In this two-part series we explore the international phenomenon and emerging social media platform: TikTok. From the failing Shanghai tech company that created Musical.ly to ByteDance's $1b acquisition in 2017, we explore how TikTok became the highest-valued startup to date now totalling over $75b.

Part 2 will examine the way TikTok has changed our perception of content production, how its paying the most popular users, and breakdown what exactly is going on between the new controversy regarding Mark Zuckerberg and the US Gov. plan to investigate the app's Chinese background. We also realize over the course of recording, that this may be our most important episode to date!

Eating For Free is a bi-weekly gossip podcast reporting from the edge of the internet! We're a new wave of celebrity reporters at a time when pop culture is increasingly chaotic and media lacks the ability or moral direction to make sense of this capitalist nightmare!

Do you have a tip for us? Got some hot gossip? Need to get any questions off your chest? Call our hotline at Call 1-810-EAT-FREE (1-810-328-3733) or send us an email at [email protected]!

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• Joan Summers: Twitter, Instagram.
• Matthew Lawson: Twitter, Instagram.

Sources:

• Meet the Head of TikTok, a 35-Year-Old Who Makes Employees Do Push-Ups if Their Videos Don't Get Enough Likes - Money, Julia Glum (2019)
• How a failed education startup turned into Musical.ly, the most popular app you've probably never heard of - Business Insider, Biz Carson (2016)
• Chinese Tech Firms Forced to Choose Market: Home or Everywhere Else - NYT, Paul Mozur
• My conversation with Zhang Yiming, founder of Toutiao - Technode, 2017
• Musical.ly, a Chinese App Big in the U.S., Sells for $1 Billion (Paul Mozur) - NYT, 2017
• Who's Too Young for an App? Musical.ly Tests the Limits - NYT, John Herrman, 2016
• The popular Musical.ly app has been rebranded as TikTok - The Verge, Dami Lee. (2018)
• These Teens Are Making Thousands a Month With Karaoke App Musical.ly - Money, Gabriela Fernandez
• AI In China: How Buzzfeed Rival ByteDance Uses Machine Learning To Revolutionize The News - Forbes, Bernard Marr
• A Look at Toutiao: China's Artificial Intelligence Powered News Platform - Wei Chun Chew, Medium
• The Hidden Forces Behind Toutiao: China's Content King - Ycombination, Anu Hariharan (2017
• The History of TikTok (TeenVogue)

• How TikTok is Rewriting the World (NewYorkTimes)
• TikTok, Explained (Vox)
• How TikTok Holds Our Attention (NewYorker)
• 32 Biggest Stars on TikTok (Business Insider)
• How 7 Brands are Using TikTok (HugSpot)
• TikTok and Activism (BBC)
• Meet the Head of TikTok (Money.com)
• How A Failed Startup Became Musical.ly (Business Insider)
• Chinese Tech Firms Forced to Choose Market (NewYorkTimes)
• My conversation with Zhang Yiming, founder of Toutiao (Technode)
• Musical.ly, a Chinese App Big in the U.S., Sells for $1 Billion (NewYorkTimes)
• Who's Too Young for an App? Musical.ly Tests the Limits (NewYorkTimes)
• The popular Musical.ly app has been rebranded as TikTok (The Verge)
• These Teens Are Making Thousands a Month With Karaoke App Musical.ly (Money.com)
• AI In China: How Buzzfeed Rival ByteDance Uses Machine Learning To Revolutionize The News (Forbes)
• How TikTok Took Over Music (Rolling Stone)
• Record Labels Demand More Money for Songs on TikTok App (Bloomberg)
• U.S. Army Looking Into National Security Concerns Over TikTok After Using It to Recruit Troops (Gizmodo)
• U.S. opens national security investigation into TikTok (Reuters)
• TikTok national security inquiry (CNBC)
• US investigating TikTok owner ByteDance (South China Morning Post)
• Before Mark Zuckerberg Tried To Kill TikTok (BuzzFeedNews)
• TikTok has moved into Facebook's backyard (CNBC)