Tik Tok
Aditya: So, the infamous lip syncing, comedy, dancing app got vanished from Google, Apple app stores!
Vivaan: It amassed 120 million users monthly and was backed by Softbank’s 3 billion $ in October,2018
Aditya: I acknowledge! It consisted of content that was more of pornographic and abusive. A friend of mine became victim of cyber bullying.
Vivaan: Yes! And its conglomerate, ByteDance, valued at 75 billion dollars, is the world’s most highly valued startup which replaced UBER (holding this title for a long time) unexpectedly.
Aditya: Usage of AI technologies powered TikTok and got numerous youngsters hooked to its personalized blended content and that was the reason it had a loyal following of millions.
B: ByteDance acquired Musical.ly for 1 Billion dollars and merged it with Tik Tok in August,2018 which became the most downloaded free app in September, 2018.
So, here we are! Overhearing the conversation between two different sort of individuals. One is more interested in figures and other is having casual approach towards the latest news flowing in the market.
But I must say, it had amused Indian customers with its super cool features and skyscraping figures!
To be very honest, I haven’t even heard the name of Chinese “ ByteDance “ which failed to get any back from giants Alibaba or Tencent . And I can be forgiven on this part as well. Its western facing media presence is close to zero.
But had a very smart and clear approach. Ever seen 2Kgs extra weight getting transferred to another traveler’s luggage during check-in? And it did the same !
Acquired similar concept App named Musical.ly (having a considerable American audience) with all its users’ accounts getting transferred to their Tik Tok accounts , clearing its way to enter US economy.
Fantastic!
But these guys are still having heart-to-heart. Let us hear them!
Aditya: Tik Tok is available in 75 languages covering 150 markets and you know what? Its user spends an average 52 minutes daily on this app.
Vivaan: ByteDance put its first step in market with the launch of Toutiao, a massively popular news aggregation Chinese service using AI to track reader habits.
Aditya: But the most important issue at hand for Tik Tok is its addictive nature of content that is not in line with general etiquette of society.
Vivaan: The most recent incident that has fueled anger against Tik Tok is the case of Mohammad Salman, a 19-year-old boy from Delhi who reportedly lost his life after his friend Suhail Malik accidentally shot him while he was posing with a countrymade pistol for a TikTok video.
One thing, we need to know, is that this app is for the children aged 13+.
It definitely needs to maintain that decorum. But why only ban TikTok? This question still strikes my mind
And recently, it had put some quality features like “Filter comments “ which empowers users to filter up to 50 self-defined words in comment section and many more..
Is it too late for Tik Tok? Or the mistakes can still be rectified?
Lets’ hear from Supreme Court further on April 22
Until then, Stay tuned!