Quitting Twitter and TikTok is a lot harder than other people think.
In this photo illustration, the Tik Tok app is displayed on an Apple iPhone on November 01, 2019, in San Anselmo, California. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has started a national security investigation of the social media app TikTok after Beijing ByteDance Technology Co acquired the U.S. social media app Musical.ly for $1 billion.
Ever since these social media platforms experienced numerous issues, many users shared their intent to leave them for good.
Although reports stated that Twitter and TikTok users decrease from time to time, the majority of them are still logging in.
Despite controversies, hundreds of millions of users still can't delete their Twitter and TikTok accounts permanently. Now, experts say that the so-called network effects prevent people from quitting these platforms.
Quitting Twitter, TikTok is NOT Easy
According to NPR's latest report, Twitter and TikTok have the so-called network effects.
In this photo illustration, a Twitter logo is displayed on a mobile phone on August 10, 2020, in Arlington, Virginia. - Wall Street was mixed early August 10, 2020, with Nasdaq retreating further as investors digested President Donald Trump's efforts to take unilateral action in the absence of a deal with Congress on emergency pandemic spending.
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This phenomenon refers to the situation when a product (such as a social media platform) becomes more valuable as consumers increase in numbers.
In short, the overall value of TikTok and Twitter is being enhanced by users' experiences and contributions.
"The idea is that you have to reach critical mass, and before you do that, it's not a super valuable service," explained the University of California Business Prof. Zsolt Katona.
"But after you reach that, it's very hard to beat because it's very hard for others to replicate," he added.
Since Twitter and TikTok already have hundreds of millions of users, they are now more important to people's daily lives.
Because of this, users find it difficult to leave these platforms or replace them with other social media apps.
Network Effects Also Have Negative Outcomes
Although the network effect phenomenon drastically benefitted numerous social media platforms, a study explained that this doesn't always lead to positive outcomes.
The study "Network Effects and Market Power: What Have We Learned in the Last Decade" explained that among the negative impact of network effects is congestion.
This means that users will start looking for more curated communities if there are too many network effects on a social media platform.
Here are other stories we recently wrote about TikTok and Twitter:
Experts recently claimed that the TikTok FYP automatically shows self-harm videos. Meanwhile, Twitter Circle experienced some issues, leading to privacy concerns.
For more news updates about social media platforms, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.
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