A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article about why a TikTok ban is both a great and bad choice. At the time of the article publishing, it still was not 100% certain if the app was going to be banned or not. However, the night of Jan. 19, TikTok users were greeted with a message that the hit app would indeed be shutting down that night.
At around 10:30 p.m., TikTok was officially banned in the United States. Users could open the app, but were instantly greeted with a message that the app was no longer available for use. Other popular apps also went down with the rest of the ship, these apps include popular video editing apps such as CapCut, Lemon8, even a simple Marvel card game called Marvel Snap.
Some of my close friends who use TikTok saw this as the end of the world. One of my buddies said he “kept opening the app out of habit.” But to me, the world was quiet for a whopping 14 hours before President Trump brought it back online.
While Trump didn’t necessarily “save” TikTok, he gave a 75-day extension to the actual time frame of when the app is set to be banned, leaving it open for another company to buy. While TikTok is technically back, it is still unavailable to download on popular apps stores.
Those 14 hours of TikTok being offline gave me enough conclusive evidence to finally say that a TikTok ban is actually a good thing. Posts online about the ban, my friends’ thoughts and even to people selling phones online that have TikTok downloaded show why we need to move on from this app.
The instant TikTok was banned, a bunch of people I have on SnapChat took to their stories to share their grief of the app being gone. Some of my friends are even claiming, “What am I supposed to do now?” My closest friend started watching videos of our old Minecraft world from our freshman year in high school. Some people even began to congregate over to a Chinese app similar to TikTok called Red Note. TikTok has gotten society addicted to their phones and short-form content and has dramatically decreased our attention spans. The damage the app has done to our society is constantly going to make people want more of the short-form content.
For the people who made the mistake of deleting TikTok thinking it wouldn’t return, individuals online are using this opportunity to make some money off their phones that have TikTok downloaded. On Ebay, people are actually legitimately selling their phones that have TikTok on them for outrageously high prices. This is just straight up insanity, proving how enrobed people are into this app that gives them nothing but short-term gratification.
The final nail in the coffin and the funniest in my eyes, is GameStop’s involvement in the TikTok ban. Yes, GameStop is still somehow in business, but on Jan. 23, they took to Instagram saying they accept trade-ins for phones that have TikTok downloaded. While I find this very comical because it’s GameStop, this is still a concern. Knowing GameStop, they will probably give you $20 for the phone, but just the fact they specifically mentioned if TikTok is on the device shows the negative impact this app has had on our society.
Many people are certainly hoping that someone steps in to buy TikTok, including me beforehand. But after what seemed to be the longest 14 hours in internet history, I would not be phased and wouldn’t feel any remorse for the people who use TikTok as a form of comfort or a distraction from more important tasks at hand.
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