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  • Dude. How do you say “addiction” in mandarin.

    • 上瘾

      It’s the same in Cantonese I think.

    • People searching for a means of connecting with a community is a negative thing since when? Better to look at the source of their feelings of alienation outside of the internet and point the finger at that instead of flippantly dismissing people using social media from a social media platform.

      • LOL Good job injecting your narrative into something completely unrelated.

        These platforms would not be as successful if they were just about offering a nice place for friends to congregate. If that were the case, Myspace would still be relevant and forums would still be more active than FB and Reddit.

        Here we are on Lemmy - free of ads and algorithms and corporate control. If it was all about people searching for means of connection, what aren't more people here?

        Because the corporations have created an algorithm to maintain engagement to show you ads. Engagement is driven by strong emotions. Strong emotions are created by chemical reactions in your brain. What you're being shown on corporate controlled social media is what they know will keep the chemicals flowing aggressively around in your grey matter.

        People have been alienated for millennia. The internet has existed and has been embracing outcasts for over 40 years. I would suggest that you take a step back and consider why people are choosing one platform over another and what differentiates the platforms from one another.

        This is a case where people are so occupied with a platform proven to threaten their nation's national security and their own perception of reality that they would choose to embrace that foreign adversary over their own country. If that's not an addiction, I don't know what is.

        I hope you find a place of peace to congregate with others who make you feel known. Corporate controlled social media should have never been that place.

        • I agree with your assessment of why people get hooked on these social media apps and what would drive them from switching to TikTok to another app that fills the same role, but I don't think that's the only thing that is going on here.

          My original comment was framed the way it was because yours seemed to be implying addiction was the only thing driving people's behavior in this specific instance, but the article your comment was replying to is showing that while people are switching from TikTok to Rednote, there was also a corresponding increase in US users who are seeking resources to learn Mandarin. This implies that more is going on and is where your "people are only being driven by addiction" analysis falls apart.

          Sure, I can see people switching apps to continue chasing an addiction, however, the uptick in US interest in learning Mandarin implies that people are interested in communicating with people who speak mandarin. If you looked at how Rednote is currently functioning in English, you can see that it's not necessary to learn Mandarin to use the app the same way they did on TikTok. People are finding more than just a way to fill a social media addiction.

          The fact that they are seeking out ways to better communicate with other users on Rednote suggests they are looking to become closer with that subset of users, which is an action driven by a desire to build a community with them. You don't go learning a new language because of addiction.

          • You are delusional. You’re fitting your narrative into the situation without the ability (or desire) to step back and observe the reality.

            People are learning mandarin because they are so addicted to this form of social media that they are choosing to learn a new language over using other forms of social media.

            • Perhaps this is a case of the kettle calling the pot black? Have you even considered what I said could hold some truth? I can say I have considered yours and told you I thought there was merit to it.

              Does it make sense to go to the extra effort to learn a new language when they could just go to Instagram or lemon8 like many others have done? That is the path of least resistance for feeding an addiction, not overcoming a language barrier.

            • I wish every addiction could drive people to learn an entirely new language.

              • Do you also send thanks to abusive partners because they force their spouses to learn to cook for them?

                I mean, yeah. It’s great that homeless drug addicts get to know how to use the public transit system so well 👍

                • Yeah dude using an app is basically the same as being a battered spouse or a homeless drug addict. 👍

                  • If you’re just “using an app”, the whole thing would be meaningless to you.

                    • That's... what it is? It's an application on people's phones?

                      • Great. Then we agree you can just remove it. No harm done and you can easily move on with your life.

    • 亿万富翁 Yì wàn fùwēng

    • 上瘾

      Shàngyǐn

36 comments