In this episode 30.2, 😉 I'm going to elaborate on what is going on with access to the TikTok application or platform and make sure you are aware of the knowledge that we have access to understanding so that you can decide for yourself whether to use TikTok today/for now, or not until more information comes out and I am also going to talk about what other apps are getting more downloads since this news came out and what's happening there so you can think through what it means to you and your brand now and in the future.

TikTok is owned by the Beijing-based technology company ByteDance. In last week's episode I shared the news that India had banned the TikTok app by requesting Google and Apple take it off their stores for the country of India because of recent military clashes involving soldier deaths in the Himilayan mountains. The apps have been banned not only as a punishment to China since India is TikTok's second largest user base, but because of threats to security and privacy. TikTok might I mention according to analytics, hit the highest number of downloads for any app ever in a quarter – more than 315 million installs globally, so it's no joke. TikTok makes a LOT of revenue and India users contribute greatly to their income.

Why is TikTok so successful? Well, people love video, there's a lot of humorous, yet informative at times content, and it's user generated which means you don't have to be famous or be any sophisticated videographer to make videos that people watch, like and engage with. Then it's algorithm denotes which videos are getting traction and pushes them out to more people through it's "For You" feature which I explained in the previous episode 30 -TikTok for Business – Steps and Platform Nuances

Don't mistake this message as political, rather I want you to know so that when you do – if you do – decide to invest further or invest at all in creating content to share on the app that you are aware of this impending possibility. As of today, July 14, 2020 as I record this episode, there remains significant opportunity to reach the younger demographic and some older as well.

That being said, there are valid concerns that TikTok is using data on there to share with the China government. TikTok has denied this. TikTok wrote on a blog post published online, "We store all TikTok U.S. user data in the United States, with backup redundancy in Singapore. Our data centers are located entirely outside of China, and none of our data is subject to Chinese law." Their CEO is an American hired and out of Disney, Kevin Mayer, where he was head of streaming services. His first day with TikTok was June 1, 2020.

TikTok's policy says, "We may share your information with a parent, subsidiary, or other affiliate of our corporate group." Similar to information that Facebook, Google, and Twitter can collect from you using their apps…..which videos you watch, your location, what you're searching for…that data, they have access to. It's how they help make their app better and learn what you like and what they should feed you. If you give the TikTok app permission it might get your usage and location, say. But know that apps can only access their own data. It's not like the data from using the app will open up your other content such as email ok? A lot of people are freaking out because they think the app can get access to your health data, or your financial data on your phone. No. That's technically not how it works.

It's another point to appreciate that Unlike in the US, for the Chinese government to demand data from a Chinese company, they have to give it to them. Whereas in the US, there are regulations that organizations can fight to refuse to give the government certain information if protected by distinct regulations.

I'm still on the TikTok app. I'm not an alarmist….but I'm saying we should be paying attention to this.

The Gov't of India published a Press Release stating that

"The Ministry of Information Technology has received many complaints from various sources including several reports about misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India. The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of India, which ultimately impinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of India, is a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures." They are not talking just about TikTok but about 55 other Chinese owned apps. The two countries also compete for leading innovation "in tech advancements and a primary market in the digital space."

So in our country, here in the US, Now Pompeo has stated on national television that the US administration has confirmed that it is "considering" not decided yet but "considering" whether to do the same in the US and that they are "looking" at the app.. Adding that it is just one of the several options that the White House is considering to "punish China over the pandemic."

So I mean, Of course they have to consider it. OF course they have to look at it. It's a privacy situation but we also have free speech here. It's like balancing it is new, not brand new but we are in a privacy, security volatile environment like never before. That's what is happening. It's just the FACTS!

Since all of these announcements have been released to the public, US included, the apps Byte and Twitch are seeing an uptick in downloads. Have you heard of those? Hmm? If not I'm going to share with you more of what they are. Gaming is going up as a trend anyway. Big content creators who have multi millions of followers and engagement on TikTok and YouTube are being formally approached by gaming management companies like one called TalentX Gaming to capitalize both for themselves (these management companies) and for the creators, to move into gaming.

The creators play the games and share them on video, with dialog and sometimes music on the apps. This is why it's important for brands should know: These gamers, YouTube/TikTok stars - They will be able to advertise as such the games that they play and show ads when they live stream their gaming. The agencies or gaming management companies need MORE big creators – there's a shortage - to get into gaming because there is a shortage so if they already have the following and it's a huge opportunity for brands to reach their – really like a cult-like audiences very quickly. It is also significant to the creators because the pay is higher due to the shortage. So they can sometimes literally and more and more often make a very high paying career out of it. This is being done today on Twitch and YouTube and now TikTok is developing gaming capabilities, Xbox is getting tied in and I'm sure many other companies that I haven't named here. It's the new thing. It's coming if you don't know! 😊

So what are Twitch and Byte?

Twitch is a live broadcasting platform where people can get together to watch eachother by streaming games. Streaming can also include talk shows, special events that they make, music events and more. So people watch eachother play while they can socialize – there's a chat capability that makes it more social; more so than YouTube because it's a live streamer with live chat. Streamers that put up content and grow it creatively make money. On Twitch. Twitch has it's own monetary program where creators can receive donations or get monthly subscriptions.

Now The Byte app is fairly new- It's come out Q1 of 2020. It's a huge competitor of TikTok. It allows to share 6 seconds long (similar – in fact a sequel to Vine –it is a sequel to Vine - in fact the cofounder of Vine Dom Hofmann is an exec with Byte) and the Byte app also allows you to loop together these 6 second videos.

Dom Hofman created a monetary system for creators, more lucrative than TikTok's. TikTok has those token exchanges….if you go live on TikTok you can get Tokens from your Live attendees. And the creator is like Oh my God thank you! Shout out to whoever gave it to them. But it's not as lucrative and TikTok stars make their money in other ways.

So that's it! I know, I get excited. This is not something I saw coming withTikTok and India – no - and I hope the conflicts get resolved soon. But I wanted to share with you.

I see this type of security and privacy seeping into the social media and network platform world impacting us more- you know whith the bots and the trolls and it being an election year…what's real and there's so much happening in the world we have to decipher what is real and what is not. But it seems highlighted socially, culturally and globally. And it is so tied into our lives. Remember you never own your followers on a social media platform so it's best not to put your eggs all in one basket so to speak in the social media digital world and it's all moving along so so fast.

I hope this was helpful. I wanted to call it 30.2 because I didn't want any news to come out that the US has banned TikTok and I didn't give you a heads up as to what is going on. It's important to know what's real and what's out there. But I also know TikTok is a huge super amazing platform...