TikTok is essentially a video platform. But with the number of users growing every day combined with increasing competition from other apps, it’s no surprise that TikTok has been working on catching up with other social networks in more ways. And TikTok’s next move is to let users receive direct messages from anyone, just like Instagram.
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The popular social network TikTok has been the target of spying accusations by the US government for quite some time due to its Chinese origins. And while TikTok was never actually banned from the United States, the government doesn’t seem happy about the app’s existence. The US House of Representatives has now ruled that government devices are not allowed to have TikTok installed.
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The ability to post longer videos on Twitter has been on a fair number of wish lists, and the company has good news and bad news on that front.
TikTok also seems to be feeling left out by all the Twitter controversy, so decided to create some of its own …
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Update: TikTok says it is today launching a new tool to provide greater transparency on how videos are added to a user’s feed. For any video, you can tap the Share panel then the question-mark icon called “Why this video?”. So far, it appears only very generic reasons are being offered – like “This video is popular in the United States” – but the company is promising greater granularity later …
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Opera is out with an update today that puts TikTok into the sidebar of its desktop browser. The company says it got strong feedback from users about wanting the feature and now it’s here to help you “multitask” and more.
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TikTok gaming has so far been a very small part of the streaming video app, but the company is said to be just days away from announcing an “enormous” push into the games market …
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Update: Boone has stated that there was no connection between the video and her contract not being renewed. She said that she worked the entirety of her contract period, and “remain[s] thankful for my career opportunities and growth from working at Apple, and how that helped pave the way for the wonderful job I have today.“
An Apple contractor reportedly found her contract “unexpectedly” not renewed after a day-in-the-life TikTok video went viral.
Nylah Boone’s “Day in the life of a Black girl working in tech” video didn’t reveal any secret goings-on within the company but did feature footage inside her office at Apple – as you can see below …
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TikTok announced on Thursday an update to its app that adds new tools for editing and adjusting videos. Users will now be able to adjust clips, sounds, images, and even text right from TikTok without having to leave the social network to use third-party apps.
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An announcement this morning has seen all TikTok election fundraising banned by the platform. Politicians and parties will not be able to use the short-form video app to solicit funds for the midterms, and they will also have all forms of monetization switched off …
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TikTok has announced a new feature that’s a blatant clone of the viral BeReal photo-sharing app. Branded as “TikTok Now,” the company says that this feature “brings the authenticity of TikTok to a whole new creative experience that connects you with those closest to you.”
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Execs from four tech giants were called before the Senate Homeland Security Committee yesterday. The Senate questioned Meta, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter on safety, privacy, misinformation, and more.
Apple CEO Tim Cook was also seen in the building, but he did not appear before the committee …
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A few days ago, a hacker group known as “AgainstTheWest” shared a post on a hacking forum claiming to have found security breaches in TikTok and WeChat. However, despite what the group says, TikTok has officially denied all reports about hackers having leaked its source code and sensitive user data.
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A growing number of TikTok mental health videos are posted by people with no qualifications, and the information they post is often inaccurate and irresponsible, say experts …
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The popular short video platform TikTok currently has two different feeds available to users. While the main “For You” feed features a mix of suggestions and content from accounts you follow, the “Following” feed focuses on videos from your friends. However, users may soon have access to a third feed called “Nearby.”
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An official survey in the UK shows that TikTok has replaced TV as the most popular entertainment source for young adults, while a separate Pew study reveals that 95% of US teens watch YouTube, many of them “almost constantly.”
Use of both apps and streaming services has dramatically changed the landscape for broadcast television …
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Fears about midterm election disinformation have led both Meta and TikTok to outline the defensive measures they plan to deploy. It follows a disastrous experience in 2016, when Facebook unwittingly sold political ad space to disinformation agents working on behalf of Russia.
Meta subsequently put in place protections for the 2020 elections, and says that it will maintain the strategies shown to be effective, as well as improving on them …
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Apple is reportedly threatening to fire an employee over her posting a TikTok with iPhone security tips and advice. As first spotted by The Verge, the employee was told that she “breached company policy” by identifying herself as an Apple employee in a video about Apple products.
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A report shows that even after the days of lockdowns have long passed, mobile usage is still growing in the US and several other countries. TikTok is the most consumed app worldwide, while Instagram is the most downloaded in Q2 of 2022.
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TikTok just announced it’s expanding its accessibility and translation tools starting today. After launching captions in 2021, the app is adding more languages for auto captions and translation features.
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An official depressing study revealed that TikTok is the fastest-growing source of news for British adults. For teenagers, the top news source was Instagram, closely followed by TikTok then YouTube.
The situation is even worse in the US, where a quarter of adults say they use TikTok to get their news.
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The TikTok algorithm has been at once the key to the success of the video streaming app, and the biggest criticism leveled against it. But it is now offering users the ability to filter out topics you don’t want to see.
The company is also introducing new automated moderation tools, including one that (finally!) applies age restrictions to videos not suitable for children, and another that aims to address the “rabbit hole” problem of users being shown a succession of depressing or other potentially harmful videos …
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An insane TikTok blackout challenge has been responsible for the deaths of seven children, according to a horrific new report today …
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TikTok shopping proved wildly popular in Asia, but plans to bring it to the US have been abandoned after a disastrous experience in the UK.
The UK launch was handled so badly that around half the staff working on the project walked out, and the exec in charge had to be replaced after deciding that he ‘didn’t believe’ in UK employment law …
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Earlier this week, an FCC commissioner in the United States called on both Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their respective apps stores. Now, TikTok parent company ByteDance has responded to the situation and confirmed that some China-based employees can access data of TikTok users in the United States.
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