Pet owners are showing their “bad dog” in viral TikTok trend.
Screengrab from @Leidengualdron on TikTok.
Pet owners are showing their “bad dog” on TikTok, and the videos are priceless.
TiKToker @Dept_of_redundancy_dept asked followers to stitch the video showing their “bad dog” following a video that has garnered over 6.5 million views as of June 13.
@Dept_of_redundancy_dept said he didn’t want to see “good boys and good girls sitting for a cookie” but instead the “dog that bit your ankle.”
And TikTokers didn’t disappoint.
One TiKTok user named @Bigfatstupidrat showed “freaking Kevin” scale a cabinet in their kitchen to get to a bowl of food, the video that’s racked up over 16.8 million views as of June 13 showed.
Commenters rushed to let the poster know what they thought about the bull terrier’s “toe grip.”
“Him gripping the counter with no thumbs is insane,” one said.
“That’s honestly scary, imagine walking in on that,” another wrote.
User @Leidengualdron said she’s “never leaving the dishwater open again,” after capturing a video of her dog holding a knife in its mouth, the June 11 video showed.
Commentors came to the pup’s defense with one person saying, “He is a good boy, he’s just defending himself.”
“He has HAD IT,” another wrote on the video that’s garnered over 1.9 million views as of June 13.
“He’s innocent,” one person said.
Another user known as @Bayhaypartyof6 shared her golden retriever shredding their trampoline, according to the TikTok that’s garnered over 926,000 views as of June 13.
The dog can be seen ripping up the bottom of the trampoline before stopping to stare at the camera.
Commenters tried to comfort the poster by saying what their “bad dog” had done.
“We’re selling our house in 3 weeks and my dog decided the door to the garage really needed a dog door,” one wrote.
“If it makes you feel better, I had a dog that peeled back the siding of my mobile home like a sardine can…,” another said.
“My dog once chewed on my dad’s 550$ hearing aid,” one said.
Paloma Chavez is a reporter covering real-time news on the West Coast. She has a degree in journalism from the University of Southern California.
The US has banned companies like Nvidia from selling their most advanced AI chips to China since 2022. But if loopholes exist, profit-hungry corporations will find and exploit them. The Informationpublished a bombshell report on Thursday detailing how Oracle allows TikTok owner ByteDance to rent Nvidia’s most advanced chips to train AI models on US soil.
ByteDance, which many US lawmakers believe has direct ties to the Chinese government, is reportedly renting US-based servers containing Nvidia’s coveted H100 chips from US cloud computing company Oracle to train AI models. The practice, which runs against the spirit of the US government’s chip regulations, is technically allowed because Oracle is merely renting out the chips on American soil, not selling them to companies in China.
The US government has cracked down on exporting the chips to China as an extension of the tensions between the two nations. The Biden Administration fears the nation could use advanced AI for military or surveillance purposes or to gain an economic upper hand. The US government passed bipartisan legislation in April that will force ByteDance to either sell its US operations or face a ban. But ByteDance still has until early next year to close a deal, and it’s suing the US government, which could delay enforcement.
Although ByteDance is training its models in the US, “it could be difficult to stop them from sending the models they produced back to their headquarters in China,” according to US-based cloud providers and a former Nvidia employee who spoke to The Information. Quite the loophole, indeed.
ByteDance’s Project Texas initiative, which the company claims siloes off TikTok’s US operations from its Chinese leadership to allay US fears, is at the heart of the arrangement. However, former ByteDance employees have described Project Texas as “largely cosmetic,” as they claim the company’s US wing regularly works closely with its Beijing-based leadership.
ByteDance isn’t the only Chinese company looking to game the rules. The Information says Alibaba and Tencent are discussing similar arrangements to gain access to the sought-after chips. Those deals could be harder to squash because they have their own US-based data centers and wouldn’t have to rent servers from American companies.
US cloud computing company Oracle reportedly enables ByteDance’s training of AI models in the US. (Oracle)
Not every company has been as willing as Oracle to skirt the law’s intent. “Two small American cloud providers” reportedly turned down offers to rent servers with Nvidia’s H100 chips to ByteDance and China Telecom because “they seemed to go against the spirit of U.S. chip restrictions.” However, Oracle, cofounded by American businessman Larry Ellison and run by current CEO Safra Catz, apparently found the opportunity for profit through technically legal workarounds too tempting to pass up.
The US Commerce Department, the bureau that could close the loophole, may already be aware of the practices. Earlier this year, the department proposed a rule that would require US cloud providers to verify foreign customers’ identities and notify the US if any of them were training AI models that “could be used in malicious cyber-enabled activity.” However, the Commerce Department recently said most cloud providers disapproved of the proposal, claiming “the burden of additional requirements might outweigh the intended benefit.” In the meantime, the proposed rule, which could theoretically plug the loophole, remains in limbo.
But even if the US manages to shut down that exploit, The Information says it wouldn’t cover Chinese cloud providers like Tencent and Alibaba from buying Nvidia’s chips and using them to train AI models in their own US-based data centers. The Commerce Department will have its hands full figuring this one out as business and defense interests wrestle for control.
Photo: The Hollywood Curtain/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
Taylor Swift is in the comments, fighting for Lady Gaga’s life. In a recent TikTok, Gaga dispelled some pregnancy rumors. She wrote “not pregnant – just down bad crying at the gym” over a video of her showing off a severe cat eye liner. The message of the video then slid into civic duty, as Gaga asked all the little monsters to register to vote. Because of the TTPDreference, presumably, Taylor Swift left a comment in support. “Can we all agree that it’s invasive & irresponsible to comment on a woman’s body,” Swift commented. “Gaga doesn’t owe anyone an explanation & neither does any woman.” Nor does any man or enby, for that matter. Bodies are cah-razy! Best to ignore them completely.
Gaga felt compelled to comment on the pregnancy rumors after pics of her at her sister’s wedding surfaced earlier this week. Her makeup artist, Sarah Tanno, also tweeted in her defense, writing “Why spread a rumor about somebody that you care about or love? It does affect people’s mental health, people should not be body shaming people or assuming they are pregnant when they aren’t!” But we all know Gaga herself had the best pregnancy rumor shutdown of all time.
TikTok says it’s currently taking steps to mitigate a cyberattack that’s targeting a number of high-profile users through direct messages, in an attempt to hijack their accounts.
“We have taken measures to stop this attack and prevent it from happening in the future. We’re working directly with affected account owners to restore access, if needed,” says Jason Grosse, a spokesperson for TikTok’s privacy and security team.
Grosse says TikTok is still investigating the attack and could not comment at this time about its scale or sophistication, describing the threat as merely a “potential exploit.”
TikTok’s acknowledgment followed a report on Tuesday claiming CNN’s account had been temporarily breached last week. Citing an anonymous source at the news organization, Semifor reports that the breach did “not appear to be the result of someone gaining access from CNN’s end.” CNN did not immediately respond to WIRED’s request to comment.
Concerns over hacking attempts targeting news organizations in the US are particularly high given the impending presidential election this fall.
Forbes reported earlier in the day that the account of hotel heiress Paris Hilton was similarly affected, citing sources within the company. A source at TikTok tells WIRED that Hilton’s account was targeted but had not been compromised.
Security and privacy concerns around TikTok expand beyond cyberattacks by malicious actors. The company itself is fighting to remain available in the United States after US president Joe Biden signed a law in April that forces its parent company, China-based ByteDance, to sell TikTok or face a ban. TikTok and several users have sued the US government, claiming the law is unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Former President Donald Trumpjoined TikTok Saturday night—the same app he tried to ban, unsuccessfully, via Executive Order in 2020.
Convicted in a New York court just last week on 34 felony counts for falsifying documents to cover up a hush money payment, the GOP presumptive nominee announced his arrival to the video platform with a 13-second clip filmed at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event in Newark, NJ.
“The president is now on TikTok,” UFC President Dana White opens up the video. “It’s my honor,” Trump replies before a montage of him meeting and posing with fans with Kid Rock’s American Bad Ass in the background.
In under 24 hours since posting, Trump’s official account has more than 2.1 million followers. The video has garnered over 36 million views, 82,000 comments, 116,000 saves, and 2.3 million likes.
“I AM WITNESSING HISTORY,” one commenter wrote with the prayer hands and crying emojis. “i’m so glad i get to vote for him. my first ever vote gonna be for the goat,” another shared. “Let make his account the most famous one on tik tok!” a user, whose profile photo features the Three Percenters logo, a militia movement with a history of criminal activity, commented. At least seven people associated with the Three Percenters were indicted for their involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
President Joe Biden launched his campaign page on TikTok in February, @BidenHQ, which has 336.2 thousand followers and four and a half million likes—in total.
Trump received a warm welcome at the UFC event last night—an organization he’s had ties to for years. But at least one UFC fan, New York Jets quarterback and almost-vice presidential candidate for the independent ticket Aaron Rodgers, appeared to snub the former president. While many clamored to shake Trump’s hand as he walked by, Rodgers stayed in his seat and did not acknowledge his attendance.
In April, Congress passed a bill that would force a sale of TikTok by its Chinese owner, ByteDance, or outright ban the app, which hosts about a third of U.S. adults. President Biden signed it the next day.
As president, Trump attempted to get rid of the app, citing national security concerns. Yet, earlier in this campaign cycle, Trump flip-flopped on the issue, blaming Biden for banning TikTok and claiming the president is “doing it to help his friends over at Facebook become richer and more dominant.”
To soften what was a rough reaction to Biden’s move from young voters, his administration has been courting popular TikTok creators. During a visit to The White House earlier this year, Biden told a group of influencers “Don’t jump, I need you!”
There’s a lot of young people on TikTok—around six in ten U.S. adults under 30—and both presumptive 2024 candidates know this. Controversy over the app’s potential ban has been at the center of this election cycle.
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said it will leave “no front undefended” in its efforts to reach younger voters. “This represents the continued outreach to a younger audience consuming pro-Trump and anti-Biden content.”
While the majority of people who say they get their news from TikTok identify as Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents, the New York Timesreports that since November, there have been nearly twice as many pro-Trump posts as pro-Biden ones on the platform.
Trump closed out his first official TikTok by leaning close to the camera, saying, “That was a good walk on, right?”
Ethan Gaskill, a 29-year-old content creator, begins everyday the same way: “When I wake up in the morning—most people get on their phone and start checking Instagram—I check Facebook Marketplace.”
With his Los Angeles home furnished almost exclusively with second-hand items and a TikTok with over 220,000 followers interested in his thrifty hauls, Gaskill trusts the shopping platform to be a reliable source for hidden gems: a thousand-dollar Herman Miller light and pendant he nabbed for $400; a $5,000 bed from the same designer he bought for 20% of the original price; and, a Founders mid-century dresser worth $4,000 that Gaskill got for $800.
“It gives an opportunity for people to possibly bring in really rare items or just one-of-a-kind items into their home that otherwise they wouldn’t have had if they couldn’t make it out to a flea market or estate sale,” Gaskill told Fortune.
Facebook Marketplace has not only become a trusted source for LA’s second-hand scene. It’s made itself a real contender to go toe-to-toe with well-established e-commerce sites. Facebook has grown to 3.07 billion monthly active users (MAUs) as of the end of 2023, a 3% year-over-year increase. Of those, up to 40%, or 1.2 billion, are active users shopping on Marketplace, according to a March report from Capital One Shopping.
Meta’s online second-hand market is already challenging the sector’s goliaths. Marketplace eclipsed Craigslist’s MAUs years ago, with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying in 2018 that there were 800 million Marketplace MAUs, compared to the 55 million visitors on Craigslist in 2017. In contrast, Amazon had 310 million monthly users in 2023, per Tech Report, about one-fourth of Marketplace’s MAUs. Marketplace is the second most popular site for second-hand purchases behind Ebay, according to a 2022 Statista report.
“This is a growth area,” Charles Lindsey, associate professor of marketing at University at Buffalo School of Management, told Fortune. “It wouldn’t surprise me if in three years, five years, it actually overtakes Ebay.”
Amazon and Ebay did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
From online garage sale to e-commerce giant
Marketplace’s astronomical growth is in large part because the platform is simply easy to use and already linked to a site where so many people are pre-existing members, Lindsey argued.
“There’s a trust factor because it’s associated with Facebook,” he said. “It has an easy-to-use interface. It’s integrated with Facebook Messenger, so it’s easy to kind of go back and forth.”
Launched in 2016, Marketplace was originally a way to facilitate sales among neighbors, with most users offering up a used item for sale at a reasonable price, and buyers picking up the item and coordinating with the seller over Facebook Messenger about collection and payment. But Marketplace grew into a formidable e-commerce platform, with one-in-three U.S. Facebook users on the platform by 2018. Through the pandemic, Marketplace exploded thanks to increased reliance on e-commerce and supply chain and shipping delays that inconvenienced traditional shopping.
“We’re seeing everyone from artisans hand making goods, to wood workers to car sellers thrive,” Deb Liu, founder and then-Marketplace vice president, told Modern Retail in 2021.
By then, Marketplace had become a boon not only for thrifty shoppers, but small businesses looking for unique sales avenues. Springfield, Missouri-based Beautiful Fight Woodworking generated $168,000 of its $266,000 revenue in 2020 exclusively through Marketplace sales.
To be sure, the platform isn’t without significant problems, particularly as scammers and bot accounts have proliferated the site, giving well-intentioned buyers a tough time. One South Carolina user claimed in February he was scammed out of $18,000 after putting his 2016 Audi up for sale on Marketplace. A 2022 thinkmonkey survey of 1,000 Brits found that one in six had been scammed on the platform.
“What happens offline often makes its way into online environments, and that unfortunately includes scams,” Ryan Daniels, a Meta spokesperson, told Wired. Meta said it works “aggressively to quickly identify, disable, and ban scams and accounts associated with them.”
Gen Z’s new favorite social media
Through its ascension, Marketplace has won over a generation of young people who had largely turned away from Facebook.
“I look at it like it’s like a social media app,” Dre Vez, a 25-year-old content creator, told Fortune.
Vez spends about six to 12 hours a day on Marketplace, where he makes a living “trolling” sellers by asking them over voice memos to test the product, before uploading the interactions to TikTok for his 755,000 followers.
He finds Marketplace not just fodder for entertaining videos but also as a real social media tool for Gen Z and millennials because it’s fast-paced and highly stimulating.
“It’s the ability to have several interactions in a short duration of time, where I could go on Facebook marketplace, and I could search up for a bike, and I could reach out to seven to 10 different people and have all these conversations going on at the same time,” he said.
Even on days when he can’t find a good deal, Vez finds some laughs on the site. Sellers have gotten away with listing used toe nail clippers, toilet brushes, plungers—even a Dorito in the shape of a face going for $10,000, he recalled.
Meta has taken notice of its enthusiastic young users. While Facebook’s popularity among teens has dwindled in the wake of TikTok’s rise, Facebook now has over 40 million daily young adult users aged 18 to 29 in the U.S. and Canada, a three-year high, with one in four using Marketplace, Meta told Fortune.
To second-hand connoisseur Gaskill, who checks Marketplace five to 10 times a day, the platform is compelling to young people because it appeals to their desire for independence, to save money, and protect the environment against the strains of mass production and freight.
“Just given the circumstances with the economy, but also just the mindset of like Gen Z, they love uniqueness, and they love self expression,” he said. “But they also really like finding things for a good price.”
Finding room to grow
But just because Meta boasts a growing fandom for its Marketplace platform doesn’t mean its a lucrative arm of the company. Meta did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment on how it makes money through Marketplace, but marketing professor Lindsey suggests the company benefits from seller transaction fees, as well as more eyes on the website’s advertisements.
“Just overall, the more likely someone uses Facebook Marketplace, probably the more likely they also log into Facebook so many times per month,” he said. “Then Facebook capitalizes on that by being able to have companies pay for advertising that then hits my feed, hits your feed.”
The EU’s European Commission alleged in December 2022 that Facebook and Marketplace tie together and use data in a way that infringe on the EU’s competition rules, according to a December 2023 SEC filing.
Marketplace is, in part, an important facet of Facebook’s financial puzzle because its locally based exchanges are low-expense, according to Sucharita Kodali, retail industry analyst for market research firm Forrester—especially, compared to Ebay, which requires a massive international infrastructure.
“It’s an enormous transaction volume,” she told Fortune. “With that transaction volume comes a kind of a necessary investment in a lot of automation, customer service, seller management, seller tools, etc.”
While Facebook Marketplace doesn’t need an elaborate system to manage local transactions, it also means it’s likely not making as much money as its e-commerce competition. In fact, Kodali went so far as to call Marketplace an “anti-commerce” platform because it has so many “buy nothing” groups and peer-to-peer exchanges. She took a similar stance as Lindsey, arguing the financial merit of the platform is to help better target ads for active users.
“It’s not really about, like, ‘Let’s make money off of the volume of posts that we see on the marketplace section,’” she said.
Marketplace’s virtual garage sale vibes and community feel of the platform may not be raking in billions of dollars for Meta, but they’re exactly what keeps users coming back to the site.
“You never know when that next amazing thing is gonna pop up,” Gaskill said. “That’s the fun of it. That’s kind of what keeps it addicting.”
Charlotte photographer Noelle Pierce posted video on TikTok of the “creepy” children’s room she discovered behind a tiny door in her cousin’s new home.
SCREEN SHOT OF TIK TOK VIDEO
A Charlotte woman’s video of a creepy children’s room that she discovered in her cousin’s new home has drawn millions of views on TikTok.
“My cousin just bought a new home, and I’m scared,” Noelle Pierce says in the first of two videos she posted showing the room.
“What?” she says after turning the handle on a small door in a closet, revealing the children’s room. “And there’s two doors over there. I told her to padlock them because I think someone’s living in their house.
“Tell me this isn’t the most terrifying thing you’ve ever seen,” Pierce says in the video, which has drawn more than 13 million views on TikTok and a feature story in USA Today.
“How creepy it is”
Pierce didn’t disclose the location of the home.
In a follow-up video the next day, Pierce says her first video of the “weird, creepy sort of playroom area of the house … went kind of viral.”
“My cousin just bought a new home, and I’m scared,” Charlotte photographer Noelle Pierce says in the first of two videos she posted showing the “creepy” children’s room and other odd areas of the home SCREEN SHOT OF TIKTOK VIDEO
Her cousin hasn’t moved yet from Indiana, which is her home state, too, Pierce says in the second video. Pierce is a photographer who owns Reckless Revival Co. — “photography for the recklessly in love,” according to its website.
’”She was nice enough to text me the code to her new house, so I could go do a little tour for you guys, so you could see a little bit more about how creepy it is,” Pierce says in the second video.
In one room, she points the camera across to “what I’m assuming is attic access,” Pierce says. “If you look when I open this door, you see the hot water heater. Someone could easily live in this room. I’m just sayin’.
“That was actually the first door I looked in,” she says. “My cousin said, ‘Wait til you see what’s across the hall.’”
Pierce then goes into a closet and to a small door three feet off the floor that opens to the children’s room.
“I think the whole thing is still just a little weird,” she says in the video. “And in the Zillow link my cousin sent me before they bought this house, there are no pictures of this (children’s play) room.”
What’s more, Pierce says: “For everyone who said they had a similar little play room growing up, did they have weird little rivets in the floor and creepy, poorly drawn stencils on the wall?
“To everyone who says I was being dramatic, I watch a lot of true crime,” Pierce says at the end of the second video. “You should look up the case of Danny LaPlante, who hid in the walls. So there you have it.”
LaPlante, then 17, terrorized the family of a girl while secretly living in the walls of their home — a year before he murdered a pregnant woman and her two children in Townsend, Massachusetts, in December 1987.
Pierce told The Charlotte Observer on Instagram Saturday morning that she will share more, later in the day, about her reaction to the first video going viral.
This story was originally published May 25, 2024, 2:26 PM.
Related stories from Charlotte Observer
Joe Marusak has been a reporter for The Charlotte Observer since 1989 covering the people, municipalities and major news events of the region, and was a news bureau editor for the paper. He currently reports on breaking news. Support my work with a digital subscription
Charlotte photographer Noelle Pierce posted video on TikTok of the “creepy” children’s room she discovered behind a tiny door in her cousin’s new home.
SCREEN SHOT OF TIK TOK VIDEO
A Charlotte woman’s video of a creepy children’s room that she discovered in her cousin’s new home has drawn millions of views on TikTok.
“My cousin just bought a new home, and I’m scared,” Noelle Pierce says in the first of two videos she posted showing the room.
“What?” she says after turning the handle on a small door in a closet, revealing the children’s room. “And there’s two doors over there. I told her to padlock them because I think someone’s living in their house.
“Tell me this isn’t the most terrifying thing you’ve ever seen,” Pierce says in the video, which has drawn more than 13 million views on TikTok and a feature story in USA Today.
“How creepy it is”
Pierce didn’t disclose the location of the home.
In a follow-up video the next day, Pierce says her first video of the “weird, creepy sort of playroom area of the house … went kind of viral.”
“My cousin just bought a new home, and I’m scared,” Charlotte photographer Noelle Pierce says in the first of two videos she posted showing the “creepy” children’s room and other odd areas of the home SCREEN SHOT OF TIKTOK VIDEO
Her cousin hasn’t moved yet from Indiana, which is her home state, too, Pierce says in the second video. Pierce is a photographer who owns Reckless Revival Co. — “photography for the recklessly in love,” according to its website.
’”She was nice enough to text me the code to her new house, so I could go do a little tour for you guys, so you could see a little bit more about how creepy it is,” Pierce says in the second video.
In one room, she points the camera across to “what I’m assuming is attic access,” Pierce says. “If you look when I open this door, you see the hot water heater. Someone could easily live in this room. I’m just sayin’.
“That was actually the first door I looked in,” she says. “My cousin said, ‘Wait til you see what’s across the hall.’”
Pierce then goes into a closet and to a small door three feet off the floor that opens to the children’s room.
“I think the whole thing is still just a little weird,” she says in the video. “And in the Zillow link my cousin sent me before they bought this house, there are no pictures of this (children’s play) room.”
What’s more, Pierce says: “For everyone who said they had a similar little play room growing up, did they have weird little rivets in the floor and creepy, poorly drawn stencils on the wall?
“To everyone who says I was being dramatic, I watch a lot of true crime,” Pierce says at the end of the second video. “You should look up the case of Danny LaPlante, who hid in the walls. So there you have it.”
LaPlante, then 17, terrorized the family of a girl while secretly living in the walls of their home — a year before he murdered a pregnant woman and her two children in Townsend, Massachusetts, in December 1987.
Pierce told The Charlotte Observer on Instagram Saturday morning that she will share more, later in the day, about her reaction to the first video going viral.
This story was originally published May 25, 2024, 2:26 PM.
Related stories from Charlotte Observer
Joe Marusak has been a reporter for The Charlotte Observer since 1989 covering the people, municipalities and major news events of the region, and was a news bureau editor for the paper. He currently reports on breaking news. Support my work with a digital subscription
A majority of US TikTok creators don’t believe the platform will be banned within a year, and most haven’t seen brands they work for shift their marketing budgets away from the app, according to a new survey of people who earn money from posting content on TikTok shared exclusively with WIRED.
The findings suggest that TikTok’s influencer economy largely isn’t experiencing existential dread after Congress passed a law last month that put the future of the app’s US operations in jeopardy. The bill demands that TikTok separate from its Chinese parent company within a year or face a nationwide ban; TikTok is challenging the constitutionality of the measure in court.
Fohr, an influencer marketing platform that connects creators with clients for sponsored content, polled US-based TikTok creators on its platform with at least 10,000 followers. It got 200 responses, half from people who rely on influencing as their sole source of income. Out of the respondents, 62 percent said they didn’t think TikTok would be banned by 2025, while the remaining 38 percent said they believed it would be.
Some creators may be skeptical that a ban will really happen after they watched the Trump White House and Congress try and fail several times to crack down on TikTok over the past few years. The platform has so far only continued to grow more popular in the US, sparking alarm in Silicon Valley over the threat its competition poses. There’s also the possibility TikTok will be sold to a group of American investors—several interested bidders have emerged—though TikTok has made it clear that such an acquisition would be practically impossible.
Some creators are simply struggling to believe the bizarre situation their favorite app has landed in. “I’m in denial, because I think the TikTok ban is ridiculous,” one anonymous creator told Fohr through its survey. “I think our government has bigger things to worry about than banning a platform where people are allowed to express their views and opinions.”
Most creators said they haven’t lost business from brands that pay for marketing content on TikTok since the new law was signed: 83 percent of the influencers who responded said their sponsorships have been unaffected. But the rest had seen signs of brands pulling back from the app or at least diversifying their marketing. Some 7 percent said a brand had paused or canceled a campaign they worked on, and 8 percent said a brand had asked to shift a deliverable to another social media platform or at least inquired about such a change.
Companies may be reluctant to walk away from TikTok because it’s become one of the most popular avenues for consumers to discover new products, particularly from small businesses. Over the past year, TikTok has tried to leverage that influence into a new revenue stream through an ecommerce feature called TikTok Shop. Over 11 percent of US households have made a purchase through TikTok Shop since September 2023, according to credit card transaction data published in April by the research firm Earnest Analytics.
It doesn’t look as though the passage of the divestiture bill last month prompted people to spend significantly less time on TikTok or avoid the app altogether. The popularity of the platform in US app stores has remained largely consistent over the past month, according to the market-intelligence firm Sensor Tower. And Fohr found that 60 percent of creators said their video views have remained the same, 28 percent said they had seen them fall, and 10 percent reported their engagement increased. These shifts could simply be caused by routine changes TikTok makes to its algorithm, variability of the content that influencers are sharing, or the whims of users consuming videos.
TikTok’s rise has spurred US tech giants to mimic many of its features, with Google’s YouTube pushing its Shorts format and Meta’s Instagram launching Reels. Fohr’s survey suggests that if creators start leaving TikTok because of uncertainty about the app’s future or a ban, Instagram stands to benefit the most. A clear majority of creators—67 percent—said they saw it as the best alternative for growing their audience, while 22 percent cited YouTube. Only a small fraction pointed to Snapchat, Pinterest, and other platforms.
Several of the creators, however, said that it’s harder to gain traction on Instagram compared to TikTok, and one noted that Meta’s platform doesn’t offer anything equivalent to TikTok’s Creativity Program, which pays users based on how many views and other engagement metrics their videos receive.
Across social platforms, the most common way for creators to get paid is by signing deals with brands to make posts featuring their products. But Fohr’s survey also showed the growth of a novel monetization scheme called the TikTok Creative Challenge, which the app launched last year. It allows companies to post requests for creators to make marketing videos that brands can then use on their own channels. Influencers are compensated based on how well their video performs in terms of views and engagement.
In Fohr’s survey, that type of content, known as UGC, represented the largest TikTok revenue stream for 18 percent of creators. Whatever happens to TikTok in the US, history suggests that it may not be long before its American competitors begin rolling out their own user-generated content initiatives.
Nebraska is suing social media giant TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, claiming the platform targets minors with “addictive design” and is “fueling a youth mental health crisis.”
“TikTok has shown no regard for the wreckage its exploitative algorithm is leaving behind,” Attorney General Mike Hilgers said in a statement.
The lawsuit, filed in state court Wednesday, claims the platform engages in “deceptive and unfair trade practices” by claiming it is “family-friendly” and “safe for young users.”
The lawsuit alleges TikTok does not adhere to its own Community Guidelines, which states the platform does not allow “content that may put young people at risk.” The platform has also spent millions on advertising stating it’s suitable for young people, the complaint alleges, and representatives of TikTok have testified repeatedly the company monitors for harmful content and removes content that risks harm to minors or otherwise violates the Community Guidelines.
But the lawsuit alleges the opposite is true and that teens and children are shown inappropriate content based on the platform’s algorithm and “addictive design.”
As part of its investigation, Nebraska created TikTok accounts for fictitious minor users registered as 13, 15, and 17 years old, the lawsuit said. Within minutes, the lawsuit claims, the teen users were directed to inappropriate content by the TikTok algorithm, including videos described in graphic detail in the lawsuit as simulating sexual acts and encouraging eating disorders.
Much of the content pushed to minors is encouraged by the “For You” feed, the lawsuit claims, which shows users the alleged inappropriate content without them searching for similar videos. Instead, the video just pops into minors’ feeds uninvited, the lawsuit claims.
Hilgers said kids are shown “inappropriate content, ranging from videos that encourage suicidal ideation and fuel depression, drive body image issues, and encourage eating disorders to those that encourage drug use and sexual content wildly inappropriate for young kids.”
These interactions have fueled “a youth mental health crisis in Nebraska,” the lawsuit said.
TikTok refutes the allegations.
“TikTok has industry-leading safeguards to support teens’ well-being, including age-restricted features, parental controls, an automatic 60-minute time limit for people under 18, and more. We will continue working to address these industry-wide concerns,” a company spokesperson told CBS News in a statement.
Nebraska’s lawsuit comes as TikTok battles the U.S. government over recent legislation requiring the platform to cut ties with its China-based owner within a year or be effectively banned from the United States.
More than 30 states and the federal government have banned the app on state- or government-issued devices. Montana became the first state to ban the app last May, a few months later a federal judge overturned the ruling, in part because the ban “infringes on the Constitutional rights of users and businesses.”
— Melissa Quinn and C. Mandler contributed reporting.
Cara Tabachnick is a news editor at CBSNews.com. Cara began her career on the crime beat at Newsday. She has written for Marie Claire, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. She reports on justice and human rights issues. Contact her at cara.tabachnick@cbsinteractive.com
Eight TikTok influencers have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government in an effort to block enactment of a law passed and signed last month that requires TikTok be sold by China-based owner Byte Dance by January, or face a possible nationwide ban. Scott MacFarlane has more.
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
A social media app from China is said to seduce our teenagers in ways that American platforms can only dream of. Gen Z has already wasted half a young lifetime on videos of pranks, makeup tutorials, and babies dubbed to talk like old men. Now computer sorcerers employed by a hostile government allegedly have worse in store. Prohibit this “digital fentanyl,” the argument goes, or the Republic may be lost.
And so President Joe Biden signed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act of 2024, which requires the China-based company ByteDance to either spin-off TikTok or watch it be banned. Separating the company from the app would supposedly solve the other problem frequently blamed on TikTok: the circle linking U.S. users’ personal data to the Chinese Communist Party. The loop has already been cut, TikTok argues, because American users’ data are now stored with Oracle in Texas. That’s about as believable as those TikTok baby talk vignettes, retorts Congress.
If Congress has got the goods on the Communists, do tell! Those Homeland Security threat assessment color charts from the 2000s are tan, rested, and ready. But slapping a shutdown on a company because of mere rumors—that really is an ugly import from China.
The people pushing for TikTok regulation argue that the app’s problems go far further than the challenges raised when kids burn their brains on Snap, Insta/Facebook, Twitter/X, Pinterest, YouTube/Google, and the rest of the big blue Internet. In The Music Man, Henry Hill swept a placid town into frenzy with his zippy rendition of the darkness that might lurk in an amusement parlor. Today we’re told that TikTok is foreign-owned and addictive, that its algorithms may favor anti-American themes, and that it makes U.S. users sitting ducks for backdoor data heists.
Though the bill outlaws U.S. access to TikTok if ByteDance cannot assign the platform to a non-Chinese enterprise within 9–12 months (which the company says it will not do), prediction markets give the ban only a 24 percent chance of kicking in by May 2025. Those low odds reflect, in part, the high probability that the law will be found unconstitutional. ByteDance has already filed suit. It is supported by the fact that First Amendment rights extend to speakers of foreign origin, as U.S. courts have repeatedly explained.
The Qatar-based Al Jazeera bought an entire American cable channel, Current TV—part owner Al Gore pocketed $100 million for the sale in 2013—to bring its slant to 60 million U.S. households. Free speech reigned and the market ruled: Al Jazeera got only a tiny audience share and exited just a few years later.
Writing in The Free Press, Rep. Michael Gallagher (R–Wisc.)—co-sponsor of the TikTok bill—claims that because the Chinese Communist Party allegedly “uses TikTok to push its propaganda and censor views,” the United States must move to block. This endorsement of the Chinese “governing system” evinces no awareness of the beauty of our own. We can combat propaganda with our free press (including The Free Press). Of greatest help is that the congressman singles out the odious views that the Chinese potentates push: on Tiananmen, Muslims, LGBTQ issues, Tibet, and elsewise.
Our federal jurists will do well to focus on Gallagher’s opening salvo versus TikTok: “A growing number of Americans rely on it for their news. Today, TikTok is the top search engine for more than half of Gen Z.” This underscores the fact that his new rules are not intended to be “content neutral.”
Rather than shouting about potential threats, TikTok’s foes should report any actual mendacities or violations of trust. Where criminal—as with illicitly appropriating users’ data—such misbehavior should be prosecuted by the authorities. Yet here the National Security mavens have often gone AWOL.
New York Times reporter David Sanger, in The Perfect Weapon (2018), provides spectacular context. In about the summer of 2014, U.S. intelligence found that a large state actor—presumed by officials to be China—had hacked U.S.-based servers and stolen data for 22 million current and former U.S. government employees. More than 4 million of these victims lost highly personal information, including Social Security numbers, medical records, fingerprints, and security background checks. The U.S. database had been left unencrypted. It was a flaw so sensational that, when the theft was finally discovered, it was noticed that the exiting data was (oddly) encrypted, an upgrade the hackers had conscientiously supplied so as to carry out their burgle with stealth.
Here’s the killer: Sanger reports that “the administration never leveled with the 22 million Americans whose data were lost—except by accident.” The victims simply got a note that “some of their information might have been lost” and were offered credit-monitoring subscriptions. This was itself a bit of a ruse; the hack was identified as a hostile intelligence operation because the lifted data was not being sold on the Dark Web.
Hence, a vast number of U.S. citizens—including undercover agents—have presumably been compromised by China. This has ended careers, and continues to threaten victims, without compensation or even real disclosure.
The accidental government acknowledgment came in a slip of the tongue by National Security Chief James Clapper: “You kind of have to salute the Chinese for what they did.” At a 2016 hearing just weeks later, Sen. John McCain (R–Ariz.) drilled Clapper on the breach, demanding to know why the attack had gone unreported. Clapper’s answer? “Because people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw rocks.” An outraged McCain could scarcely believe it. “So it’s OK for them to steal our secrets that are most important, because we live in a glass house. That is astounding.”
While keeping the American public in the dark about real breaches, U.S. officials raise the specter of a potential breach to trample free speech. The TikTok ban is Fool’s Gold. The First Amendment is pure genius. Let’s keep one of them.
This has done little to deter a growing list of other business moguls who have also expressed interest in acquiring the app, which has been under government scrutiny in the US for four years over alleged national security concerns stemming from its Chinese ownership. One of them is former Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, who said earlier this week he too was assembling a group of investors to make a bid for TikTok. He first hinted about the plan in March before the divestiture bill passed into law.
Mnuchin told Bloomberg he understands that the Chinese government is unlikely to allow ByteDance to sell TikTok’s algorithm, but he planned to “rebuild the technology.” That would be quite a lofty endeavor, especially given that TikTok competitors like YouTube and Meta have been trying to copy its product for years with only mixed success.
There’s at least one existing business connection between Mnuchin and TikTok: They are both backed by Japan’s SoftBank, which has stakes in ByteDance and in Liberty Strategic Capital, the private equity firm Mnuchin set up after he left office. A representative from Liberty Strategic Capital did not immediately return a request for comment about Mnuchin’s TikTok acquisition strategy.
Former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has reportedly considered buying TikTok as well. He even floated the idea to Zhang Yiming, the former CEO of ByteDance who retains a roughly 20 percent stake in the company, the Wall Street Journal reported in March. Around the same time, Canadian businessman and Shark Tank judge Kevin O’Leary told Fox News that the app is “not going to get banned, ’cause I’m gonna buy it.”
O’Leary did not immediately return a request for comment about whether he was seriously interested in TikTok. Kotick could not be reached for comment.
All of TikTok’s potential suitors would be facing an uphill battle to close a deal. The first challenge will be raising enough money. Only a small number of the world’s largest companies likely have enough cash on hand to acquire the app outright, and so far, they haven’t publicly voiced an interest in the platform. That’s a big change from four years ago when then-president Donald Trump first tried to force ByteDance to sell TikTok. At the time, Microsoft, Oracle, and Walmart were among the most promising buyers for the app.
But the even bigger problem that investors face is the fact that TikTok doesn’t seem to think a sale would even be possible, let alone desirable. In a lawsuit it filed against the US government last week, TikTok argued the divestiture bill violated the First Amendment and claimed severing its American operations from ByteDance was “not commercially, technologically, or legally feasible.”
TikTok noted that the Chinese government has “made clear” that it would not permit the company to sell its recommendation algorithm to a foreign buyer, citing regulations that Beijing introduced after Trump first targeted TikTok in 2020. The measures put limits on the export of certain technologies such as “personal interactive data algorithms.”
Even if a sale were politically possible, TikTok argued the move would “disconnect Americans from the rest of the global community” on the platform, in possibly the same way that the Chinese version of the app is restricted only to people in China. TikTok added that it would take a team of new engineers years to sift through its source code and “gain sufficient familiarity” with it to run the app effectively.
A group of TikTok creators filed a separate lawsuit against the federal government earlier this week arguing that the divest bill violated their free speech rights. (TikTok is paying their legal fees.) Separating TikTok from ByteDance, they said, “is infeasible, as the company has stated and as the publicly available record confirms.”
While a guest on the Get Back podcast, TikTok dad Taylor Odlozil opened up about his wife’s final moments.
Screengrab from Taylor Odlozil’s Instagram page
While a guest on the Get Back podcast, TikTok dad Taylor Odlozil opened up about his wife’s final moments.
Taylor’s wife, Haley Odlozil passed away in July 2023 following a long battle with stage four ovarian cancer. Haley and Taylor shared her journey on TikTok, hoping that it would eventually become a digital scrapbook for their son.
Haley was just 30 years old when she passed away. Their son Weston was just 4 years old.
During his time on the Get Back podcast, Taylor opened up about the last moments he and Weston spent with Haley. Haley knew it would soon be her time.
“Haley comes to for a split second and she sees everybody that she loves around so she’s looking around and she’s like, ‘This is it, isn’t it? This is the end. This is just how I thought it was going to be,’” the dad shared.
“She started getting really scared, right? I was like, ‘It’s OK, we just wanted to be around you. We just wanted to be with you.’ And then I knew I needed to go get Weston immediately.”
As Taylor began talking about his young son, others in the room got emotional. The father revealed that he could tell his son knew what was happening but didn’t want to say it.
“’I’ve been telling you that Mommy was going to be with Jesus. Well, he’s coming,’” Taylor told his son as Weston held his mom’s hand.
That’s when Taylor said his wife regained consciousness one last time. She looked at her son.
“She said, ‘I love you, son.’ And that was the last thing she ever said.”
Taylor shared it was a “scary” time for his son, but he tried to prepare Weston in the best way possible, telling him that it wasn’t his fault and that both he and his mom are so proud of him.
Haley was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2015. She and Taylor were just two months away from becoming husband and wife, Today reported.
At the time, Haley admitted she gave Taylor permission to leave, they told Today in an interview last year. “She was trying to let me know that I could leave if I wanted to,” Taylor explained. “I thought she was crazy.”
Back in November 2022, Taylor shared a video of moments shared between their family of three. “I’m losing my family and there’s nothing I can do about it,” the dad said.
“This will be my wife’s last Christmas. Unfortunately we have run out of treatment options for her cancer.”
Taylor admitted that Haley’s greatest fear was being forgotten. He vowed to make sure that won’t happen.
Sara Vallone is editor of Mamas Uncut, the online place for moms. She writes about the latest in motherhood, parenting and entertainment – all with a mom-focused twist.
Ever since watching the Fallout show, I can’t get enough of it. The show was my introduction to its world, and the ending only inspired me to dive deeper in the worlds of the video games that inspired the show. Everything from the evils of Vault-Tec to the eccentric characters fascinated me. Clearly I’m not alone — the game series received an influx of players following the release of the show — but not everyone can commit to playing the games. It can be a massive time investment and even require hundreds of mods to play. Luckily for me, I’ve found a great way to experience the games without actually playing them: Watching clips on TikTok.
I can already hear the groans from seasoned fans — that’s valid! — since watching short videos about specific quests, locations, or characters doesn’t at all replace actually playing the game. But now I get to see a highlight reel from the people who put those hundreds of hours into the game and learn about the series in way that’s tailored towards the viewers of the show. For example, the video below shows an undetonated bomb in Fallout 3’s Megaton and discusses theories on who first dropped the bombs — which the show directly addresses.
Clips like the above allow me to learn about the world as it’s presented in the game series and can also give additional information about the lore of the game. Sure, I could go and read Wikis on the game, but that’s just not as fun. In the below clip, we can learn about a guy who runs the radio — a role played by Fred Armisen in the show — and what happens if you kill the radio guy in the game. (Spoilers: It’s funny.)
Even if I were to put the time and effort into the games, it wouldn’t guarantee that I’ll get to go and see everything I want in a perfect way. Like, I could play, but I might not know how funny the result would be if I killed the radio host. In other examples, people have just been really good at highlighting goofy moments. The clip below talks about a mysterious cult that formed around the Gravitron theme park ride.
People also just pull hilarious stunts in the games that I wouldn’t have the time or patience to pull off. Like this person, who collects dozens of Protectrons to defend against an invasion from the The Brotherhood of Steel in Fallout 4.
Prior to the show, I might have scrolled past these videos, and TikTok’s algorithm might have taken that as a sign I wasn’t interested in that content. However, now, the show has given me just enough knowledge to contextualize the big moments shown in the clips. The videos hit a sweet spot where I know enough to understand the clips and can recognize certain sects or recurring characters, but I don’t know so much that none of it surprises me. All in all, it’s been an enjoyable way to learn more about the games, and I’d recommend poking around on TikTok if you’re looking to scratch that Fallout itch.
Washington — TikTok, the widely popular social media app, and its parent company ByteDance filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department on Tuesday over a new law that requires the platform to cut ties with its China-based owner within a year or be effectively banned from the United States.
The petition filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., alleges that the measure signed into law by President Biden last month is unconstitutional in part because it violates the First Amendment rights of its users in the U.S. by effectively shutting down their access to the popular forum. Filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the petition calls for the court to block Attorney General Merrick Garland from enforcing the measure.
The suit names TikTok and Beijing-based ByteDance as plaintiffs and was filed against Garland.
The foreign aid package passed by Congress last month included a provision that required ByteDance to sell its stake in TikTok within a year. If the company fails to meet that one-year deadline, TikTok would lose access to app stores and web-hosting providers, effectively cutting it off to the roughly 170 million users in the U.S.
But TikTok said in its filing that while lawmakers portrayed the measure as a choice between divesture or a ban, “there is no question: the Act will force a shutdown of TikTok by January 19, 2025, silencing the 170 million Americans who use the platform to communicate in ways that cannot be replicated elsewhere.”
The company said that the divestiture required by the law within a 270-day timeline, subject to a 90-day extension by the president, is “simply not possible,” and pointed to the Chinese government’s opposition to selling the technology that has made TikTok so wildly popular in the U.S. — its recommendation engine.
“For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban, and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than 1 billion people worldwide,” TikTok wrote in its filing.
TikTok came under scrutiny by Congress amid concerns about the app’s ties to China. U.S. officials have warned that the video-sharing platform is a threat to national security, in part because they say the Chinese government can use it to spy on Americans or weaponize the app to manipulate content and influence the public.
FBI Director Christopher Wray told the House Intelligence Committee in March that the Chinese government could use TikTok’s software to gain access to Americans’ phones. Lawmakers in both chambers of Congress and across partisan lines have also expressed alarm about the app after participating in classified briefings.
Rep. John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, said in a statement that Congress and the executive branch concluded that TikTok “poses a grave risk to national security and the American people.”
“It is telling that TikTok would rather spend its time, money, and effort fighting in court than solving the problem by breaking up with the CCP,” he said.
TikTok’s legal effort was not unexpected, as the company had pledged to challenge the law’s constitutionality in court. The company has pointed to an initiative called “Project Texas,” launched in 2022, to demonstrate its efforts to safeguard U.S. user data and the integrity of its platform from foreign government influence. TikTok also said it was involved in a draft agreement through negotiations with an obscure federal agency, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, that included a “shut-down option” allowing the app to be suspended in the U.S. if it failed to meet certain obligations.
The platform accused Congress in its petition of overlooking its investments “in favor of the politically expedient and punitive approach of targeting for disfavor one publisher and speaker (TikTok Inc.), one speech forum (TikTok), and that forum’s ultimate owner (ByteDance Ltd.)”
Concerns about TikTok from policymakers have escalated in recent years, and more than 30 states and the federal government have banned the app on state-issued devices. Former President Donald Trump signed an executive order in 2020 that would’ve prohibited transactions with ByteDance, citing the data collection that “threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information.” But his attempts to ban the app were blocked by federal judges.
But even amid those fears, several political figures have their own accounts, including Mr. Biden’s presidential campaign and members of Congress. TikTok pointed to the use of the app by supporters of the ban in its petition and said it “undermines the claim that the platform poses an actual threat to Americans.”
Caitlin Yilek and Kaia Hubbard contributed to this report.
Melissa Quinn is a politics reporter for CBSNews.com. She has written for outlets including the Washington Examiner, Daily Signal and Alexandria Times. Melissa covers U.S. politics, with a focus on the Supreme Court and federal courts.
We are on day 44 of open hostility between Drake and Kendrick Lamar. “Like That” re-sparked the feud between Kendrick Lamar Duckworth and Aubrey Drake Graham in March, and over the weekend things have really heated up. The two rappers are trading diss tracks back and forth at a furious speed, with Metro Boomin even providing a diss beat for anyone to use. Imagine creating so much ill will that someone invents freeware to hate on you. Incredible. TikTok has been dissecting the disses — bringing expertise in astrology, law, Swiftieology, and more into the discourse. Learn from their work and watch the videos below.
If you’re waiting for Drake to get irrationally mad at you, STAY IN LINE!
Like I’m your baby, specifically.
Apparently this is all explained by Kendrick being a Gemini, and Drake having too many water placements.
The new hater anthem works well for banishment spells, who knew?
Reb Masel pointed out that Drake’s defense against the pedophile accusations would not hold up in court.
Metro Boomin put out “BBL Drizzy” for anyone to rap over, but what if I told you “Hiss” by Megan Thee Stallion already fits perfectly over it?
As most internet conspiracies usually do, it all goes back to Taylor Swift, doesn’t it?
Walgreens is now a candy destination, thanks to TikTok.
The pharmacy chain said it is ramping up production of Walgreen’s Nice! Gummy Mango peelable candy, and limiting online sales to one bag per customer due to high demand for the squishy treats, fed by social media.
Part of the retailer’s lower-priced Nice! house brand of snacks and drinks, the miniature versions of mango fruit —which sells for $1.99 a bag — first appeared in September 2023 in 2,500 Walmart stores.
The idea for the candy came from a vendor relaying peelable mango trends they were seeing in Asia, Marty Esarte, vice president of Walgreens’ owned brands, said in an email.
“TikTokers discovered the candies in January and before we knew it, products were flying off the shelves,” Esarte said.
In one video on the platform, a TikToker describes picking up a bag of the candy at Walgreens after seeing it “all over social media.”
Walgreens is increasing inventory for the mango-flavored product to 8,000 stores on May 22. A new peelable banana gummy will launch in 5,700 stores on the same day, also selling for $1.99 a bag, the company said.
We’ve tested a lot of TikTok products, but they’re not all worthy of the top spot. That doesn’t mean they aren’t worth buying, though. Below, you’ll find a list of good TikTok products we like—with some caveats.
Stanley The Quencher H2.0 Flowstate 40-Ounce Tumbler for $45: The Stanley Quencher took TikTok by storm over the past few years. And it’s easy to see why—they’re big, come in adorable colors, keep your drinks cold, and fit in cup holders. The 2.0 version comes with a splash-resistant lid and ergonomic handle. But earlier this year, after a rise in claims, Stanley confirmed the tumblers contain lead. It’s used to seal the vacuum insulation at the bottom of the cups. You don’t have to worry about exposure unless you drop or damage the tumbler. But seeing as how other water bottle brands have moved away from using lead in their products, we feel Stanley should do the same. For more information, you can read our explainer here.
The Dyson Airstrait for $499: I used to dread styling my hair, because it would take up to an hour. But the Airstrait (9/10, WIRED Recommends) has cut my hair routine in half—it now takes only 12 to 15 minutes, and my hair feels healthier. It has the same form factor as a standard flat iron, but instead of hot plates it uses airflow to both dry and straighten your strands simultaneously. With one focused jet of air that moves downward it delivers a natural, smooth finish. I’ll usually use it on wet mode to fully dry my hair and switch to dry mode to flatten any puffiness.
Famoplay Straw Cover (6 Pieces) for $7: Straws are great, but they can still attract bacteria and … other things. So, it’s important to protect it. These adorable covers are easy to put on and clean. There have been complaints online that it doesn’t fit on the straws of a lot of water bottles, but it fits my 30 oz and 40 oz Stanley cups perfectly.
Fruit Riot Frozen Candy (Sour Mango) for $7: Fruit Riot’s selection of frozen fruit fluctuates in stock, thanks to its virality. I (Brenda) sadly couldn’t my hands on the sour grapes, but I did find the frozen mango and pineapple at an ACME in my area. They’re basically like a fruit version of Warheads. Some pieces are certainly way more sour than others, so it’s tough to eat too many at once (unless you have a high tolerance for sour candy). But they’re great to snack on for when you want to fill your candy craving while also sneaking in some fruit.
Therabreath Fresh Breath Oral Rinse for $8: Before seeing Therabreath all over my FYP, I (Brenda) always used Listerine. But I’d find myself rinsing with it throughout the day because it’d wear off quickly. This isn’t the case with Therabreath—regardless of what I eat, I feel like it lasts all day. I also love that it’s alcohol-free, so it doesn’t burn. It comes in a variety of options and flavors (including a kid’s version) but I prefer Icy Mint. However, it’s pricier than some other mouthwash brands, which might start to add up over time depending on how many people are using it in your household.
Revair Reverse-Air Dryer for $399: The videos of the RevAir sucking up wet hair to dry and smooth would be hard to believe if we hadn’t tested it ourselves. It’s easy to use—after a shower, put your damp hair into the vacuum-like wand for 60 to 90 seconds and it’ll dry and straighten it, cutting styling time in half (or more), depending on your hair type. WIRED product writer, Medea Giordano, still had to smooth out her poofs with a flat iron, but folks with finer hair will find this to be a one-and-done device. It’s expensive, but if you can afford it, it’s a great gift for someone who spends a lot of time doing their hair.
KVD Beauty Good Apple Skin-Perfecting Foundation Balm for $42: Redness and dark circles disappear with this foundation, leaving an even base to apply the rest of our makeup. It feels a little heavy at first, but it settles in nicely (a regular makeup sponge works great for application) It clung to dry patches but overall worked well on our skin. Unlike many popular foundations, it also has a good range of shades.
Balkwan Sunset Lamp for $22: This small gadget transforms the vibe of any room. It’s easy to set up, too. Place it on your floor, plug it in, and aim it toward a wall. It’ll create a halo-like effect with pops of rainbow colors that will make your space feel extra cozy. It comes with a short cord though—I (Brenda) had to plug it into a power strip to place it in the desired spot. It’s also very easy to accidentally knock over, so I wouldn’t put it anywhere where there’s a lot of movement.
Upsky Dog Water Bottle for $10:This water bottle is great for long walks with your dog. Unlock the bottle, press the button to release some water, and let your pooch drink from the trough. Whatever they don’t drink goes right back into the bottle with another press of the button. It’s portable, leak-proof (thanks to a locking mechanism), and affordable. But the drinking trough isn’t big, so it’s best suited for pets with small to medium-sized snoots.
Hatch Restore 2 for $200: The Hatch Restore 2 is a solid bedside companion. It went viral for its beautiful sunrise and sunset simulations, but it’s also one of our favorite sound machines and lamps–there are 18 colors to choose from and a large brightness scale. If you sign up for the $5-per-month membership, you get a large rotating library of meditation and sleep stories, too. We wish more of those features were included without a membership, considering you’re already spending $200 on the device itself.
Oura Ring for $349: This ring started to gain traction on TikTok because it looks much more stylish and discrete than a smartwatch or fitness tracker. It’s small and attractive, but its sensors are accurate and sensitive. Our only complaint is that this third-gen version marked the start of the company’s push toward a new subscription model. For $6 per month, you’ll have access to advanced features like personalized insights, guided meditations, and educational content. Without it, you’ll only get basic metrics like your Daily Readiness, Sleep, and Activity scores.
“I give no credence to the ABC News opinion piece,” Cohen responded when I asked him about it.
While the “Michael Cohen Live Show” appears to have launched recently, Cohen has been talking about Trump for years: he has released two books documenting his relationship with Trump and also hosts and cohosts two podcasts with the MeidasTouch guys.
On Cohen’s Patreon, a club for listeners of the Cohen and Meidas Beatdown Club podcast, he’ll occasionally hold Zoom calls with paid supporters. There’s more than 1,100 of them, and the lowest tier requires a $10-per-month subscription, equivalent to at least $11,000 per month. That’s not counting the $50, $150, or the $500 subscriptions (or the TikTok gifts). At the beginning of these calls, Cohen and Ben Meiselas, a MeidasTouch cofounder, asks followers to “put up their dukes” and mime a few boxing punches.
On Wednesday, I reached out to the MeidasTouch folks to gauge the extent of their relationship with Cohen. They didn’t immediately respond to comment.
Whatever the details of that relationship, Cohen has created a massive megaphone for himself online by collabing with Meidas and engaging directly with his fans. He’s basically building his own media network, which is a trend we’ve seen among politicians and pundits since the last media cycle with the likes of Rudy Giulian and Tucker Carlson launching podcasts and creating boutique news programs online. And because of how screwed the internet is, you can’t just post if you’re wanting to break through the noise. Cohen’s got to do a little bit of everything and pray he doesn’t hurt his credibility.
The Chatroom
Last week, I asked you all to send in your thoughts on the new law that could ban TikTok in the US. You sent in plenty of thoughtful comments and emails. Here’s one that was incredibly kind and goes big-picture on what we were discussing last week.
From Barry:
“The summary: I disagree with the idea of banning TikTok only because of its China connection, without any proof.
The details: I turn 83 this June, know nothing about TikTok, and next to nothing about social media entirely—I read Facebook postings of friends and relatives, but post nothing myself. My impression of social media is that it’s an amalgam of pet tricks, incompetent dancing, influencers and disinformation. It’s a lot of mass entertainment by amateurs, and that’s OK.
At this point I could go on a rant about the devolution of the internet, politics, cryptocurrency, and more generally, democracy and society, but that’s why I subscribe to Wired—for Paul Ford, Steven Levy, etc. Leave that to the pros.”
Happy early birthday, Barry, and thanks for your thoughts!
Over the next week, I’m going to be digging into all of the Federal Election Commission filings for tech super PACs and campaigns that have been stacking up in my inbox. I’ll report back with what I find next week. But I’m curious, is there anything I should keep an eye out for? You can find a lot in these filings—like which influencer management companies politicians are using or which big campaigns big tech PACs are sending their money.
