Play Book Tag discussion

I decided to change the Conversation Topic to something more current events. No one had commented yet so it is okay.

Tik Tok has been banned. There are many different opinions and theories but we are not getting into those.

Who are your favorite book centric content creators? Where can we find them now? What do you want to see in a book content creator? If you had your own channel, what would be the name of your book page and what would you create? Funny, informative, reviews, rants?

I thought I already switched out the conversation topic to this, but apparently, I never posted my new one. Sorry it's so late.

This ban will not impact me since I do not use Tik Tok.

ETA - I have personally boycotted all social media except GR due to the damage it has done to the US in spreading misinformation and sowing discord.

Joy D wrote: "This ban will not impact me since I do not use Tik Tok.

ETA - I have personally boycotted all social media except GR due to the damage it has done to the US in spreading misinformation and sowing ..."

So, if you had your own book channel...what would you call it?

It doesn't affect me since I've never used it because it's from China; given my grandparents' history because it's a fully communist country (see below.) I limit social media use partly for the same reasons as Joy, but also because I joined FB to connect with friends and family scattered around the world which is what it originally did.

Some question whether or not it's still communist given it's name, but I asked the family expert on it and she said it certainly is. She knows her stuff on communism since she is one, is extremely bright and well-informed (on my mother's side, not my father's.) My extended family has a broad range of political beliefs, to put it mildly, but as a rule there are no arguments over it.

I have had a book blog in the past, so I might use the same name: The Book Balcony. I decided not to continue it since I couldn't find a very good tool to facilitate conversations. The tool I was using didn't make it easy to comment back and forth.

I have never been on TikTok either. I know BookTok is a ‘thing’ but I get quite enough reading recommendations from PBT and my other GR groups without needing more!!

I don’t follow any social media content creators, though I recognise a few YouTube channel owners from my husband’s endless channel surfing, hahahaha. None are book related, alas …

I have never used tik tok and it has been banned by my company for quite some time. I do peruse facebook reels (same thing) from time to time. There is no particular creator I follow, but I do love the videos making jokes about audiobook listeners and smut readers.

Example, Bluetooth disconnects and husband hears what your read. hahaha.

Or audiobook playing at 5x speed and being confused.

I enjoy those.

I don't do TikTok, either. I'm not a fan of the facebook "reels", either, though. Not sure if TT is the same or not, but I hate that I can't see how long the video is before I start watching. I want to know before starting it how long I'm investing!

LibraryCin wrote: "I don't do TikTok, either. I'm not a fan of the facebook "reels", either, though. Not sure if TT is the same or not, but I hate that I can't see how long the video is before I start watching. I wan..."

Facebook Reels does have a progress bar at the bottom of most if not all videos.

I only scroll occasionally. (more since I've been sick) I'm not a big social media fan. But I do creep.

Oh. I liked the other topic😂

I'll confess I have not been following the whole TikTok case at all - primarily because I don't use it, don't follow anyone, though I have seen content as friends link them to me in messaging or to friends on FB. I don't actively follow any bloggers or book channels or anything like that -- though I do check in on Reese Witherspoon's book recommendations but those may mostly be from Instagram.

I use online content and media in a very limited way. I'm active on FB in part because I have 3 groups that are run on it -- all private with limited membership and one all about books and reading. The other two are my local needlework group and my college alumnae class. As for my personal page, I rigidly control the content posted including content. I also rigorously block unwanted crap on my newsfeed. It's a great tool for me to keep in touch with far flung family and friends and even a few clients. Oh, and I run a needlework design business on FB as well. I'm not dumping FB as quite a few friends of mine claim they have done -- though they still seem to be posting on FB...

Those who are stitchers of any kind of needlework do engage in YouTube, many having channels in what is known as FlossTube. I've dutifully watched at least one post by any stitching friends who have gone that route, but only one. I'm just not into watching channel posts, podcasts, or following more than what I do on FB and GR. I've got a lot of interests, hobbies, and a demanding career - I have no trouble finding something to fill my off time!

Sallys wrote: "Oh. I liked the other topic😂"

Stay tuned for next week.

I do want to say that more regulation of social media is inevitable -- it takes years, decades for cases to get through the courts, legislation to get passed, and for application of existing statutes to be applied, especially to new technology, software, and social media. Entrenched as all this is in our daily lives, it's really very new and there are many areas that are still cases of 'first impression' meaning they have not yet been tested by the courts. I was in law school from 1982 - 1985 and during that time, a new area of legal practice and a new body of case law and legislation started to appear -- it was Computer Law. When I started practicing law in 1986, there was no area of law specializing in Cooperative Apartment Corporations - which is my practice concentration - but now it is a key subgenre of Real Estate Law - and I have been working for the last 6 years on a case of first impression as there are still areas to be tested under governing laws, 50 years after the first residential coops came into being using the agricultural cooperative laws as their basis.

There will be more regulation though given the current direction of the federal government, probably less and slower than this TikTok case and the recent announcements by FB would suggest will happen.

Jason wrote: "Facebook Reels does have a progress bar at the bottom of most if not all videos."

Does it tell you the amount of time? Or, I guess you can watch how quickly it's moving through...

ETA: No progress bar on the one I just watched. Oh, you did say "most", but I'm not sure I've noticed it before, but I'll watch for one.

Theresa wrote: "I do want to say that more regulation of social media is inevitable -- it takes years, decades for cases to get through the courts, legislation to get passed, and for application of existing statut..."

Yes, I do think there needs to be more regulation, particularly with regard to privacy.

I have never used TikTok or Instagram. I don't follow any celebrities or influencers on any topic. I hardly ever post on Facebook but I look at it sometimes to see what certain friends have posted.

I do get recommendations in daily emails from Literary Hub, Crime Reads, Book Riot, and Book Bub (also notice of sale books). I also find out about new books from the New York Times and Washington Post, and the free Book Pages magazine available monthly at my library. And I get great recommendations from my GR friends!

I think I overestimated the use of social media or watching "tik toks" (reels, youtube shorts, and any other similar video platform)

My wife and I enjoy finding funny videos and sending them back and forth. I may watch 10-12 videos a day, before bed and waiting in line (I did use ear buds).

I saw a video yesterday that said "Do you know the difference between a book worm and book dragon? A book worm consumes all the books nom nom nom. Eats them up. A book dragon, well they just hoard book. Books upon books stacked and filling up their shelves." This made me think of a few members in PBT.

My son is a big user of Tik Tok, so I'll ask him what he plans to do next time we talk.

Well, I like to consider myself a book dragon, but your definition puts me in the book worm category.

Jason wrote: "I think I overestimated the use of social media or watching "tik toks" (reels, youtube shorts, and any other similar video platform)

My wife and I enjoy finding funny videos and sending them back..."

Yes, there are a bunch of dragon lovers in this group. Not to mention book hoarders! When the pandemic started and the library was closed, a friend of mine said she had nothing to read. I laughed because I could be quarantined for years and not run out of books. I chose a selection from my shelves and put them on my stoop for her to pick up.

I asked my son (who is a Millennial) about Tik Tok, and his answer was interesting.

- He said he doesn't mind if it gets banned because he thinks he spends too much unproductive time watching their videos
- The CEO of Tik Tok is not Chinese - he is Singaporean, has never lived in China nor been in the Chinese military nor a member of the Communist party (the funding is another story, but China funds a lot of businesses and other ventures in America)
- He said the algorithm is very sophisticated and only serves up information you have shown an interest in - for him, dog training videos, Organic Chemistry, and his other hobbies
- He has never been served up any political propaganda, nor anything about Communism or China in general
- He thinks there must be political "stuff" on there (as there is on all social media), but he has never seen it (he has also not gone looking for it)

Just information - not intending to start any political discussion, but I thought it was interesting to learn an individual user's perspective.

@Jason - I think most of the difference is generational, and there is an older crowd here who remembers when you had to buy film to take pictures with a camera and then pay to get them developed, and almost no one had a video or film camera let alone a means to watch any film or videos taken. We just spend our relaxation and entertainment time differently.

Love that book worm vs. Book dragon. I am both so I think that makes me a Book Wyvern.

I thought the concern wasn't so much that the Chinese would post propaganda as that they get lots of your personal information. One of the late-night comics said, "We only want American companies to steal our information!"

The potential sharing of personal, corporate or government information with the Chinese government seems to be the main issue - that’s why many government agencies don’t allow use of the app on work owned devices or systems. It’s another opportunity for surveillance. And yes there are more general concerns about foreign control of communications. Not that platforms owned by US or other corporations are necessarily any better …

Joy D wrote: "
- He said he doesn't mind if it gets banned because he thinks he spends too much unproductive time watching thei..."

That is interesting, Joy! Thank you for this info.

The collecting and selling of information goes on all the time with almost any site you go to on the internet, especially social media. It's basically why we don't pay in monetary form to use it. They use the data collected from people who use the platform for targeted advertising and selling to third parties to try to market to us. It's possible this info ends up being sold and resold multiple times, and ends up in the hands of other governments anyway - we just don't know about it. Hence, another reason I am off all social media except GR.

To bring this back to books... if anyone is interested in reading more in depth about this topic, in February, I am planning to read Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI. Anyone interested is welcome to join me in a buddy read.

LibraryCin wrote: "That is interesting, Joy! Thank you for this info."

My pleasure, Cindy. My son keeps up with a lot of trends in current technology, and he is of the generation who grew up knowing nothing else, so it's fun to discuss these topics with him.

I had no idea until recently that the owner was from Singapore since I've never investigated it. Singapore is not part of China, obviously, although Mandarin is commonly spoken since it's one of the four official languages of the island country. The others are English (the one used for business,) Malay and Tamil.

From CNN:
"TikTok CEO Shou Chew previously told US lawmakers that the company has never been asked by the Chinese government for data on its US users, and would never comply with such a request. TikTok has also said it is implementing a plan to store US user data on third-party US-based servers, with access to that data controlled by US employees. The company is moving to implement a similar solution for European data.

But Chew and other TikTok officials have also balked at answering specific questions about the nature of TikTok’s relationship to ByteDance or ByteDance’s relationship to the Chinese government."

ByteDance is the parent company, which is where the concern lies. They are headquartered in Beijing. As far as I can tell from my reading of non-US media (where I get most of my news) there is no direct evidence of Chinese government accessing any US user info (so far).

There are obviously allegations and lawsuits about the whole thing. Note that I am not defending TikTok. I have not used it nor do I plan to.

Based on the extensive and obviously accurate information I’ve gained from spy thrillers and movies … 🙄 😁

I think we can assume that there are competing government spies in all major tech firms in unassuming support roles. Or employees that can be seduced, tricked, or persuaded by spies to help them out.

NancyJ wrote: "Based on the extensive and obviously accurate information I’ve gained from spy thrillers and movies … 🙄 😁

I think we can assume that there are competing government spies in all major tech firms in..."

We don't have to assume that, like 1984 big business is spying on us; apparently Google knows more about people than their spouses/family do.