I'm going to be honest, I do feel a little baffled but maybe that's because I didn't vibe with tik tok.

I think the pros are probably responsiveness and uptime (compared to fediverse things). Even now, hexbear goes down for one reason or another, to say nothing of back when we were the biggest lemmy instance (sorry Des, god that was a while ago), and setting up a new server is something that the vast majority of people don't want to do (especially compared to just signing up for an account). I think this is especially the case if you mostly consume video. While peertube (and others?) does exist, video is still pretty big per second of content, meaning that sort of continuous scroll video is a big ask for a small private server.

Compared to Facebook or Twitter or whatever, its unlikely that a Chinese spy is going to rat your weed ring out to American feds, unlike Facebook or Twitter (which routinely co-operate with American cops, no warrant).

Lastly, network effect, which is the big one. If the big creators you follow (idk what tiktok is like) go somewhere, you're going to follow them (well, not you, fellow lemmy person, but you know who I'm talking about). And your preference is that all your big creators go to the same place rather than to a dozen fediverse instances. Not that it would be insurmountable, but it would be a bigger ask.

Specific oligarchs may still be an effect (Zuck or Musk are not necessarily the most popular people).

while others say they are purposefully giving RedNote access to their data in a show of protest against the wishes of the U.S. government.

Ah yes, the ole Gavin McInnes method of showing the government who’s boss. Got it.

"This also highlights the fact that people are thirsty for platforms that aren't controlled by the same few oligarchs," Quintin said. "People will happily jump to another platform even if it presents new, unknown risks."

Once again...meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Yes, it's an odd one. I was listening to all the breathless coverage and thinking "they must just not like us." It's like school all over again!

That said, I wonder how much of it is because it makes good copy. After all, Pixelfed's usage has taken off like a rocket and it's app was doing better than quite a few of the larger social media platforms:

https://feddit.uk/post/22742725

“This also highlights the fact that people are thirsty for platforms that aren’t controlled by the same few oligarchs,”

So they move (and apparently willingly provide more access to their info than they already need to) to a platform that is controlled by a different few oligarchs, as a treat.. 🙄

Also, you say we're right here, but the number of people already here praising this shit* because they're either tankies simping for faux communists, or simply too indoctrinated to realise that you don't have to choose one, and can oppose both oppressive states (which use almost identical tactics), is pretty fucking gross.

*and before they descend on me with their bullshit and excuses and their throwing of marginalised people under the bus for the sake of maintaining their own black and white view of the world - yes Chinese and American people communicating and breaking down barriers is good. However the idea that this can honestly and freely be done on their oppressive state controlled media, any more than it can on ours, or that one is somehow less oppressive than the other, is a joke, and so are the people ignoring the fact that both states have equally terrible mass surveillance and control over our communications.