Ejercicio Option 1 - Question 3 · Inglés PAU Cantabria Ordinaria 2021

TikTok: The Story of a Social Media Giant

TikTok's origins are very different to those of other popular apps. It was not created by some friends with a great idea in their mum's garage but started life as three different apps. The first was an app called Musically, launched in Shanghai in 2014 with strong business links and a healthy audience in the USA. In 2016, Chinese tech giant ByteDance launched a similar service in China called Douyin, attracting 100 million users in China and Thailand in the space of a year. Wishing to expand under a different brand, ByteDance bought Musically in 2018, incorporated it into their service and gave it a new name. Thus began TikTok's global expansion.

TikTok's secret lies in its use of music and a powerful algorithm which learns what content users like to see far faster than many other apps. Users can choose from a huge database of songs, filters and movie clips to lipsync to. Many people will spend most of the time on the “For You” Page, where the algorithm puts content in front of users, anticipating what they will enjoy based on content they have already seen. It's also where it shows content that could go viral. The idea is that if the content is good it will travel, whether the creator has many followers or not.

Many TikTok communities have emerged, brought together by the types of content they enjoy or their sense of identity. Specific communities often feature creators who aren't necessarily looking to earn a lot of money but who are simply on the platform to make funny or informative content. For them, it's all about finding like-minded people. The growth of TikTok and its sister app Douyin have been rapid. In July 2019 they already had one billion downloads worldwide, but one year later there were two billion. 500 million active users rose to 800 million over the same period.

However, governments have not been so keen on the app's influence. Although the accusations are vague, India and the US have concerns that TikTok is collecting sensitive data from users that could be used by the Chinese for spying. India initially tried to ban TikTok in April 2019, after a court ordered its removal from app stores amid claims it was used to spread illegal content. Furthermore, the Indian government said it had received complaints about apps “stealing and secretly transmitting users' data”.

5 August 2020, BBC News (Adapted)

Question 3: [1,5 POINTS] Find words or phrases in the text that correspond to the words given. You only need to have five correct answers to get 1.5 points.

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