#Apps and Platforms

[elsaclack]

Yeah okay so like I said in the tags of the last post I’m rising from my tumblr grave to say that the ban on TikTok is symptomatic of a MUCH larger and more terrifying problem. Because yes, on its surface it’s silly dances and asmr and cooking videos and whatever, but in truth and at its core, TikTok single-handedly revolutionized the way 170 million Americans communicated with each other AND the rest of the world. Non-Americans love to point out how America-centric Americans are, but fail to realize that we are purposefully raised in an isolated, insulated environment where we are told from basically day 1 that America Is The Best and not to even bother taking a look around because it’s all downhill from outside of here. TikTok has, for MANY Americans, single-handedly destroyed that notion and allowed them (us!!) to broaden our world-view and realize that actually, things are better in other countries, and it did so in a kind, empathetic, and compassionate way.

And yeah most people wake up to the truth of that on their own as they get older, but holy shit!! The VAST majority of the Americans on TikTok are millennials and gen z (and even some older gen alpha)!! People who are becoming disillusioned with “The American Dream” (said with the HEAVIEST sarcasm) while they’re still school-aged or are just entering young-adulthood!! People who are entering - or TRYING to enter - the American workforce who suddenly have an unfiltered window into non-American lives and are wondering why tf we’re struggling and penny-pinching and toeing the line of poverty while our rich elected officials sit around and fight and argue over everything that actually matters to the citizens they supposedly represent and get richer all the while. THAT is why they’re banning the app, and that fact alone should terrify every single American citizen.

Not to mention the precedent it sets for other social media platforms!! You think some nebulous, unproven, and unfounded “threat to national security” will stop with TikTok?? They’ve already censored Adult Material on tumblr, who’s gonna stop them from coming back and doing it again or getting rid of it altogether for the exact same reason? It’s a blatant act of censorship and a direct attack on the American first amendment right to free speech.

NOTHING radicalized me the way tiktok did. I watched people in my life who were STAUNCH Trump supporters in 2016 AND 2020 wake up to the truth and vote blue for the first time in their lives BECAUSE OF TIKTOK, and did so with al the nuanced understanding that even Democrats are severely failing this country, but are at least better than the alternative. That level of awareness and presence in the average US citizen scares American politicians.

The fact that the vast majority of them - including the ones loudly opposing the ban!! - bought stock in Meta BEFORE the ban was legalized/upheld by the Supreme Court?? That Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk were legally allowed to lobby congress to ban TikTok when BOTH stood to DIRECTLY financially gain from their biggest competitor being banned in the US and are guilty of unethically gathering data and selling it to MULTIPLE third parties?? The fact that Trump is now teasing that he may or may not intervene to save TikTok when he was the one who talked about banning it in the first place AND ALSO OWNS HIS OWN COMPETING SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM??

It’s the burning of Alexandria. It’s the loss of a significant chunk of culture. It’s the sharp and sudden loss of contact with the rest of the world for more than half of all American citizens. It’s the loss of $240 BILLION dollars in the GDP when the country is already TRILLIONS of dollars in debt. And on an individualistic level, it’s the loss of millions of small businesses and primary income streams for so many individuals and families who found their primary audience on TikTok. Is the app perfect? HELL no. Are there significant changes needed to make it a safe environment for all users? ABSOLUTELY. But that can also be said of ANY social media platform. TikTok openly fostered connection and communication and creativity and compassion that is completely unique to that platform! It made so many people - myself included!! - feel less alone. I get the feeling I know what the general consensus is about TikTok on this site, but the ban on this app should scare the shit out of everyone.

[joycrispy]

[cobra-creampuff]

the fact that they made it illegal to make ads louder than programs on tv in 2010 but haven't updated it to apply the same regulation to streaming. who do i have to call.

[muddypolitics]

(via ICEBlock - See Something, Tap Something)

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apple platform - no android...yet

[hexedgelphie]

not to hate on some of the viewers but I think a professor whose experienced severance for two years who is then rescued by her bloody husband, willing to die for her, and that husband confesses his undying love to her- next thing she knows is she’s blacked out until she’s in a stairwell- this intelligent professor can put two and two together that he’s also severed and he wouldn’t risk his life, love on her, and then suddenly see a bad bitch in a hallway and say well, nevermind.

i think we all need to give a little more credit to Gemma’s intelligence that part of her devastation is her understanding he’s also severed.

[a-man-in-the-crowd]

i genuinely hate hate webtoon sometimes because why on earth am i not allowed to download episodes more than once?? literally what does that accomplish besides pissing me off you can't even screenshot downloaded episodes 😭

[tapeworrmart]

Idk what's going on rn or if its really anything to worry about but, you can also find me and my art over on X (tapeworrrm), and bluesky (tapeworrm). Just in case....

[skunkes]

Hey, if it's possible for my bisexual bear boyfriend to want this unemployed (half)mexican tboy with a bipolar disorder, you can achieve this too

[saturnsocoolioyep]

This is what I wrote in the feedback section for the new discord update:

I absolutely hate that the messages like group chats and DMs are in a different tab than servers now. there was absolutely nothing broken about the way that it was laid out and displayed before, so there's no reason to "fix" it!! I also am sorely missing the ability to swipe left to look at all members of a server, the having to click on the top feels clunky and visually unpleasant. I hate being taken to an entirely different screen just to see who's online! it's an entirely unnecessary extra step that helps no one. the idea of "prioritizing messaging" by putting private messages and group chats in a tab seperate from servers is completely asinine when discord as a whole is a messaging service in and of itself! also, it's a small aesthetic change but rounding the corners of the servers when swiping to look at the servers at the side is unnecessary and unwelcome and overall incredibly displeasing to look at. speaking of swiping, making it so swiping left creates a reply to a message is the most unnecessary, confusing, and almost MALICIOUS feeling change yet, especially when swiping left had an entirely different function before. please listen to your user base and stop making so many changes that absolutely NO ONE is actually asking for and actively make the user experience worse. you have a good app, it is not broken, stop trying to fix things that don't need to be changed because you've continually only made things worse.

[whyisthisfrenchguymasturbating]

wait i just remembered being online is stupid & i hate it

[irrevocablecondition]

Hi, what is your opinion on hp fans still making Rowling’s books relevant by being in the fandom and talking about it? (For example hp has been 2nd most popular fandom on ao3. so this puts light on her work) I feel kind of guilty, like I'm a bad person for not being strong enough to let go of something I love for the benefit of marginalized groups. I'm not giving her money, but many people still say that's not enough and that I'm still supporting her just by making the hp fandom alive. I'm struggling. How do you deal with this?

i've spoken about this so much yes !!! it's such an Issue. my second (?) pinned video on tiktok talks about this a bit but i'll yap here too !

it's such a big part of why i'm always talking about jkr because i can be doing absolutely everything right, and i'm still complicit in it, yk? we're all Here. we're all keeping her relevant. that's why the reboot in particular is so frustrating because so many marauders creators on tiktok posted about it and it's like,,, oh. we can't avoid this.

so what Can we do? i think for me it's letting myself feeling that guilt? i think if you're feeling a certain amount of guilt, you're aware and you're on the right track. i wouldn't trust someone who doesn't feel a slight bit guilty engaging here tbh, especially right now.

harry potter is always going to be one of the biggest fandoms and this is where alllll the other discussions i've had comes into it !!! like yes, boycotting is great.

blowing up celebs comments? random people's comments? engaging on the official hp tiktok? posting your old merch? etc etc - all of this is Bad too. even if it seems like a bit of fun. all of that encourages engagement with her, especially when those celebs are then asked about it on the red carpet etc.

i think it's just about the least possible harm but yeah. that guilt hasn't really gone in my experience. i try,,,? like talking about it a lot helps but it's Hard. it's hard when i'm dealing with all these restrictions irl and then i come online and,,, engage with hp. the guilt hasn't really gone even if i'm doing the best i can.

but i do think if you're doing it Right. if you're keeping it in the fandom, if you're boycotting, if you're having these conversations? then you're doing the best you can.

but no yeah it's just a countdown to the reboot for me. the marauders fandom has 1000% benefitted her (hence the pandering) so i think a lot of us are just waiting to see the response to that and taking it as our cue to leave

so this isn't very positive i'm sorry !! you've caught me in one of my funks where i've spent the last week beating myself up about having a hp tiktok lols so it's a Lot Of Guilt right now, because it's undeniable that we keep her relevant.

but it's down to us on whether that relevance is good or not, you know?

[demigods-posts]

something that i'll be eternally grateful for is the support i recieve on this blog. i created it in may of 2023 so i had somewhere to put my pjo fixation. and almost a year later, there are nearly five thousand people who look forward to hearing what i have to say. truly a blessing. forever grateful.

[pestercide]

Making fanart is great and all but it's not something I want to be defined by,, I want my OCs to be just as loved as my fanart. I know that's not something realistic, because fanart typically leaves my usual audience, as is to be expected

That's not to say I'm unhappy that people enjoy my fanart! I guess it's more the fact that a majority of my following has been built off of Spooky Month when it's not a fandom I plan on interacting much with anymore, if at all, since I want to focus on my OCs and potentially other pieces of media I enjoy

To be fair I should put more time and effort into actually talking about and drawing my OCs as a way to get people interested in them. Back when I was on the dead bird app I managed to get people to care about my OC Mortis (who was a Spooky Month fan character at the time tbf) by constantly rambling about him. Same goes for several of my other OCs like Dia and Finn

[fexarii]

Ah- ah- Ah-CHOO! Sorry . sniffle . hayfever.

(original image by Daniel Hentschel)

[shironezuninja]

Decided to catch up on some manga reading.