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TikTok tests ‘clear mode’ as consumers struggle with what is a distraction and what is not

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Hanna Kahlert
The announcement of TikTok testing a distraction-free ‘clear mode’ might come across as ironic, given the ‘distraction’-prone default use case of most social media platforms. Is TikTok not already a distraction from other things? What is left if a ‘distraction free’ mode is activated? Yet it is exactly this paradox of perception that makes the development interesting.
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The record label addiction to virality is about the attention recession, too

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Tatiana Cirisano
In a painfully-of-the-moment twist of irony, Halsey went viral on TikTok this week for speaking out about the pressure to do just that. “Basically I have a song that I love that I wanna release ASAP, but … my record company is saying that I can’t release it unless they can fake a viral moment on TikTok,” they said .
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The Attention Recession: How inflation and the pandemic are reshaping entertainment

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Mark Mulligan
Netflix and Meta were the canaries in the proverbial mine for the attention recession and it is looking increasingly likely that difficult times lie ahead. If the attention crunch was not enough on its own, it has been compounded by the perfect storm of headwinds: the cost of living crisis, rising interest rates, energy and global grain supply constraints, and the Russo-Ukrainian war.
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Instagram is trying TikTok features on for size – but does the shoe fit?

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Ashleigh Millar
Instagram has started testing its new TikTok-esque make-over. The platform, which originally started as a photo-first app, has revealed its plans to push forward in a more video-first direction. This is following Meta’s revelation during its Q1 2022 earnings call earlier this month that its TikTok-inspired short-form video vertical, Reels, accounts for 20% of users’ overall time spent on Instagram.
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Is TikTok becoming a record label? The question misses the point

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Tatiana Cirisano
Every time TikTok does anything that seems to hedge on record label territory, someone inevitably asks the question: is TikTok turning into a record label? Cue the eye-rolls from the music industry. No one seems to want to admit how powerful a music company competitor TikTok really is — to the point where becoming a record label is not the point at all.
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