S11.E30: TikTok

[Lantern7]

Normally, I’d wait until the episode fully airs before starting the topic. According to the show’s Facebook, tonight is the season finale.

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Our season finale starts tonight at 11:10pm! And John is going to miss you guys so much between now and our season 12 premiere in February, he’s actually tearing up right now. But if we let him play with a ball for 10 mins backstage he should snap out of it. Hence 11:10.

 

Edited November 18 by Lantern7

[Annber03]

"Luckily all our laws are more than 18 years old, so Gaetz shouldn't have much interest in them."

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn...

But yeah, seriously, these picks are just...beyond insane. I'd LOVE to think that there'll be enough pushback to try and get as many of them removed as options as possible, but let's just say I'm not exactly holding my breath on that one. That would require the GOP to grow a collective spine, and clearly they've lost any and all ability to do that over the past decade. 

As for the main story, I am not on Tik Tok, and don't follow social media platforms in general, so I have no personal fight when it comes to the talk of banning these particular platforms. And setting aside all the spying concerns, honestly, given how toxic a lot of the rhetoric and beahvior and activity often tends to be on social medai in general nowadays, sometimes I wonder if it gneuinely wouldn't be better for everyone if we severely cut back on or cut out social media altogether at this point (obviously I know that won't solve all the problems with that stuff, just general venting more than anything). 

That being said, I also can easily see where some other social media companies, like Meta, would actively encourage the shtuting down of any social media outlets that pose a serious competition to them, and I don't think that kind of mindset should be encouraged. And considering the NSA's spying history, and the fact that you don't even need to have a social media acount to have some online site gathering your personal data, I mean...banning Tik Tok really does just seem like a band aid for a bigger problem. 

It'd also be a hell of a lot easier to buy the concerns about foreign influence and spying if some of the same politicians worrying about that weren't eagerly preparing to allow a guy who's literally Putin's puppet and who Putin clearly has osme kind of serious blackmail on to waltz right back into the White House. Like, if you're going to worry about national security threats to our country, maybe look at the guy who's about to take the top leadership role of our entire freaking country? Just saying. 

In other topics...if my family member forced me to listen to Limbaugh I wouldn't want to spend the holidays with them, either. 

That Zuckerberg version of "Get Low" was certainly...a thing that exists. I hate this timeline. 

So John didn't blow anything up this time around, but I do like his hopes for next year, faint and scattered though they may be. I do not envy him and his staff having to prepare for whatever chaos we're about to get YET AGAIN with Trump coming back to the White House ('cause god forbid we ever finally just be rid of this guy once and for all), but I too share his hopes that they'll still be able to do some lighthearted stuff in the midst of it all, if only for their mental health more than anything else. 

Also, curse John for even putting the Giuliani idea out there. 

Until February, then!

[Lantern7]

I guess the show ran out of quarries to make years explode in. Or maybe the writers were really optimistic that wouldn't be an option on Election Day.

The TikTok stuff was illuminating, but it couldn't distract from the epic shitshow that nation has become. An accused sexual predator being considered for Attorney General is at the top. Actually, no, that would be an anti-vax nutjob going up to head health services. All this thanks to a raging megalomaniac getting elected to high office again, the party that lets him do whatever he wants in exchange for getting to advance their regressive agenda, and a Supreme Court chock full of the unqualified and those that would have been thrown out in any other age.

Is it silly to fear for John? I know he would've been in more danger during the first administration, since he didn't become a citizen until 2019. I just feel like Drumpf could fuck with anything and everything we like . . . and that would include sending a tetchy voice of reason back to England. I shouldn't sorry. I don't think John has that much clout to be "dealt with." Rig an election for birds in New Zealand? He can do that . . . but he couldn't swing an election.

[Palimelon]

I would totally watch "Dick or snake?" if it were a real TV show.

The Susan Collins Scale means most (if not all) of Trump's pics will be approved, I think.

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I also can easily see where some other social media companies, like Meta, would actively encourage the shtuting down of any social media outlets that pose a serious competition to them

Or just buy them outright, they did with Instagram and Whatsapp.

One reason I think people are worrying about TikTok is that there hasn't been a new social media app that is American based/owned that is trending with the younger crowd. Facebook and Instagram have an older user base than TikTok, and as people get older, they aren't signing up for those 2 platforms the way younger people are for TikTok, which means less users in the long run, which hurts their business model.

China having access to people's information sucks. But then again, so do the companies in the US having access to people's information in the US as well. And let's be honest, they aren't that altruistic about not sharing it with others as well, even if they are selling it for business purposes. And given how many of the billionaires who own these companies (even companies like Amazon) are cozying up to the incoming administration, that should be equally as worrying as anything TikTok does.

[shapeshifter]

Regarding all social media platforms collecting data for purposes of marketing or more nefarious purposes, shouldn’t Congress just demand all social media companies have their default settings be to protect users’ privacy? 

Anyway, thank you, John Oliver & company, for keeping the Senator Cotton clip as short as possible but still long enough that (as my kids’ not-yet-quite-PC 1980s Cinderella book with sound effects said about the female step-relatives) Senator Cotton‘s “true nature was revealed.”

 

4 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

The TikTok stuff was illuminating, but it couldn't distract from the epic shitshow that nation has become. An accused sexual predator being considered for Attorney General is at the top. Actually, no, that would be…

…a convicted 

4 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

…sexual predator being…at the top.

i.e., headed for the oval.
(FIFY)

Edited November 18 by shapeshifter

[EtheltoTillie]

I laughed out loud at the cattle rustler gag.

[peeayebee]

11 hours ago, Annber03 said:

"Luckily all our laws are more than 18 years old, so Gaetz shouldn't have much interest in them."

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn...

OMGosh, what a perfect and hilarious statement. So so good.

The nominations are so incredibly bizarre and unbelievable. I'm torn about what the reasons Trump has for some of them. Rewarding his stalwart supporters. Check. Ensuring that he'll have sycophants (or what I call psychophants) doing whatever he wants. Check. Owning the libs? Maybe. Putting forth outrageous noms so when he offers an alternate it won't seem so bad. Maybe. 

I wonder how much sway Steve Bannon still has with Trump. Bannon has said he wants to burn everything down, so all this tracks.

And now Mike Johnson says he'll help Trump do recess appointments. Gee louise. I guess AG Gaetz may actually happen. I just mention him because he could be the worst. Or maybe it's RFK Jr. Or Tulsi. Or....

5 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Regarding all social media platforms collecting data for purposes of marketing or more nefarious purposes, shouldn’t Congress just demand all social media companies have their default settings be to protect users’ privacy? 

Yes, they should. I figure the big companies are lobbying Congress NOT to do that. I mean, there goes their monetarization, right?

Before watching the show, I had read a mention of 'Get Low.' I know nothing about the song. I assume it was a rap song? I figure that's the only way those lyrics would work. I honestly don't understand why Zuckerberg (the low-rent chef from Ratatouille) and T-Pain (right?) would do this.

I want to ask about the TikTok logo. It looks like something in 3D without the glasses. That's got to be intentional, but I don't know what it means. Also, if you look at it with 3D glasses, is it in 3D?

In one of the clips a young women calling Representatives to say don't ban TikTok was saying, "That is not ahseptable." How do people not know how to pronounce normal words?

Oh, and in the clips of women discovering they're bisexual, in the TikTok CC it's spelled "biseggual." I don't know if that was because of how the woman pronounced it or if it was to get around censorship.

The bit on Tom Cotton's questioning was amazing. I loved that John added on how it could have gone on.

 

Edited November 18 by peeayebee

[Palimelon]

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The nominations are so incredibly bizarre and unbelievable.

[Shrek]

1 hour ago, peeayebee said:

 

Oh, and in the clips of women discovering they're bisexual, in the TikTok CC it's spelled "biseggual." I don't know if that was because of how the woman pronounced it or if it was to get around censorship.

 

 

It's 99% to get around censorship but I fully expect that there are people out there who think that is the correct spelling so you can never be 100% sure.

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, peeayebee said:

In one of the clips a young women calling Representatives to say don't ban TikTok was saying, "That is not ahseptable." How do people not know how to pronounce normal words?

It's a vernacular of dubious origin. 
For instance, Google: cash me outside

[EtheltoTillie]

I also laughed at the joke about teens making -- horrors -- phone calls. 

[andromeda331]

I have never understood why the government is so worried about Tiktok, yeah it's a Chinese company and they could be gathering data. But we already know Facebook and other American companies do the same thing. And they could easily make a law to protect data but won't. All the problems in the country and world yeah let's worry about Tiktok.

Trump's picks are all unqualifted and two of them have been accused of sexual assault. It's hard not to wonder what crimes the rest of his picks have committed.  Asside from like RFK Jr. getting people killed for following his anti-vaccine bullshit or killing a bear and dumping it the park. 

 I liked John at the end trying to stay positive for 2025 and keep having to hit the buzzer when a crazy message pop up. Yeah, that's about how it's going to go.

[Annber03]

7 hours ago, peeayebee said:

Before watching the show, I had read a mention of 'Get Low.' I know nothing about the song. I assume it was a rap song? I figure that's the only way those lyrics would work. 

Yes, it is. Here's the original for all who are curious:

 

7 hours ago, peeayebee said:

The bit on Tom Cotton's questioning was amazing. I loved that John added on how it could have gone on.

I liked that, too. .

But yeah, seriously... "Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Chinese Communist Party?" Okay, Joseph McCarthy. Mr. Chew had far, FAR more restraint and patience with that moron than I imagine one would in that setting. 

[JustHereForFood]

I am 300% more worried about a Chinese company not only collecting data, but also having influence over so many people, especially young. Especially about elections and stuff like that.

And even if not, this fucking trend of self-censorship it perpetuates (not really sure if it started there or elsewhere) would be reason enough to want it gone forever.

Unalive, seggs, PDF file,... I have seen posts where people said that they've already heard students saying those words in schools and universities in real life and teachers being clueless what they mean. Censorship is bad enough, but to live in an era where people start doing it of their own free will. Aren't we already living with enough dystopian stereotypes? Somebody kill me. I'm sorry, unalive me.

[Hanahope]

Corrupt Chinese government, corrupt US government.  Does it matter?

[peeayebee]

6 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

It's a vernacular of dubious origin. 

Well that's just stupid. (Not directed at you.)

[JustHereForFood]

17 hours ago, Hanahope said:

Corrupt Chinese government, corrupt US government.  Does it matter?

Well, one is our enemy, one is an ally... 

Sure, Facebook and Twitter suck a lot too and have been infested with misinformation, so one has to be careful everywhere. I'm sure I sound like and old person (I am a Millenial), but it would be IMO best if all social media slowly went to history's junkyard.

Still, I am much more vary of a totalitarian government that hasn't seen fair elections in decades.