Scrolling endlessly to find relaxation and posting fun content on TikTok may come to an end in the United States.
This April, President Joe Biden concluded that the owner of Tiktok, ByteDance, has nine months to get a buyer for Tiktok, or else the app will be banned.
Some people believe that TikTok has many security risks. In 2020, when Donald Trump was president, he attempted to ban the app but failed.
TikTok has spent over 2 billion dollars on “Project Texas,” which was meant to protect TikTok users’ data from being shared with China’s authoritarian government, but the ban is still possible.
TikTok has already been banned in Afghanistan, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, the European Union, France, India, Indonesia, Latvia, Netherlands, Nepal, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Somalia, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.
TikTok currently has over 1.5 billion users, making it the fifth most popular social media platform. Most TikTok users are under the age of 19.
TikTok started gaining popularity between 2019 and 2020. In 2019, the app was downloaded 693 million times and in 2020, it was downloaded 850 million times.
TikTok includes different types of content such as dancing videos, tips, “get ready with me’s,” and other fun and relatable content that is between 15 seconds to 10 minutes long.
Unlike other social media apps, people can easily have a viral video accidentally.
Ojai Valley School sophomore Valentina Edelson’s video of her lip syncing to a viral sound went viral on the app, and it was a complete shock to her. The video had 175,500 likes, 1,851 comments, and 13,600 thousand saves.
“I posted something, and it had maybe 200 views, and I woke up the next morning, and it was at about 50,000 views,” she said. “It was just crazy to think that many people had watched it.”
Charlie D’Amelio, a TikTok influencer with 154.1 million followers, has made a huge impact on the dancing side of the app. When she was 15 years old, she posted a TikTok of herself dancing, and she has been viral since. This has completely changed her life. She now has worked with many brands and even has her show with her family, making a career out of the app.
TikTok has also played a massive role in the music industry. Many people find songs off the app and blow up songs that weren’t as popular.
Not only has TikTok provided entertainment to many, but it has also boosted economic growth in the US by supporting $24 million in gross domestic product and creating over 224,000 American jobs.
As TikTok has gained more popularity, the job of a content creator has become more popular.
It has made such a significant impact that TikTok content creator Alix Earle has “The Alix Earle Scholarship,” at the University of Miami for people pursuing a business degree.
Alix Earle blew up in 2022 for her “get ready with me,” videos as a college student at U Miami. Her “get ready with me” videos consist of her simply doing her makeup and picking her outfits for events she attends. She currently has 6.7 million followers and is an inspiration to many teenage girls.
If the TikTok app is banned, not only will its users lose a source of quick entertainment and post fun videos, but it will also leave many people unemployed.
TikTok users who aren’t famous also find the app very enjoyable. Posting TikToks is fun and relaxing, as is watching others’ TikToks, which are funny and entertaining.
Although many people love TikTok, it is a very addictive app. Many people scroll endlessly for hours without even realizing it. TikTok has decreased people’s attention spans because the short videos lack attentiveness.
Ojai Valley School Sophomore Valentina Edelson enjoys the app and finds it relaxing.
“I enjoy Tiktok, and I can’t imagine life without it,” she said. “Every time I am stressed out, I just scroll on TikTok, and it relieves all of my stress.”
Ojai Valley School Senior Ann Heinemann finds TikTok extremely informative and is upset about the potential ban.
“I like scrolling in my free time, and I find it very informative. How would I know anything?” she said. “I don’t believe that they will ban it, and Instagram is arguably worse, in my opinion.”
Ojai Valley School Senior Donahi Soriano loves TikTok but sees the ban as potentially beneficial.
“I love going to TikTok and find it very entertaining,” she said. “I will be upset if it gets banned, but it will also help me procrastinate less.”
TikTok has its benefits and its disadvantages but TikTok has made a huge impact already. The United States without TikTok will be a huge change.