TikTok is a good reminder for the generational turnover of social products. While most social networks have not proven to be durable over time (Friendster, MySpace, Orkut, ....) the ones that take over generational shifts or new content types and formats have become massive companies.

This is why TikTok's network effects of creativity matter. To clone TikTok, you can't just copy any single feature. It's all of that, and not just the features, but how users deploy them and how the resultant videos interact with each other on the FYP feed. It's replicating all the feedback loops that are built into TikTok's ecosystem, all of which... See more

most of a human day is auto pilot. loops. rituals. little private compulsions. the apps that win sit inside those loops like quiet parasites. they don’t scream for attention. they’re just... there, every time, at the exact moment the loop begins.

instagram didn’t ask people to live differently. people already took photos, already wanted to flex,... See more