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Comment by joezydeco | Hacker News Reader

I feel the same way about Musical.ly/TikTok, but I look at it more as a time/value proposition.

I think the hallmark of being “old” on the internet is embracing the technologies that actually enhance the use of your time and talent and forego or ignore the ones that do not.

I’m sure my 11 year-old daughter disagrees that TikTok is a waste of time and I respect that. But it doesn’t mean I have to understand it. My parents probably felt the same way about BBSes.

I just have to make sure she’s safe and that’s all. She’ll figure out the rest.

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I have to say, TikTok really impressed me which was really surprising. It wasn't until I created a Tiktok video that I "got it". The mobile video editing tools they created are really top notch.

As I get older I find myself more and more looking for utility. When I was younger, I’d early-adopt everything without regard to whether it added anything important to my life or whether it was fundamentally useful. As I get older and notice time catching up, I am more ruthless about cutting things that “everyone does” but don’t add any value. Pop culture, sports, social media, gossip, dozens of chat apps. They don’t really add more than they take away in terms of time.

My kid is bored and has all the time in the world. She’ll do the early adopting for now.

same! i was thinking about tiktok the whole time.

i suppose i should, but i... just don't get it. too fast, too furious. you only get a second or two for a breather between videos that are too short. you are constantly bombarded with new ones.

it's like playing a rhythm video game. it's build for fast reaction. no deep analysis or thinking. but it obviously seems to work for many people.

i have to say, i still don't have an account. maybe things are different and you get more choices when you actually sign up.

I’ve talked to other parents that tell me their kids use TikTok as a messaging platform.

Why TikTok and not the other 1,000 choices? Who knows. Maybe the fact that the olds won’t use it / don’t know about it is hugely appealing. Grown ups wreck everything, right?

But the “olds” are using it.

sssh they don’t know that yet

I’m 48 with childhood story similar to the author. I do like TikTok for some reason.

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