After it was announced that the TikTok ban would occur on January 19th, many people began to save videos and other content uploaded to the app. During the days leading up to the ban, some people even posted videos sobbing about it. Although I know it is difficult, I think it is important to note that there are still many alternative apps. I understand that for some people, TikTok is their main source of income and that the app has contributed to calling attention to many issues, but I believe that it’s something that people can live without.

The ban ended up occurring earlier than expected, going into effect around 10:30 PM on January 18th, which confused many.  It caused many users to freak out and it really did seem like TikTok was being permanently banned. It was like they were unable to survive without TikTok. When the ban went into effect, it also stopped the use of other apps that were also under ByteDance, including Capcut, Gauth math, and Lemon8. Since the ban only took effect in the US, people outside of it noticed that their feed was different and some even said it made TikTok more “quiet.” Many Americans even migrated to Red Note which is a social media app primarily used in China, with similar features to TikTok.

The ban was very short, only lasting about 12 hours. This was ironic considering how people had acted, and some users even posted videos about their embarrassment over their behavior.  Some previously posted videos coming clean about things they lied about, so coming back  the next day after the ban was lifted was quite pretty embarrassing. This was very surprising to me because when the ban was announced, it made it clear that it would be temporary.

I feel like this generation and even other generations have pointed out how dramatic and how reliant we are on social media and we certainly proved them right. I feel as if we are very reliant on social media, and the way we reacted is evidence as to why we should ban TikTok, even if we don’t want to admit it.