Social media has changed life as we know it and the entire globe around us. This is especially true for students and younger generations. The student body at Lakeview High School has been buzzing with recent news that a popular app known as Tiktok was banned. The app is used to scroll through videos that pop up in your feed based on the things you like and watch.
The ban on Tiktok was initiated on January 18th because the United States government believes it was being used to steal the information of US citizens. Given that the company running the app is based in China this could be entirely true. The ban only lasted a total of twelve hours but the app is still completely removed from all app stores in the US. During these twelve hours students at Lakeview and people across the country were outraged. At the end of the twelve hour period president elect Donald Trump signed an executive order allowing Tiktok seventy-five more days to comply with the order of the US Congress. So for now people that already had the app downloaded can still enjoy Tiktok.
The way people reacted to the banning of Tiktok raised another question: Should people be concerned with the way they use social media? Is it possible that people were too reliant on Tiktok for entertainment and fighting off boredom?
Lakeview senior Addison Allen revealed, “The ban made me sad and also made me realize how much I used it.”
A popular term “doom scrolling” can be defined as falling into a trance-like state in which a person cannot seem to stop scrolling on social media. People that use social media often find themselves wasting valuable time scrolling through videos rather than being active and doing things that should take priority in their lives. Since Tiktok is so easy to use and so entertaining it can be easy to lose track of time scrolling through your “for you page” or “fyp”. Spending too much time on social media can lead to mental exhaustion, lack of motivation, and can definitely affect your grades.
Lakeview junior Sofia Caruso described her usage of Tiktok claiming, “I use Tiktok everyday for a couple hours.”
Allen stated, “I use Tiktok everyday.”
Students certainly expressed a love for the app and were upset to hear that it was being banned. However some understood the government’s point of view.
Caruso disclosed, “I understand the fear about our personal information being used by another government but so much of our information is out there that I feel it’s hard to keep it safe.”
Lakeview senior Jake Langmeyer conveyed, “I think it’s reasonable.”
Despite Tiktok being such a widely popular app people were quick to jump ship and finds new apps to feed their need to scroll. Similar apps like RedNote were being created to fill the void that Tiktok will certainly leave in many people.
Langmeyer announced, “I don’t care much about the ban because I use other apps like YouTube and Instagram.”
Caruso revealed, “When Tiktok was shut down it was weird not being able to watch videos. So, I found myself going to Instagram.”
Even if Tiktok was stealing users information people still claim to have benefited from using the app. Tiktok has changed and invented trends that changed people’s lives whether they used the app or not.
Langmeyer concluded, “Even though I didn’t use it, it still has an impact on my lifestyle because Tiktok is such a big part of our culture.”
It is possible that Tiktok will be permanently banned in seventy-five days and the real effects of a permanent ban on the app are still unknown. President Trump is doing what he can to keep the app available in the US but only time will reveal Tiktoks fate.
