TikTok Adults | Netflix Troubles | Florida

Written while realizing that climate change presents an existential threat

Trying to rise above (Credit: Lance Ulanoff)

TikTok ages up

A new survey of TikTok members says that 52% are over 30. That’s right, the adults have consumed yet another social platform. For now, and because of the way the TikTok algorithm works, the younger TikTok set, 25% of which are between 10 and 19, may not have noticed. They’re fed a steady diet of like-minded and equally youthful posts (unless they’re really into watching parents embarrassingly try to dance or lip sync Julia Fox).

I’ve been on the platform for years and watched it morph into a polyglot of content styles. There are still the dancers and lip syncers, but it’s also rich with upscale cooking, how-to, and informational content –and, like most other platforms, full of angry adults, stuffed with partisan rhetoric and mean-spirited attacks on all kinds of people. Seem like every time adults get involved they poison the social well.

Almost 50% of TikTok’s userbase is still under 30. However, as the shift continues and the 22% in the 20-29 range age into their 30s, the balance of TikTok’s user base will age up. We’ve seen this with almost every single social media platform, and it usually means tough times ahead. Facebook countered its once college-age fanbase aging into parenthood by going global. That helped for a while, but the platform’s growth is now flatlining.

TikTok will need a plan today to remain relevant to new teens. This means it might try to attract kids with, say, a safer kids’ version of TikTok. That’ll prime them for using the full version when they hit 13.

Or they might not, but we know how this story goes. An aging user base is the potential of a long, slow death for any social media platform. What will TikTok do about it?

Netflixed

I used to think Netflix’s two biggest problems were growing competition and the costs of making fresh content. Now I see that the biggest issue is growth. The service has over 220M subscribers but it’s shrinking (it just saw a 200k drop) when it should be growing.

Since most of us don’t own shares in Netflix, perhaps we consider this not our problem. But it is–or will be.

Netflix is determined to solve the growth and revenue issue and one target is the millions of people watching and not paying. The crackdown is underway in a handful of markets but Netflix recently made it clear that it will get aggressive on this front. If you weren’t paying, you may soon be or at least kicking in some money to the account holder to support your “shared account” status.

Netflix might also do the unthinkable and introduce commercials. Not on the main service, mind you, but in a new, cheap one. Think what Hulu or Paramount does with their tiers. On the latter, you get Picard, but with commercial breaks that you can’t skip unless you pay for the premium service.

For a platform that’s been raising prices for years and maybe pricing out some customers, this could be a brilliant way of bringing budget-conscious customers into the Netflix tent. I wonder, though, how many premium customers might switch to the ad-supported platform to save some bucks–inflation is sky-high, after all.

Too much

Soon after Netflix’s no-good horrible very bad week, the newest member of the streaming family (I know they’re all competitors), CNN+, shut down, just 18 days after it launched.

CNN’s new owners sized up the slow-growing opportunity and decided it wasn’t worth the trouble. This was, to put it lightly, a stunning turn of events Hundreds of people, both behind the scenes and big names lured to the streaming network for new shows, were caught off-guard and suddenly found themselves without a platform (and potentially a job).

I get that we have too many streaming options and that budgets are tighter than ever, but no business can prove itself in just 18 days. This hair-trigger response was rash and maybe even wrong-headed. We’ll never know, though, if CNN+ was another Disney+ in the making or the latest Quibi.

Florida

I like visiting the sunshine state. I’ve been to Disney World multiple times, Fort Myers, Orlando, Kissimmee. Cape Canaveral. It’s a spectacular place with wonderful people. It’s also being run by a demagogue hellbent on getting to the Whitehouse by appealing to people’s worst instincts.

Right now, the governor of Florida (I won’t say his name) is battling mega-corporation Disney over a controversial new state bill, often known as “Don’t say Gay.” It’s another fearmongering bit of legislation designed to further marginalize the marginalized to make those afraid of sharing who they are harder. It’s awful but appeals to a certain base that might help push that governor north.

Remember, this battle is not about Florida. State residents stand to lose a lot more than Disney, which just lost its favored nation status in the state. That is of no consequence to the governor who only cares about a new address.

I don’t know that any company should have the kind of status Disney has in Florida, but the numbers favor Florida as it reaps billions in revenue from Disney’s enterprises. This is to say nothing of the billions likely made by the halo of businesses of all sizes that operate around Disney World.

I look forward to the day that this man is out of a job (any job) and Florida wakes from this fever dream. I hope to visit again.

Stay well

See you soon