Banning TikTok is a violation of first amendment rights
The last thing billionaires want is class unity—that's why TikTok is on the chopping block and irresponsible banks aren't
Key takeaways
Facebook is scared that users are leaving the platform and wants to keep you addicted and consuming their advertising
The working class is struggling and you can see it in LinkedIn comments
If you work for a living, direct your anger up, not across
The TikTok smear campaign is funded by Meta
Delete Facebook, support the ACLU and first amendment rights, download Signal, meet thy neighbor
Photo: Reddit
Over the past decade we have seen social media adapt in ways that were unimaginable when Facebook and MySpace first launched in the early 2000s. These were revolutionary platforms that have massive influence on a global scale. Now, we’re having conversations about how younger generations have moved away from Facebook, but I think the people leading these conversations are missing the mark.
Facebook
Facebook has lost sight of the reason why people used it, and has traded the “social” nature of the platform for marketing. Scrolling through Facebook, the majority of the content I see is advertising. Every person in my age bracket who I know, uses Facebook for the marketplace which is rife with scams and phishing. The user is forced to be discerning, instead of the multi-billion dollar corporation taking any accountability for amplifying the worst people on the planet.
No platform is truly “free”. Facebook collects all of our data, and our friends and family’s data, and pushes its marketing on us whether we are aware of it or not. Some people still use it to show how wonderful their life is, to receive likes and attention for “success”; whether that’s sharing pictures of your children or other accomplishments. But the addiction to those interactions is by design: keep them on the platform. To Zuckerberg, you are nothing more than a consumer, and if you got scammed, you’re just stupid, right?
With the latest Meta layoff news this week, it begs the question: Are Zuckerberg and Musk in a pissing contest to see who can have the leanest company, or the company with the most aggressive bots and scammers?
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is now the home of toxic positivity and virtue signaling, but the comment sections have become unhinged due to the recent mass layoffs. If you’ve been following along with my story, you know I recently stopped interviewing at tech companies after 2.5 years of endless interviews. I’ve spent a great deal of time on LinkedIn networking and finding jobs to apply to.
In November 2022, when Elon Musk bought Twitter, everything changed. Layoffs became the new normal and I witnessed the desperate, yet “positive”, interactions on the platform. People posting that they were so proud to work of the company that just laid off 10k people, and that they are so excited (really, I swear) to find a new job.
Several months later, and the comment sections have become feral. I suspect this is because severance and unemployment are running out, and the United States has few guardrails, unless you’re a bank that gambled too much with other people’s money.
A technical recruiter, who will remain nameless to protect her identity, last week posted an update that she’d gone through over 100 applications for a single role, and she was only able to move 4 people forward. She advised people to stop applying for jobs they are not qualified for. Desperate job seekers flooded her comments and DMs bullying her off the platform and telling her she was part of the problem. This person is a technical recruiter and if you do not have the technical skills, she is doing you a favor for not wasting your time. Take it from someone who has had years of her life wasted by convoluted interview processes, this is indeed a favor.
It is evident that the working class has been in recession for nearly a year now, but no one is mentioning that they are 3 months away from living in their car, or late on their mortgage, or that their grocery and utility bills are now unaffordable. I get it, not one wants to appear bad or weak, but if you speak to enough people authentically, you’ll find out that most of your neighbors are struggling to make ends meet; even the ones who are smart, driven, and hard working.
The solution according to the Wall Street Journal if you can’t afford your groceries, is to just skip breakfast!
TikTok
TikTok is what Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn once were. Around the globe people are talking with one another. It’s a place where people can be authentic and receive validation for their experiences. I know about the energy crisis in England, as well as the General Strike in Paris. I knew about the train derailment in East Palestine hours after it happened, and a week before the mainstream media caught on. If you Google “Paris general strike” not a single US news outlet is reporting on it.
But it doesn’t matter, because it is spreading like wildfire on TikTok. We are building community, addressing generational trauma, doing antiracist work, supporting each other’s small businesses, and most importantly, connecting—which is the last thing Wall Street wants.
The smear campaign against TikTok was strategically planned by the marketing firm, Targeted Victory, which Mitt Romney used for his 2012 presidential campaign, and it was paid for by Meta. According to The Verge, “News of Facebook’s decision to hire the firm comes only a few weeks after the company declared that it was losing users for the first time in its 18-year history. Meta’s recent earnings report said that Facebook’s active users dropped by almost 500,000 at the end of last year.”
The Biden administration is forcing Chinese shareholders to sell their shares, in order to operate in the United States. If foreign owned companies are the problem, why is it that Rupert Murdoch, an Australian billionaire, can own Fox News and the Wall Street Journal?
Calls to action
This is nothing more than a violation of first amendment rights. The ACLU is urging the Biden administration not to ban TikTok. Let your representative know how you feel about this here.
Delete Facebook—not deactivate—delete. I’ve been lazy about this one, but I’m going to follow these instructions to backup all of my photos and history this weekend.
Swap using WhatsApp for Signal. It’s a non-profit encrypted messaging app, and most importantly, it’s not owned by Zuckerberg.
Introduce yourself to your neighbors. Break the cycle of isolation and get involved with your community. Idea: start a buy nothing group in your neighborhood and donate/share with each other instead of Good Will.