It was a cold Thursday afternoon in January during class when my jaw dropped.
The worst thing imaginable was happening.
TikTok, my favorite social media app, will be banned Sunday, unless President Biden or the Supreme Court intervenes. The law banning the app gave TikTok until Jan. 19 to separate from its Chinese parent company ByteDance or be banned in the U.S. The law cited national security concerns with ByteDance’s links to the Chinese government.
National security or not, I was in shock.
“What am I going to do before I go to bed?”
“What am I going to do when I wake up?”
“What am I going to do every time I get bored?”
While this may sound absurd, I’m not the only one feeling this way. Our generation grew up with this app when it transitioned from Musically to TikTok. I’ve had friends and teachers ask, “What are we going to do now?” I imagine many of the 170 million American users are asking the same question.
Some people claims that we can just watch reals or use other apps, but TikTok is beloved because of how casual and fun it is compared to other social media. Instagram is too formal. Facebook is for old people. X is too weird.
TikTok, on the other hand, is perfect. It incorporated people of all ages to post. Some even create their own unique platform, which has become a source of income for them.
To be honest, I can’t even get through writing this column without checking TikTok. I’ve been scrolling for what may be – gasp! – the last time and thinking about how I’ll not be able to watch my favorite creators’ content anymore.
No more Get Ready With Me from Sofia Richie or her dancing with Jake Shane again. No more Day in the Life. No more unboxing. No more organizing videos.
No more mindlessly scrolling through restocking videos, OOTD’s, deep cleans, and, I hate to say this as a journalism student, but the news.
Yes, I get my news from TikTok, but I’m not alone.
Without us even knowing, TikTok connected us. Now, I’m stuck looking back at all the funny moments and memories we shared together on the app and realizing just how unique this app was.
I know what you’re probably thinking. This is very sad and pathetic. I feel this strongly about a social media app but it’s my favorite one.
It’s the end of an era, and I’m in mourning.
