After what felt like a final farewell to TikTok on Saturday, January 18th, the suspension lasted merely 14 hours, and 170 million American users reunited with their “For-You” Pages and content creators– happily ever after, right?
Once a previously impending fate that was pushed into motion as President Biden signed a bill that banned the beloved app on January 19th, unless their Chinese parent company ByteDance didn’t sell due to concerns of national security, was immediately resurrected under newly-elected Trump’s signage of an executive order.
Teens and young adults have had an uproar online regarding the ban, understandably so– it’s drastically changed the online landscape. The app has carved a unique space in mainstream media for itself as it changed how we consume content such as music, or how we have information relayed.
Kristen Cypert, a senior, states, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that on like YouTube [shorts] or [Instagram] reels or anything else if I’m looking for it, but TikTok just shows it up and then I’m like ‘wow,’ like those are my people,” regarding how her TikTok feed is personally curated towards her, feeling a sense of online community.
It’s one search and scroll away from connection by the illuminating screen glow. In only a few years, TikTok cultivated an online presence, heavily influencing the current culture. Its algorithm has perpetuated terms such as “demure,” “delulu,” – derived from delusional, “living rent free,” “ate,” “girl dinner/math,” “rizz,” “maxxing,” etc.
TikTok’s contrived slang has even seeped its way into Instagram reels and YouTube shorts, their version of short-form video content. It’s also made its way into the conversational and marketing consciousness, developing inside jokes for the “chronically” online people that companies take advantage of to advertise their products and services.
TikTok has also fostered creativity, namely by popularizing music and bringing it into the mainstream. What MTV did for Gen X and Millennials, TikTok does for Gen Z– introducing new artists and genres, catapulting or reviving musical acts by providing a platform. It has changed music creation and consumption, whether its accessibility has made it for the better, or for worse.
RedNote, a Chinese social media app, was a popular contender to replace TikTok as many people migrated there during the impending ban, but patching this digital void was difficult. TikTok has made it this far into the mainstream, proving itself to be a powerful force in the cultural zeitgeist.
Besides entertainment, TikTok has also become a hub for information, allowing people to seek out news content, or come across it. Many people get their news from their feeds; influencers share links and resources, and discuss issues broadcasted to a worldwide platform. Social media in recent years has commodified news– shoving fake news, and as of late through AI; TikTok isn’t exempt from this, where many impressionable teens are now more so victims of misinformation and bias.
“A lot of the time when you’re watching individuals not represented by a bigger association or publication company, there’s an issue of bias,” Ms. Rojas, an AP Government teacher, remarks regarding TikTok as a viable news platform. She continues to say, “There’s a lot of misinformation and spouting opinions as information.”
President Trump’s executive order that restored TikTok in the U.S. has been criticized because he introduced the initial ban during his presidency in 2020. Either to take control of the political narrative on the app, swaying young audiences in a favorable direction, or diverting from other issues and policies behind-the-scenes, TikTok’s algorithm has noticeably become more right-wing, as social media accounts such as X have similarly fallen suit to.
“You can tell that the algorithm after the ban has been a little bit wonky,” states Ms. Rojas, “There’s a lot of things that are not published from different perspectives. For example, such as protests, different movements, and the perspective of college students,” in regards to recent student protests on campuses such as UCLA and UC Berkeley.
When asked if TikTok’s ban, and eventual restoration infringes upon the First Amendment, especially after the algorithm shift, she notes “It’s a bit of censorship because you have this community of younger individuals that are able to communicate and give their own perspective on certain events or certain issues that are occurring.”
She provides further insight on the subject as she states, “It kind of goes against the narrative of what the government wants us to do, or what the mass media wants us to do.” For an app that promotes free expression, gathers people to voice their thoughts and opinions, it seems to be impeding on these civil liberties, becoming a threat to its cultivated online communities.
There has been a generational dissonance regarding TikTok and its place in our current culture and political climate. It’s evident that most politicians aren’t representative of the young people who engage in social media such as TikTok, concluding that it’s the enemy.
The Supreme Court upheld the TikTok ban, ruling that it didn’t infringe upon any First Amendment rights in favor of national security. The juggernaut of an app isn’t going anywhere– at least for another 75 days before an immediate ban is taken into effect.
Now more than ever, it’s important to question the content and filtration plaguing the app. The implications of a TikTok ban will signify a loss of culture, information, and community– a modern-day equivalent to the burning of the library of Alexandria in the Digital Age.
