What really lies behind that customary 'I Agree' click?

A curious thing happened when Qin Shuo, a veteran Chinese financial commentator, suggested that the country's internet industry was entering a "ByteDance time". Instead of welcoming the compliment, Li Liang, an executive at Douyin, a video-sharing platform and subsidiary of ByteDance, responded with unusual vehemence. The argument over statistics has since escalated into a proposed lawsuit over alleged reputational infringement. But the most revealing feature of this dispute is not who wins the argument. It is why being accused of capturing too much of people's time has become an uncomfortable distinction for an internet company.

Qin's argument rested on data from QuestMobile, cited through a Nomura Securities report, suggesting that ByteDance's ecosystem accounted for about 41 percent of user time among China's 50 most-used mobile apps in July 2026, against roughly 29 percent for Tencent. Li challenged the statistical methodology, pointing out that the sample excluded long-tail applications and PC usage.

Those are legitimate points. A ranking of 50 apps is not a comprehensive measurement of internet use, nor does time-share establish market dominance under the antitrust law. There is another question, however: What exactly is being created when a platform captures more of our time?

According to a report on the development of online audiovisual media in China, released by China Netcasting Services Association, Chinese users spent an average of 201 minutes a day on online audiovisual platforms in 2025. Micro-dramas alone accounted for 129 minutes, surpassing long-form video.

A tired worker watching a few episodes after a long day is hardly a social problem. Nor should the commercial success of ByteDance be dismissed. Yet they have created opportunities for advertisers, content producers and countless small businesses.

Many apps impose a hard requirement: if you want to use them, you must consent to handing over your accumulated usage history to the company. What was originally users' private trail has now become valuable data that companies feed into their algorithms — all for one purpose: to use algorithms to precisely deliver content tailored to users' needs. In the process, users lose their privacy while companies reap the profits. Worse still, different apps share users' data. For instance, just after you discuss your child's English grades with a friend, short-video and shopping apps will start pushing English books or courses at you.

The consequences extend beyond individual screen habits. Sustained reading, considered judgment and the ability to tolerate disagreement all require uninterrupted attention. While public debate depends on some shared understanding of facts, algorithms optimized for engagement can fragment audiences and reward content that provokes rather than explains.

China's provisions on algorithmic recommendations prohibit mechanisms that induce addiction or excessive consumption and require accessible options to disable personalized recommendations. Rules governing the development of micro-dramas, effective from September, require regular reviews of algorithms and prohibit recommendations designed to encourage addiction or excessive spending.

The closure of the coin-reward function of Douyin's Hongguo Short Drama app by the end of 2026 is a potentially encouraging step. But voluntary adjustments should become routine rather than responses to public pressure.

The internet industry has spent years perfecting the art of keeping people online. Its next test is whether it can demonstrate equal ingenuity in knowing when to let them go. The most successful platform should not necessarily be the one that takes the largest share of a person's day, but the one that gives that person the greatest value for the time spent.

As the world enters the age of algorithms and artificial intelligence, governments of different countries should consider adding media literacy to their education curriculum, so that children learn from an early age to consciously discern media information, set their own boundaries, and think critically and independently — using logic and cross-checking multiple sources, for instance — about what different media feed them. Sometimes, the more precisely, promptly and pleasingly tailored the information is, the more cautious we should be.