In this article, we compare the TikTok and YouTube platforms and take a look at some of the pros and cons of each.

Similarities 

There are several important similarities between YouTube and TikTok. For example:

– Both are popular video-sharing social media platforms that encourage user-generated content.

– Both platforms also cater for content from individual content creators and businesses. For example, there is ‘TikTok For Business’ and ‘YouTube For Business,’ both offering advertising and other services.

– YouTube and TikTok enable interaction between users, e.g. comments, replies, and subscribe buttons.

– Both offer analytics, e.g. views, followers, impressions, and comments.

– The two platforms also use similar algorithms, i.e. content is served based on preferences, interaction, previous activity, account settings, and video performance.

– Both platforms enable captions and text overlays.

Differences 

Here is a short list of some of the main differences between TikTok and YouTube:

– Like YouTube, TikTok is a video-based social media platform, however it is a short-form video-sharing app where users can create and share relatively informal, 15-second videos on any subject, rather than YouTube videos which can be hours long. For example, YouTube supports 12 hours for verified accounts and 15 minutes for unverified accounts, so contributors have the scope to present more detailed messages, instructional and promotional videos, entertainment, marketing videos and much more.

– TikTok users are generally younger, i.e. mostly teens (18- to 24-year-olds).

– YouTube content is often more refined and tailored than TikTok videos, and YouTube provides more active participation among users than TikTok.

TikTok 

TikTok was created by ByteDance in 2017, and formerly known as Musical.ly. Cloudflare’s Radar, which monitors Web traffic, records TikTok as having overtaken Google to become the world’s most popular online destination. TikTok has One billion active users spread across 154 countries. Almost half (43 per cent) of TikTok users are 18-to-24-year-olds.

Both the YouTube and TikTok platforms have pros and cons, some of which depend upon what the user is trying to achieve, e.g. which target market a business may be trying to reach with what message. Here’s a brief look at some of the main pros and cons of TikTok.

Pros 

– It is free, convenient and many people say it’s easier to edit and upload content in TikTok than in other competitor apps/platforms, e.g. Instagram or Snapchat. It has an immediacy, i.e. users can quickly add videos directly from their mobile and customise them with background music, stickers, and filters.

– It’s a visible space with a familiar format of funny, positive video clips for Gen Z, who spend a lot of time on their phones. TikTok’s short clips appeal to the younger generation’s shorter attention spans.

– It gives ‘ordinary’ people the tools to creatively express themselves, engage, and take part in current discourse, although videos are mainly for entertainment.

– It provides a place for brands to experiment with their messages in entertaining ways, with a way for TikTok itself to discover popular new ways to expand its brand even more (e.g., the popularity of food and recipe video clips), leading to the idea of ‘TikTok Kitchen.’

– It has a content-rewarding algorithm that’s helped to drive meme culture, and TikTok’s algorithms can learn user preferences and customise the video feeds to their users, thereby helping it to keep users interested and engaged.

– It makes good use of music, which is particularly appealing to young age groups, and enables TikTok videos to be shared on Instagram, thereby boosting usage/download rates.

Cons 

– Worries about links to the Chinese state and allegations that it may have discriminatory content censorship standards that are decided by the Chinese government.

– A US counter-intelligence investigation and an investigation by (Israeli) Check Point over possible backdoors and security vulnerabilities that the platform may have.

– Worries from child advocacy groups that the app may pose a risk to children.

– Criticism from Reddit CEO/co-founder Steve Huffman that TikTok, once installed, is like a kind of ‘spyware’ that’s always listening.

– A £4.3m fine after Musical.ly was found to have knowingly hosted content published by under-age users.

– A temporary ban in India.

YouTube 

Google-owned YouTube has a massive user base of 2.6 billion users worldwide and is ranked the second-most popular social network, with only Facebook having more active users. YouTube users are generally older because it is popular with a broader spread of age groups. For example, 81 per cent of 18–25-year-olds (in the US) actively use YouTube (its largest group of users) but so do 71 per cent of 26-35-year-olds, and 67 per cent of 36-45 and 46–55-year-olds.

Heres’ a brief look at some of the main pros and cons of YouTube.

Pros 

– It’s free and easy to use and offers an easy way to share information via a variety of media, e.g. music, video, and animation.

– YouTube has a wide variety of content, making it more appealing to a diverse audience, and the popularity across different age groups allows it to reach a wide audience.

– It is a good platform for brand building across many industries and is widely used by big brands, e.g. Apple, BMW, Motorola, and more.

– YouTube is good for active content marketing because clear calls to action are allowed, e.g. audiences can be asked to subscribe to your channel, go to a website or social media page, and more.

– YouTube is owned by Google and YouTube videos can be used to drive users to websites, gain backlinks, and improve SEO and search engine rankings. YouTube can really help to drive traffic, audience engagements, and revenue for businesses.

– Videos can be longer and more detailed which helps with marketing, customer support, reviewing and influencing, and brand building.

– YouTube is easily accessible for users, e.g. via Google or via the YouTube app.

– Money can be earned through videos, and large followings can be built making it influential, plus it’s a good platform for showcasing talent and expertise.

Cons 

– As with TikTok, there are worries about the risk to children and young people using the platform because of the nature of some of the content (explicit, violent, sexual content), and it may need a parental block.

– YouTube videos are public which can create issues with copyright and privacy invasion.

– Making videos for and uploading them to YouTube can require more time and editing than TikTok.

– There are a lot of adverts and distractions on YouTube which can interfere with messages and can be frustrating for some users.

– There are a lot of rules and restrictions for video posting and a channel which has taken some time to build up can be disabled by YouTube if, for example, there are complaints or if Terms of Service and Community Guidelines are breached.

– Any advertisers can put an advert on your video, e.g. competitors.

– Although money can be earned on YouTube, it is not as easy as often hoped and requires large numbers of subscribers.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

TikTok has quickly become the go-to social video sharing platform, particularly among teens and young people and is now the world’s most popular online destination. Its short, mostly fun, engaging videos could be said to really appeal to Gen Z phone-gazers and as such has a real value in marketing as a way to reach young audiences and create viral influence. Google’s YouTube has 2.6 billion users (currently much more than TikTok) and reaches a wider spread of ages, plus it has the advantage of being good for driving website traffic and revenue by enabling calls to action. YouTube also allows more detailed videos and offers great brand-building opportunities, which is why many big brands use it as part of their promotional strategies. It depends, therefore, what the audience and the aims are which platform and in what way businesses choose to use them.

In this insight, we look at what Softaculous is, what features it offers, and how it can be used to help businesses.

What Is It? 

Softaculous is a time and hassle-saving, open-source app, auto-script installer that enables the user to install any app in a couple of clicks, and to install and configure many different commercial and open-source apps via scripts and PHP classes. It has 380 scripts, 1115 PHP classes (templates of objects), and the company says Softaculous is widely used in the web industry. Softaculous has an auto-installer that integrates with many popular control panels such as cPanel, Plesk, DiractAdmin, InterWorkz, and H-Sphere, and it can take up installs of other auto-installers. If supported by the hosting provider, Softaculous also has a built-in WordPress Manager to simplify WordPress website management.

The Features 

Some of the notable features of Softaculous include one step install apps, daily script updates, one click upgrade, backups/restore installations – allows users to backup their sites and backups can be done on Google Drive, Dropbox, FTP/FTPS/SFTP locations. Other features include clone installations, demos, ratings and reviews, access control for which apps are available to different users, and auto backups, i.e. users can configure to backup installations at regular intervals daily, weekly, monthly or at custom times.

What Sort Of Things You Can You Do With It? 

To use Softaculous, log into your web hosting account, go to your control panel and find “WordPress Manager by Softaculous” in the software section, or use the WordPress icon (top right) if you’re already in the Softaculous user panel.

Here you can see all your WordPress installations, e.g. your plugins and themes and can add, upload, and install them in a matter of seconds. It also enables you to change some settings, e.g. enabling/disabling debug mode, WordPress cron, search engine visibility, and auto-upgrades for plugins and themes.

Some other examples of what you can use Softaculous for include:

– Create a staging environment for your website where you can test the updates add new content, plugins, themes, and the push the changes back to your live installation.

– Using the ‘Remote Import’ feature to import your installation from a remote server to your new server.

– Using the ‘Clone’ feature to create a new instance of your installation to another sub domain / addon domain within the same account.

The Benefits 

The benefits of using Softaculous include:

– It saves a lot of time, e.g. in installing, updating, and testing out a CMS and other apps.

– It simplifies typically tricky but important processes such as the installation of popular website building apps, and simplifies, for example, the building an online store or business website.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Dealing with the platforms that enable the building of websites, online shops, and blogs can be complicated and time consuming enough, let alone building and managing the site itself. Also, if integrations and installing apps are needed this can also sometimes be complicated, all of which can disrupt and delay business plans and add costs. Having one app, therefore, with auto-installers and the ability to complete complicated tasks with just a few clicks gives businesses of all sizes (particularly smaller businesses) the opportunity to save time, costs and trouble and have greater confidence in pursuing their digital strategies. Features such as the built-in WordPress Manager is particularly valued by many businesses. Also, auto-upgrades for plugins and themes can make maintenance easier, all of which means that businesses without a great deal of technical expertise in-house can carry out many of the tasks that a skilled technical person would have been needed for, thereby saving time, and making available resources go further.

Cruise company Royal Caribbean Group has announced that it will be using Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Starlink satellite Internet for broadband connections aboard its ships.

What Is Starlink? 

Starlink, operated by billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX company uses a constellation of low orbit satellites around the earth (launched by SpaceX rockets) to provide broadband internet. Starlink provides satellite Internet access coverage to most of the planet and is particularly useful for areas where connectivity is unreliable or completely unavailable.

Starlink says that users of its satellite broadband can expect to see download speeds between 100 Mb/s and 200 Mb/s and latency as low as 20ms in most locations.

Trial Brought Positive Feedback 

Typically, cruise ship guests have faced the challenge of having to pay for generally poor Internet connections aboard cruise ships. The decision by the Royal Caribbean Group to become the first in the cruise industry to adopt the high-speed, low-latency satellite broadband connectivity comes after a trial onboard Freedom of the Seas received positive feedback from both crew members and guests.

Begins Immediately 

Royal Caribbean has announced that that deployment of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Starlink technology across the fleet will begin immediately with installation expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2023. The Starlink broadband internet service will be installed on all Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises ships, along with all new vessels for each of the brands.

Starlink Maritime

Just 2 months ago, SpaceX announced Starlink Maritime, a service which provides oceangoing vessels with up to 350 Mbps download while at sea for a one-time hardware cost of $10,000 and a monthly payment of $5,000.

Enhanced Cruise Experience 

Jason Liberty, president, and chief executive officer of Royal Caribbean Group said “This technology will provide game-changing internet connectivity onboard our ships, enhancing the cruise experience for guests and crew alike. It will improve and enable more high-bandwidth activities like video streaming as well as activities like video calls. Using Starlink is one more example of our continued focus on innovation and excellence for our guests, our crew, the communities we visit and our shareholders.” 

SpaceX Vice President of Starlink Sales, Jonathan Hofeller, said that “Royal Caribbean Group selecting Starlink to provide high-speed, low-latency internet across their fleet will make their passengers’ getaways even more luxurious.” 

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

For cruise companies trying to provide luxury experiences for their customers, one fly in the ointment has long been charging their guests for less-than-luxury patchy and poor Internet connections. This has become more of an issue as cruise companies have tried to use new experiences to attract younger customers, particularly millennials who would expect a good Internet connection. For example, Royal Caribbean reportedly spent $120 million updating the Mariner of the Seas cruise ship with a Sky Pad, and a bungee trampoline experience that integrates virtual reality. Even the older cruise customers of today are used to technology playing an increasing part in the last 30 years of their lives, and crew members too need to use Internet connections as part of their normal lives and connecting with home. Competition in the cruise market, which was hit hard during the pandemic, is fierce and repeat cruise customers, as many are, will likely see the value in this small but significant source of competitive advantage that Royal Caribbean Group has announced. For Elon Musk and Starlink, it’s more good publicity following the donation of Starlink satellite internet terminals to Ukraine.

The UK government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has proposed a new set of rules to tighten up network security against cyberattacks in broadband and mobile carriers.

Amongst The Strongest In The World 

The government says that the new regulations and code of practice, developed with the National Cyber Security Centre and Ofcom, will be among the strongest in the world. The hope is that they will provide much tougher protections for the UK from the kind of cyber threats which can cause network failure or the theft of sensitive data.

Consultation 

The new regulations build upon the Telecommunications (Security) Act, which became law in November and detail specific actions for UK public telecoms providers to fulfil their legal duties in the Act. The new rules follow a consultation between 1 March and 10 May 2022 on the draft Electronic Communications (Security Measures) Regulations and a draft code of practice.

From October 

The government says providers will be subject to the new rules from October from which time Ofcom will be able to start helping providers to comply.

Why? 

NCSC Technical Director Dr Ian Levy said, “We increasingly rely on our telecoms networks for our daily lives, our economy and the essential services we all use” and that “These new regulations will ensure that the security and resilience of those networks, and the equipment that underpins them”. Also, Digital Infrastructure Minister Matt Warman said “We know how damaging cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure can be, and our broadband and mobile networks are central to our way of life.” For this reason, Mr Warman said, “We are ramping up protections for these vital networks by introducing one of the world’s toughest telecoms security regimes.” 

What Are The New Electronic Communications (Security Measures) Regulations?  

The new regulations state that providers must:

– Protect data processed by their networks and services, and secure the critical functions which allow them to be operated and managed.

– Protect software and equipment which monitor and analyse their networks and services.

– Have a deep understanding of their security risks and the ability to identify when anomalous activity is taking place with regular reporting to internal boards.

– Take account of supply chain risks and understand and control who has the ability to access and make changes to the operation of their networks and services to enhance security.

How? 

Some of the measures that providers will have to take to comply will include:

– Identifying and assessing the risk to any ‘edge’ equipment that is directly exposed to potential attackers, e.g. radio masts and internet equipment supplied to customers (Wi-Fi routers and modems which could provide an act as entry point to the network).

– Keeping tight control of who can make network-wide changes.

– Protecting against certain malicious signalling coming into the network which could cause outages.

– Having a good understanding of risks facing their networks.

– Making sure business processes are supporting security, e.g. proper board accountability.

The government says that it expects providers to have taken these measures by March 2024.

What If They Don’t Comply? 

If providers don’t comply, the government says the regulator will be able to issue fines of up to 10 per cent of turnover or, in the case of a continuing contravention, £100,000 per day!

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

Since the Telecommunications (Security) Act came into law in November 2021 and a consultation stated in March 2022, UK public telecoms providers have been expecting more regulations. As the government pointed out, and particularly with the digital transformations during the pandemic, broadband and mobile networks have become vital and central to the businesses, the economy, and daily life. Given this importance and the fact that relations with some countries (e.g. Russia and China) are poor, plus there have been many reports of state-sponsored cyber-attacks, it is not surprising that pressure is being applied to tighten security across the board. The huge potential fines are a way to galvanize action. Ultimately, businesses and home users will benefit from tighter security at provider level, although it may take until 2024 for the regulator to start getting serious with those who aren’t making enough effort to comply.

A study by the University of South Australia’s Future Industries Institute has revealed that no plan for the recycling of end-of-life wind turbines has meant that they are causing a waste problem that looks set to get worse.

What’s The Problem?

There are several key issues at the root of the end-of-life wind turbine waste problem. These are:

– Although 85 per cent of a wind turbine is already recyclable, the materials used in wind turbine blades are notoriously difficult to recycle. For example, only 30 per cent of the fibre-reinforced plastic material commonly used in wind turbine blades can currently be reused to form new composite materials, with most ending up in the cement industry (a large CO2 producer anyway) as filler material or incinerated in cement factories as part of the cement-making process. Although substituting coal, sand, and clay with the blade materials has been reported to bring a 27 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions when making cement, this is still not an ideal green solution.

– The cost of recycling the blades and the low market value of recovered materials are not providing the motivation to develop a recycling solution.

– There is currently no clear recycling plan for old wind turbines, and no legislation for their end-of-life management.

– Wind turbine production is increasing and yet the turbines only have a 25–30-year lifetime, both of which mean there’s an increasing pile of wind turbine blades needing to be disassembled with no clear plan for doing so. Estimates say there could be as many as 14,000 waste wind turbine blades in Europe by 2023.

– Although there are some projects that use discarded wind turbines, they don’t represent a real commitment to circular design and critical end-of-life planning.

– It is not currently clear whether the responsibility for recycling of wind turbine parts rests with the manufacturer or the operator.

– Some wind turbines also face security risks because they still run on Windows 2000, the security updates for which ended in 2010!

Many Go To Landfill 

As things stand, in addition to turbine blades being used in cement, many other wind turbine parts simply end up in landfill.

Some Ideas 

Some businesses are already creating innovative, circular, zero-waste solutions for the re-use of wind turbine blades. For example:

– US company Global Financial Solutions makes manufacturing-grade fibres, pellets, construction materials, panels, and other related products from the wind turbine blades.

– German company Wings for Living creates outdoor furniture and artwork from the old wind turbine blades.

What Does This Mean To Your Organisation? 

As the UniSA Future Industries Institute report suggests, even though legislation which could be used for the regulative framework for the end-of-life management of wind turbine blades already exists, it is not being used effectively for this. Ideally, policy makers and all involved stakeholders need to find a way in the very near future to work together to produce regulations that actually address the management of waste coming from wind turbine blades. Wind turbine production is increasing, as is the waste problem and a potential PR disaster for the industry looks more likely the longer there is no definite recycling plan with clear responsibilities in place. It is in everyone’s interest that regulations are developed sooner rather than later.