List building advice from the CCP?
Remember when TikTok got banned?
Yeah, me neither.
Whilst I've not been shaking any derrière or putting any D1 yapping performances into building an audience on there, I looked on with amused interest at that whole debacle. Especially as I know folks who had built massive audiences on there and were making as much as $10k a month just off the creator programme.
But recently I got curious as to whether, legally, there was ever any leg to stand on regarding actually banning it... and why they'd do such a thing, when clearly our American chums have grown to love the suspiciously all-knowing algo.
And reading into it… Oh boy, TikTok's data collection practices are insane.
The app gathers data that other apps usually consider off limits, including the content of users' private messages and the entire contents of a user's device contacts.
This means that if you have an email contact who has a TikTok account, Chyna has your name, email, possibly your phone number, photo, and more.
If that's not bad enough, Chinese law requires its social media companies to "assist or cooperate" with the Chinese government's "intelligence work" and to ensure that the Chinese government has "the power to access and control private data."
Sobering stuff.
But if the CCP is willing to wholesale data harvest every Zoomer you've ever known to get hold of your email, it does highlight the importance of building your list, if nothing else.
If you're not yet able to employ international espionage-grade email collection practices, but understand how valuable your own email list could be with the right strategies in place…
Go here:
James Perkins
P.S. We are a double-opt-in household. We respect consent around these parts. If you're looking to skirt these basic principles of email etiquette, I can't help you.
