THE NAKED CITY – IS THE CLOCK TICKING FOR TIKTOK?

There you were waiting for your bus in a terminal in the US in the early 1970s. No mobile phone to keep you endlessly amused and you had just read every inch of the daily newspaper. Your Greyhound was running late and you had a whole hour of your lifetime to fill. Not to worry, as you settle down in a comfy ‘TV Chair’ for 60 minutes of sport, sitcoms or variety shows.  

It was cutting edge at the time as the New York Times reported on what was one of the first installations:  

“Weary travellers waiting in Milwaukee’s Greyhound bus depot now have an alternative to staring at blank walls. For a price, they can stare at a television set. Newly installed in the downtown bus depot are 12 TV‐Chairs, high‐back units of molded fiberglass, each equipped with a small Panasonic black and white television set. Also attached is a device modeled after a parking meter: for a dime, the chair’s occupant can watch television for 10 minutes; a half‐hour costs a quarter.” 

The concept soon spread to airports and hospitals and the companies involved spruiked the possibility of placing the sets wherever Americans had a loose hour or two to occupy. The TV Chairs did become a common fixture during the 70s and early 80s, but by the late 80s most were heading to landfill or as collector’s item in a nostalgia ridden man cave. The moral of the story (if you’ll forgive the mixed metaphor). Today’s techno-Rooster is tomorrow’s feather duster! 

This week Facebook lost a staggering $230 billion in market capital. Whilst it’s unlikely to evaporate into the ether any time soon, like those once groovy TV Chairs, many are forecasting its long term demise. As Facebook begins to fizzle the trumpet is currently sounding for TikTok, the haunt of shameless narcissists, loathsome influencers, randy teenagers flaunting their sexuality and even Bob Katter. 

Owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, and originally introduced as ‘Douyin’ in China in 2016, the app has spread like wildfire since its international launch in 2017. Whilst 40% of subscribers are said to be between 16 and 24, it’s now being embraced by an older generation and even Scott Morrison has an account. Given our current relations with China, and our protests over their human rights abuses, the latter seems a conficted choice. Try posting your concerns over China’s treatment of the Uyghurs on TikTok and see how long it takes the algorithm to rip it down.  

Facebook has a long history of controversy when it comes to misinformation and hate speech and TikTok is certainly following suit, even though much of its content is perceived as teenage pranks and dance moves. It’s been banned or intermittently blocked in countries like Indonesia, India and Pakistan.

In June of last year two Egyptian female TikTok artists received a total of 16 years jail time for encouraging women to use the platform to earn money. And Trump’s battles with the company, in which he threatened to ban it if a US takeover failed, are well documented. Ironically his fist waving ‘Trump Dance’, performed at many of his election rallies, became as they say “a TikTok sensation” – with numerous imitations and challenges posted.  

Ever since the internet became widespread, accelerated by digital technology, there has been constant change and redundancy. Who remembers Netspace, Myspace and the days when you had to pay for all downloaded porn? Unless TikTok is sold off to a Western country, its future must surely depend on the relative stability of global politics. The same could also be said for Facebook. What happens (perish the thought) if China invades Taiwan and the conflict spreads throughout the region. Will Scott Morrison and Bob Katter delete their TikTok accounts and will Joe Biden or the re-elected Donald Trump ban the app outright? 

Will Xi Jinping be booted off Facebook? 

In the meantime go ahead and post that 30 second video of your labradoodle doing the Watusi and message your self-obsessed, constantly preening, ultra egotistical 20-year-old influencer and let them know that one day they will look like Bob Katter (no offence Bob) on a bad hair day. The clock is Tiktoking for us all!