Latest news with #TikTok-related
Local Italy
22-02-2025
- Local Italy
Inside Italy: Is TikTok tourism ravaging Italian travel destinations?
Inside Italy is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip from Italy that you might not have heard about. It's published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox, by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article. The impact of video-sharing social media platform TikTok on tourism in Italy has been a subject of debate in national news media and TV shows this week after dozens of videos showing sightseers standing (or, sometimes, skiing) just metres away from lava flows on Mount Etna went viral. The TikTok clips led Sicilian authorities to issue warnings about the risks of getting too close to the flowing lava. 'I've seen many photos and videos of people dangerously close,' said Carlo Caputo, the mayor of Belpasso, a town south of Mount Etna. This exposes tourists to 'serious risks, as the lava, interacting with the snow, can instantly vaporise it and, with thermal energy being released, it may violently hurl fragments or rocks,' he added. But this was only the latest in a number of tourism-related incidents linked to viral TikTok footage. In late January, the popular ski resort of Roccaraso, in Italy's central Abruzzo region, was overrun by over 10,000 day-trippers in the space of a few hours after Neapolitan TikTok star Rita De Crescenzo posted live videos of the resort to her 1.7 million followers. The influx of tourists clogged the road leading up to the resort and overcrowded its ski slopes, sparking anger among the town's 1,500 residents. Swathes of the resort were also reportedly left completely strewn with rubbish by groups of irresponsible visitors. Roccaraso authorities have since introduced crowd-control measures, capping the number of tourist buses that can enter the town on weekends at 100, while also requiring bus operators to pre-book their trips online. In another TikTok-related incident last November, the Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola in Rome was overrun by thousands of social media users looking to capture their reflection in a mirror intended to offer a unique perspective of the building's ceiling fresco. The item has since become known as Rome's 'best selfie mirror'. But as the list of overcrowding episodes spurred by viral TikTok content seems destined to grow further in the coming months, some Italian reporters and commentators have already accused so-called 'TikTok tourism' of 'destroying' Italian travel destinations. Though I think that 'destroying' may be too strong a word to describe the phenomenon, I don't find these comments to be too far off the mark. Following incidents in Italy as well as in other world countries, including China and the US, there is enough available evidence to confidently state that TikTok content is capable of funnelling thousands of visitors into a place within hours. This can have a major impact on lesser-known areas, as local infrastructure is in most cases incapable of coping with large numbers of visitors. But besides creating crowd-management issues for authorities and giving headaches to residents looking to go about their lives peacefully, huge flows of visitors can also pose significant safety risks, as has been the case on Mount Etna in recent days. The head of Sicily's Civil Protection agency, Salvo Cocina, said on Facebook last weekend that 'wild' parking on the volcano's slopes had blocked key rescue routes, obstructing emergency vehicles. He also warned about the 'risk of falls', which 'increases proportionally to the number of people' crowding the sides of the volcano. As a final point, besides overcrowding issues, media reports have also drawn parallels between the rise of TikTok as a primary source for travel planning and an increase in 'unethical tourism', meaning practices that harm local communities, damage the environment or disrespect cultural traditions. So all in all, in answer to the question of whether TikTok is ravaging Italian travel destinations, I fear that 'ravaging' may be too strong of a verb at this point. But the social media platform is surely changing travel in Italy – and not for the better.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nevada is the most TikTok-obsessed state, study shows
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Nevada is officially the most TikTok-obsessed state in America, according to new data from an influencer marketing agency. A study from Socially Powerful used Google Keyword Planner to analyze 30 popular TikTok-related keywords, including 'TikTok,' 'TikTok app,' TikTok store,' and 'download TikTok,' in each state relative to population. Search volumes were an average of 12 months. That data showed the company which states had the most TikTok-related searches per 100,000 people, with Nevada at the top of the list. While other states in the top five had more overall searches, the number of searches across the state's population showed Nevada residents were searching for the app more than other states on average According to the study, there were 3902 TikTok-related searches per 100,000 people in Nevada, totaling 121,140 searches. State Rank No. of TikTok-related searches per 100,000 people Total no. of TikTok-related searched State Population Nevada 1 3902 121,140 3,104,817 New York 2 3847 769,250 19,994,379 Virginia 3 3754 323,760 8,624,511 New Jersey 4 3576 330,700 9,249,063 Florida 5 3517 760,840 21,634,529 California 6 3491 1,373,760 39,356,104 Washington 7 3437 264,250 7,688,549 Georgia 8 3274 351,070 10,722,325 Texas 9 3238 946,770 29,243,342 Arizona 10 3120 223,800 7,172,282 The state with the highest total number of TikTok-related searches is California with 1,373,760. The least-obsessed state in the country according to the data from the study is Montana, which only had 1495 TikTok-related searches per 100,000 people. TikTok was offline in the United States for around 14 hours earlier in January 2025. On President Donald Trump's first day in office for his second term, he signed an executive order delaying the TikTok ban for 75 days. The order called on Trump's attorney general to not enforce the law that banned the app while his administration determines 'the appropriate course forward in an orderly way that protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown of a communications platform used by millions of Americans.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Perplexity AI's New TikTok Merger Offer Could Give U.S. Government 50% Stake
AI startup updates ByteDance proposal with new U.S. holding company and potential government stake. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 5 Warning Sign with MSFT. Perplexity AI has revised its merger offer for TikTok parent ByteDance (BDNCE), proposing a structure that could give the U.S. government up to a 50% stake in a future IPO, multiple news reports indicate. The new proposal introduces a U.S.-based holding company, NewCo, which would oversee TikTok U.S. and ByteDance's core recommendation algorithm. Existing investors from Perplexity AI and ByteDance would receive equity in the new entity. The deal's financing would involve third-party capital providers, enabling a one-time dividend payment to ByteDance investors in exchange for simplified governance. The previous offer was valued at over $50 billion, but the final amount will depend on ByteDance shareholders' participation. Perplexity AI, a rising competitor to Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)-backed OpenAI and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), reached a $9 billion valuation by late 2024 amid growing demand for generative AI. It is among several firms, including Microsoft, Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), and potentially Elon Musk, exploring TikTok-related deals. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sign in to access your portfolio
