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Comment by Firebrand | Hacker News Reader

What good is temporarily banning TikTok if Oracle and Walmart are taking majority ownership?

The user base will see the headlines that it’s being banned and then they’ll move to a rival service again like they did during the first scare. Especially since Triller just poached TikTok’s most popular creator, Charli D’Amelio, earlier this week. That coveted preteen demographic might never come back. It’s poisoning the well for Oracle.

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TikTok is a fad app, WeChat is the actual important app being targeted.

Why is preteen a coveted demographic for a business? Are you able to point me to something I can read that would explain why a business wants to court what to me seems like a financially handcuffed group? I understand that preteens can influence their guardians into making a purchase for a toy or some other small ticket item, but they're not going to influence big ticket purchases. Or do they?

Armchair perspective: They are an easily impressionable group who will eventually get access to money. Building brand loyalty now could pay dividends in their later years. Plus, children to have a certain influence in what their guardians buy for them in many cases ( consider how profitable Disney's merchandise is).

Yes I thought of that too, but the parent to my question stated that Tiller is already replacing TikTok. Clearly this demographic doesn't have brand loyalty. It's not difficult/costly for them to jump ship from an existing platform to another one. By the time preteens have access to Money TikTok, Tiller and their followers will be replaced at least twice over.

Under the proposed deal, Oracle is not taking majority ownership.

My mistake. I left out the investment firms like Sequoia Capital, General Atlantic and Coatue, which would put majority ownership in U.S. hands. That’s what the Trump administration wants all along anyway.

But are they getting it? I thought it was just a somewhat vague ‘partnership’ between Oracle and TikTok.

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