, personalized to the individual user, offered a disjointed, outdated, and nearly unusable experience on election night in the U.S. as they highlighted hours-old posts that no longer reflected the current state of the race. Frustrations were particularly high on Threads, Meta’s X […]

Billionaire Frank McCourt wants to buy TikTok; here’s his plan

Connie Loizos — Sat, 26 Oct 2024 18:14:00 +0000

This week on the StrictlyVC Download, hosts Connie Loizos and Alex Gove explore the intersection of technology, power, and the future of the internet with billionaire investor and philanthropist Frank McCourt. McCourt used to make headlines as the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers; now, he’s making waves with his ambitious efforts to reshape the […]

The fediverse is getting its own TikTok competitor called Loops

Sarah Perez — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 17:44:17 +0000

Similar to how Mastodon offers an open source, distributed version of X, the fediverse is getting its own TikTok competitor. This week, an app called Loops began accepting signups on its new platform for sharing short, looping videos. Still in the early stages, Loops is not yet open sourced, nor has it completed its integration […]

TikTok accounts are becoming divorce fodder

Connie Loizos — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 23:46:56 +0000

When Kat and Mike Stickler divorced, their biggest challenge was dividing a shared TikTok account with millions of followers that generated significant income, and they aren’t alone, reports The WSJ. A growing number of couples — and divorce attorneys — are grappling with how to assess the value of social media accounts when a couple […]

TikTok will now show its STEM feed to adults, not just teens

Aisha Malik — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 14:00:00 +0000

TikTok announced on Wednesday that it’s bringing its STEM feed to all users in the United States, United Kingdom, and Ireland by default. Previously, the feed was only turned on by default for users under the age of 18. The social network says the expansion will make it easier for people to find educational content […]

TikTok’s research reportedly acknowledges negative effects on teens

Anthony Ha — Sat, 12 Oct 2024 16:41:17 +0000

Court documents suggest that TikTok executives are aware of the app’s potential harm to teenagers, according to reporting by NPR and Kentucky Public Radio. Fourteen U.S. attorneys general sued TikTok earlier this week, claiming that the app harms children’s mental health. Much of the material in those suits was redacted, but reporters were able to […]

ByteDance lays off hundreds of TikTok employees in shift to AI content moderation

Aisha Malik — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 13:48:40 +0000

ByteDance’s TikTok is laying off hundreds of employees, mainly in Malaysia, according to Reuters. The cuts come as the social network is increasingly turning to AI for content moderation. The cuts do not impact employees in the U.S. Although TikTok did not provide the exact number, it said that less than 500 people were affected. […]

Fourteen AGs sue TikTok, claiming that it harms children’s mental health

Amanda Silberling — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 18:36:16 +0000

Fourteen U.S. attorneys general sued TikTok on Tuesday, alleging that the platform negatively impacts minors’ mental health and harvests data without their consent. TikTok, a U.S. company owned by the Chinese conglomerate ByteDance, is embroiled in a number of lawsuits that could threaten its operations. In another recent lawsuit, the FTC and the Justice Department […]

TikTok comes for Google’s ad business as it starts letting advertisers target its search results page

Aisha Malik — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 14:00:00 +0000

After building out its Search product over the past few years to take on Google, TikTok is now taking its Search ambitions even further by allowing advertisers to target its search results page. TikTok announced on Tuesday that it’s launching the “TikTok Search Ads Campaign,” a new keyword-based search solution that enables brands to appear […]

ByteDance is shutting down TikTok Music globally

Ivan Mehta — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 12:11:34 +0000

Subscribers can continue to use the service until November 28, after which renewals will be automatically canceled.

TikTok launches expanded subscriptions feature for creators

Aisha Malik — Mon, 23 Sep 2024 14:13:35 +0000

TikTok announced on Monday that its redesigned “Subscription” monetization offering is rolling out to eligible creators in select regions, including Brazil, France, Germany, Spain, the U.K., Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, and the U.S. The company says it plans to expand the feature to more markets in the coming weeks. The official rollout comes as […]

Snapchat tests ‘simple’ version of the app without Snap Map or Stories tab

Maxwell Zeff — Tue, 17 Sep 2024 17:15:00 +0000

Snapchat is rolling out a simplified version of the app to some users, the company announced on Tuesday during its Snap Partner Summit, as part of a test to make the disappearing photo app easier to use. “Simple Snapchat” declutters the app’s home screen, removing the Snap Map and Stories tabs, and consolidates its navigation […]

As TikTok ban heads to court, ByteDance’s Lemon8 surges

Sarah Perez — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 15:43:08 +0000

As TikTok heads to court on Monday to argue against a U.S. ban, parent company ByteDance’s newer social app, Lemon8, is once again surging to the top of the App Store in the U.S. The push is due, in part, to increased advertising. Described by TikTok influencers as a cross between Pinterest and Instagram — […]

Meta, TikTok, and Snap pledge to participate in program to combat suicide and self-harm content

Kyle Wiggers — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 13:55:50 +0000

In an attempt to prevent suicide and self-harm content from spreading online, the nonprofit Mental Health Coalition (MHC) today announced a new program, Thrive, aimed at encouraging online platforms to share “signals” of potentially harmful material. Thrive, which counts Meta, Snap, and TikTok as founding members, will provide ways for platforms to share hashes — […]

VC pitch show ‘Meet the Drapers’ partners with TikTok

Sarah Perez — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 16:44:10 +0000

Venture capitalist Tim Draper’s international pitch competition, “Meet the Drapers,” is partnering up with TikTok as it heads into its seventh season. Under the new tie-up, entrepreneurs will pitch their startups to the public through the short-form video app for one of the show’s upcoming episodes. The general public will then be able to vote […]

TikTok’s new ‘Manage Topics’ tool gives you more control over your For You feed; here’s how to use it

Aisha Malik — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 13:49:04 +0000

TikTok is introducing a new “Manage Topics” feature that will give you more control over what you see on your For You feed, the company announced on Friday. The new feature is rolling out to users in the U.S. With the new tool, you can tailor your For You feed to show you more or […]

TikTok comes for messaging apps with the addition of group chats

Aisha Malik — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 18:01:45 +0000

TikTok looks to be taking on popular messaging services like Meta’s WhatsApp and Apple’s Messages, as the company announced on Monday that it’s adding group chats to its platform. You can now create group chats with up to 32 people to chat and share content together. While people often share TikTok videos with each other […]

TikTok partners with Warner Bros. to become a discovery engine for TV and movies

Lauren Forristal — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 13:00:22 +0000

TikTok’s latest offering is capitalizing on the app’s ability to serve as a discovery engine for other media — something its users already take advantage of by sharing short clips of movies and TV shows. Today, the company is partnering with studios like Warner Bros. to launch a feature that lets users discover movies and […]

TikTok Lite: EU closes addictive design case after TikTok commits to not bring back rewards mechanism

Natasha Lomas — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 11:22:50 +0000

The European Commission has closed a Digital Services Act (DSA) investigation of a rewards feature in TikTok Lite by accepting commitments from the social media giant to permanently withdraw the feature from the EU. The TikTok Lite “task and reward” mechanism, launched in France and Spain earlier this year, lets users earn points for doing […]

FTC and Justice Department sue TikTok over alleged child privacy violations

Kyle Wiggers — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 20:12:22 +0000

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department are suing TikTok and ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, with violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The law requires digital platforms to notify and obtain parents’ consent before collecting and using personal data from children under the age of 13. In a press release issued […]