Facebook is facing the biggest threat since its existence.
The social media app that allows users to post short lip-synced, music, talent, or comedy videos, TikTok has taken the social media world by storm. After being in denial and criticise mode for long, Facebook’s top executives have slowly started admitting that it’s TikTok which is making Zuckerberg and Team anxious nowadays.
Sheryl Sandberg, the current Chief Operating Officer of social media giant Facebook, has raised her concerns related to the threats the popular app TikTok poses. Previously, on several occasions, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg called out TikTok for various reasons too.
Dylan Byers who is an NBC reporter invited Sheryl Sandberg on his podcast “Byers Market” for an interview wherein she spoke her mind. She revealed that various social media companies are currently competing for user engagement. In addition to that, she also mentioned how her kids always seem to be on the TikTok app whenever they are using their smartphones.
Sandberg was then asked by Dylan if she is concerned at the pace which TikTok is growing. She replied by saying that it’s an obvious concern as TikTok is growing faster to bigger numbers than Facebook ever did so very quickly.
Last year in November, outperforming both Facebook and Instagram, TikTok surpassed 1.5 billion downloads and became the third most downloaded app in the non-gaming section of 2019.
“Of course we worry about it, we have to be worried about all the innovation,” Sandberg said adding to her concerns about TikTok’s growth.
Some happen to see the format of TikTok as an antidote to that of apps like Instagram. TikTok’s format, according to some, encourages users to craft perfect picture over authenticity.
But Sheryl Sandberg is not the only one concerned about the pace TikTok is growing. In January the Cheif Operating Officer of Snapchat Evan Spiegel expressed his thoughts about how he feels TikTok can easily take over the popular social media platform Instagram as he believes it relies on ‘talent’ and not on any kind of social posturing as such.
The Facebook COO also expressed her concerns over the roots of the app TikTok’s parent company ByteDance. Issuing a warning she didn’t shy away from stating that people should definitely be concerned about the privacy of their data because of their Chinese origins.
This isn’t the first time an executive from Silicon Valley has pointed fingers about privacy concerns related to TikTok. Steve Huffman who is the Cheif Executive Officer of Reddit has accused the TikTok app of being a ‘spyware’ during a panel on Wednesday.
The Road Ahead For TikTok In 2020
TikTok has kept growing at a phenomenal pace in 2019 even after several roadblocks created by their competitors as well as US regulators over their Chinese origins. TikTok has fought back against all such misgivings about them and made it clear that they are here to stay. They are now taking huge strides to mitigate the existing problems between them and the government. They have even hired their very first lobbyists to heal their relationship with various privacy regulators. As of right now, the road ahead for TikTok seems pretty good for 2020.
