Yandex: Has Russia Embraced the Chinese Approach to Social Media and Online?
August 23, 2022
The answer to the question “Has Russia Embraced the Chinese Approach to Technology?” is, “Seems like it.”
Like China, Russia has come to understand the power and threat online services represent to the entities holding nation state power. Technology companies which follow different rules than “regular” countries have to be brought under control or killed outright. Russia is into control.
Vkontakte top dog is the scion of Mr. Putin’s top dog. If you are into Russian names, the boss of Vkontakte is Vladimir Kirienko. Mr. Putin’s confidante and senior administrator is Sergei Kirienko. But a tame CEO is not enough. Threats have to be put in a cage and made subject to a higher power, not people with mobile phones.
Vkontakte is a semi-Facebook, just in Russian. It has about 100 million users. The company’s properties include Mail.ru, the social network Odnoklassniki, and a food delivery outfit. According to “Yandex Reaches Binding Deal to Divest News Service, Homepage to VK”:
Yandex said it is pursuing a “strategic exit from its media businesses” with the sale of Yandex.News, Yandex.ru and the Yandex.Zen blogging tool to VK. The Yandex.ru domain will be renamed dzen.ru under VK’s control and further development. Yandex’s main page — with search, mail and non-media tools — will be renamed ya.ru.
What happens to Yandex email addresses? In addition to being read and analyzed by the watch dogs, the future of Yandex mail is fuzzy.
The key take away for me is that China and Russia recognize the threat social media and online information pose. If these nation states’ concerns are valid, will countries with uncontrolled social media operating without meaningful oversight and regulation tear themselves apart?
China’s and Russia’s strategic military thinkers could be anticipating this result. Which view is correct? Social media is the Zucker’s view of bringing people together or the opposite?
Interesting question to consider.
Stephen E Arnold, August 23, 2022
Ah, Ha! The Social Media Conundrum?
August 8, 2022
Facebook and Twitter both began as humble undergrad side projects. Both platforms, and social media in general, have since mutated into something much more consequential. That is why The Next Web declares “Social Media Companies Should Be Converted Into Nonprofits.” Writer David Ryan Polgar asserts:
“Social media companies like Twitter have morphed — whether their founders intended them to or not — into important social institutions with grave consequences for both the future of democracy and the human condition. Yet these platforms still remain constrained by their structures as for-profit companies with a duty to their shareholders. Whether Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk (if the Twitter deal goes through) are acting in the best interest of the public as they lead their respective companies is missing the larger point: They should never have such unchecked power. To allow such is to enter a future where the public is vulnerable to billionaires’ whims as they shape the future of communication. That isn’t a future I’d want to live in.”
You mean we cannot trust a few billionaires to navigate the fine line between protecting free expression and reigning in hate speech, misinformation, and other harmful content? While such a balance is tricky even for governments, Polgar notes, at least there voters have some say in who is making these choices. The write-up continues:
“Twitter’s growth into a ‘de facto public town square,’ I would argue, should necessitate its radically reimagining its business structure, transforming into a nonprofit or benefit corporation, which is a legal structure that includes the overall benefit to society as an objective of the business, not just maximizing profits. If the platform immensely affects the public — as both Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk argue it does — its business model should serve the public interest and not shareholders or the ego of a company leader.”
We cannot argue with that last sentiment, but not all nonprofits benefit society as one would hope. The other direction implied here would be to make social media platforms into government entities, an idea that would float as well as a lead balloon in today’s climate. So what is society to do? The solution continues to elude as we chug along in a landscape paved by social media.
Cynthia Murrell, August 8, 2022
Surprise! Undisclosed Sponsorships Abound on TikTok
August 4, 2022
Would you consider this weaponized information or just Madison Avenue in the digital era? Vox reveals, “TikTok Is Full of Shady Secret Advertisements.” Regulations specify social media influencers must disclose if they are being paid to endorse or display a product, but many fail to do so. And with issues like privacy protection taking top priority, the FTC is hard pressed to stop them. Though the problem has existed across social media platforms for years, TikTok has taken it to a new level. Reporter Sara Morrison writes:
“It’s pervasive because it’s easy: With the internet and social media, there is a seemingly infinite supply of content to regulate and almost no transparency, which makes it exceedingly difficult for the agencies charged with enforcing the rules to know when they’re being broken. … But TikTok’s undisclosed ad problem seems to be particularly bad. The app is believed to be especially addictive, with users spending far more time on TikTok than on competitors’ apps. And everything is younger: the users, the creators, and the platform itself. TikTok is only now encountering some of the regulatory and legal growing pains its social media platform peers faced years ago. TikTok is also very popular with a desirable and elusive demographic: Gen Z. And brands know that influencers can be a great way to reach them.”
See the article for several examples and some of the factors making it difficult for regulators to curb such “sponcon.” Sponsors and influencers might be underestimating Gen Z, however, and this tactic may eventually backfire. Most of those born after 1997 have enough digital savvy to know when they are being sold to and resent attempts at trickery. Though it sounds like an oxymoron to older folks, members of this generation value authenticity in their virtual interactions. If TikTok continues to let sponsorship violations slide, it might just see its treasured target audience slip away.
Cynthia Murrell, August 4, 2022
Figure This Rights Issue Out? Too Confusing for Me
July 28, 2022
I spotted a post at this Reddit location. I want to believe everything I read on the Internet because the information superhighway is so darned safe, well marked, and a clean, well lighted place. (Thanks, Mr. Hemingway.)
The post about which my attention wobbled is from an entity/persona named Simon Longbottom. The individual says:
I work at Adobe Stock Premium and it has come to my attention that Picrights is using this photo image and we have no record of their license to use this picture.
The picture is referenced in the Reddit post.
Simon says:
I am authorizing everyone reading this to act as an agent of Adobe Stock Premium to get fair compensation for their infringement. You should all be familiar with how to request this payment. I suggest sending them an email demand letter telling them to to take down the photo immediately and pay our standard licensing fee of $1786 for this image to settle our claim. My boss says that you can keep 85% of everything you get from this terrible company that has committed such terrible infraction. They need to learn a real lesson – please help me teach it to them.
Picrights is a professional services firm which collects use fees for rights holders. I am not too familiar with the outfit, and I don’t know if Simon works for Adobe.
The question is, “What’s going on in this post?”
The matter is complicated by the inclusion in the thread of emails for professionals working at Picrights. Those emails might be used by bad actors I suppose.
I like to think of Reddit personas and outfits which walk close to possibly improper behavior as outliers. My assumption may be incorrect.
In my upcoming lecture for a Federal law enforcement group, I am going to comment about what I call “soft fraud.” This single Reddit post raises some interesting questions, and there seems to be little recourse for those caught in a Web of digital fluffery. Reddit seems unwilling or unable to clear up the “entity” issue. The references to Adobe are in need of verification. There may be the ancillary question about the Picrights’ activities.
Perhaps a better question is, “Does anyone care?” Reddit? Adobe? Simon? Picrights? Anyone?
Stephen E Arnold, July 28, 2022
Kenyan Survey Shows Social Media Usage Tripled Since 2015
July 27, 2022
Global market research firm IPSOS conducts a study in Kenya to get clues on how media and other organizations can better reach their audiences in that country. Last performed in 2015, the company just released its latest iteration. We learn some of this year’s findings in Capital News‘ article, “Social Media Reach Triples in Past 7 Years.” Reporter Wendy Wangui tells us:
“The Kenya Media Establishment Survey 2022 revealed that mobile device has been the major disruptor in the media landscape with an increase in ownership from 79% to 95% and growth of smartphone from 19% to 51%. Speaking during the launch, IPSOS in Kenya Managing Director Chris Githaiga said that Kenya has witnessed accelerated growth and diversity in media touch points since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. ‘We found out that internet use has more than tripled from 13% to 46% mainly driven by social media. We also discovered that social applications such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google are debasing more quickly as newer applications like Betting, TikTok, Telegram and Opera become more attractive to the youth,’ he said.”
So it seems a combination of mobile devices and COVID are helping platforms extend their reach. This survey illustrates how social media’s grip over the Internet is spreading around the world like a plague. Alas, we may be approaching a day when no one remembers a Web free of its big tech overlords, a time when the Internet is synonymous with social media. Then again, perhaps folks working to avoid that digital dystopia will prevail.
My hunch is that social unrest will increase.
Cynthia Murrell, July 27, 2022
About That Harmless TikTok Thing
July 25, 2022
As a tool, the Internet and social media platforms do not officially kill people. Users do stupid things that end up getting them killed. It just so happens that YouTube, TikTok, and other platforms share stupid ideas and the idiots copy them. YouTube used to be the go-to place for Internet challenges such as planking, ice bucket challenge, and trust falls. TikTok is now the place to get dumb challenges such as the Tide pod challenge and more recently the “blackout challenge. The Verge shares what the challenge is and how people died in, “The TikTok “Blackout Challenge” Has Now Allegedly Killed Seven Kids.”
The blackout challenge is where users record videos strangling themselves with various items: belts, purse straps, shoelaces, etc. until they pass out. Seven kids have reportedly died from the challenge and parents are filing lawsuits against TikTok. The latest victims were nine-year-old Arriani Arroyo and eight-year-old Lalani Walton. The five other victims range between 10-14 years old and are from the United States, Italy, and Australia.
TikTok claims it prevents users from searching for the blackout challenge or warnings are placed on the videos. Parents of the victims assert differently:
“However, Smith and Arroyo’s newer suit alleges that their children weren’t searching for challenges when they saw the videos. Instead, it says, TikTok put it right in front of them on the app’s main screen, the For You page. The suit accuses the company of having ‘specifically curated and determined that these Blackout Challenge videos – videos featuring users who purposefully strangulate themselves until losing consciousness – are appropriate and fitting for small children.’”
The parents believe TikTok should be held accountable for the content it shows children and should do more to monitor dangerous content. TikTok paid $5.7 million to the FTC in 2019 when it allowed kids under thirteen to create an account without their parents’ permission. TikTok also has Family Pairing that allows parents to link their accounts to their kids’ and control the amount of content and how much time they spend on the platform.
Family Pairing is a brilliant idea, especially if parents vigilantly monitor what their kids watch. TikTok should prevent dangerous items from being seen on its platform too. Maybe TikTok should have a warning that says, “Kids don’t try this at home” like TV has.
Whitney Grace, July 25, 2022
TikTok: Are the Tiks and Toks Keeping Facebook and Google Execs Awake at Night?
July 1, 2022
Eric Schmidt made a comment that Qwant keeps him up at night. Ah, those were the good old days for Google senior management. Now, the TikTok noise is louder and getting louder. And the Zuck not only has to figure out what’s shakin’ with his investigation of his trusted sidekick, he has to sound proof the office against that annoying TikTok racking up clicks and ads.
I spotted a story called “TikTok App Turns on the Money Machine, Threatens Facebook, Google.” The source is linked, but, please, don’t contact me to complain that it has gone dead. If you cannot locate the story, just forget that I have mentioned it. If you do get the link to resolve, congratulations. Next you will become a search engine optimization wizard!
The write up is interesting because it contains some factoids I had not noticed in the last couple of weeks. Here’s a selection:
Here’s a good one:
the 22-year-old earns more than $100,000 a year on the short-video platform TikTok. Brands like Coach, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video pay up to reach her 9 million followers, mostly teenage and pre-teen girls who would not dream of visiting Facebook.
And another:
TikTok raked in nearly $4 billion in revenue in 2021, mostly from advertising, and is projected to hit $12 billion this year, according to the research firm eMarketer. That would make it bigger than Twitter Inc. and Snap Inc. combined — three years after it started accepting ads on the platform.
What about this?
Its average user in the US now spends about 29 hours a month with the service, more than Facebook (16 hours) and Instagram (8 hours) put together, according to mobile researcher Data.ai.
Plus this item about TikTok’s parent company:
ByteDance?s revenue hit an estimated $58 billion last year and its growth is faster than any other major social network.
Also this:
TikTok is diversifying into music distribution, game publishing and Twitch-style subscriptions. It?s also edging into e-commerce..
Facebook and Google talk big and act even bigger. The problem is the slope of TikTok growth. Going slowly in the growth department is not for TikTok.
Where’s that growth going to come from? The skin of the Zuck and the hide of Googzilla. Then TikTok will go hunting in the Amazon.
Stephen E Arnold, July 1, 2022
What Is Mandarin for Finesse? TikTok, Perhaps?
June 17, 2022
I read “TikTok Exec: We’re Not a Social Network Like Facebook. We’re an Entertainment Platform.” That is an interesting way to describe the short video service, monetization platform, and data gobbling system. TikTok may not want to position itself to be a social network. But Facebook (and Alphabet Google YouTube DeepMind) sure wants to be just like TikTok. One difference is that the possible links to a certain beefy nation state are not desirable.
The write up presents the TikTok positioning or what I call shape shifting finesse tactic. The write up presents a few interesting factoids and assertions; to wit:
- [Facebook] “will likely run into trouble if it tries to copy TikTok, and will end up offering an inferior experience to users and brands.”
- TikTok “did not fully embrace or see … how social this format [TikTok’s short form videos] could be.
- “History is not on Zuckerberg’s side.”
- TikTok has “an array of competitors across the world, including businesses in e-commerce and live streaming.”
- TikTok has not experienced an advertising slow down.
I am not sure about my enthusiasm for these observations. Perhaps more attention on the link to a certain nation state, data collection, and the use case for a nation state to have a real time feed of who, what, when, where, and similar data might be useful.
I mean “we’re not like” statements are dry runs for US government committee hearings. I can say that I am not like a small 1962 VW bug. What does that provide? Not much.
Stephen E Arnold, June 17, 2022
Another Baby Step Toward the Metaverse
June 17, 2022
Not one to be outdone by rivals like Meta and Snap, VentureBeat reports, “TikTok Launches Avatars for Creative Expression.” We wonder what what’s Mr. Zuckerberg’s avatar looks like. Citing the company’s blog post, writer Dean Takahashi reports:
“Available globally, TikTok Avatars is a new way for people to express themselves and create content on TikTok, opening doors to new and dynamic content. It feels like a step toward multiplayer gaming, where avatars are very popular, as well as the metaverse. Users will be able to select from a variety of preferences within the app, from hairstyles to accessories, to create an avatar that reflects a unique look and personality. Once customized, users can record videos as their avatars. TikTok said it created TikTok Avatars for everybody and worked to make sure the experience is as inclusive as possible. It will continue to improve and innovate to make sure the experience is representative of everyone on TikTok and will continue to listen to the community for feedback at every step of the development.”
Yes, they must be very careful not to run afoul of the inclusion police. The brief write-up continues:
“The company said it is building spaces across TikTok for virtual self expression and exploring ways people can connect and create across our global community.”
Might those spaces be metaverse-adjacent, perhaps? It seems TikTok is joining Meta and others on the cliff’s edge, getting ready to make the virtual-reality leap.
Cynthia Murrell, June 17, 2022
Disadvantaged Groups and Simple Explanations
June 16, 2022
Bias in machine learning algorithms is a known problem. Decision makers, like admissions officers for example, sometimes turn to explanation models in an effort to avoid this issue. These tools construct simplified approximations of larger models’ predictions that are easier to understand. But wait, one may ask, aren’t these explanations also generated by machine learning AI? Indeed they are. MIT News examines this sticky wicket in its piece, “In Bias We Trust?” A team of MIT researchers checked for bias in some widely used explanation models and, low and behold, they found it. Writer Adam Zewe tells us:
“They found that the approximation quality of these explanations can vary dramatically between subgroups and that the quality is often significantly lower for minoritized subgroups. In practice, this means that if the approximation quality is lower for female applicants, there is a mismatch between the explanations and the model’s predictions that could lead the admissions officer to wrongly reject more women than men. Once the MIT researchers saw how pervasive these fairness gaps are, they tried several techniques to level the playing field. They were able to shrink some gaps, but couldn’t eradicate them. ‘What this means in the real-world is that people might incorrectly trust predictions more for some subgroups than for others. So, improving explanation models is important, but communicating the details of these models to end users is equally important. These gaps exist, so users may want to adjust their expectations as to what they are getting when they use these explanations,’ says lead author Aparna Balagopalan, a graduate student in the Healthy ML group of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL).”
Or we could maybe go back to using human judgment for decisions that affect the lives of others? Nah. See the article for details of how the researchers evaluated explanation models’ fidelity and their work to narrow (but not eliminate) the gaps. Zewe reports the team plans to extend its research to ways fidelity gaps affect decisions in the real world. We look forward to learning what they find, though we suspect we will not be surprised by the results.
Cynthia Murrell, June 16, 2022
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
