The Ticking Clock for TikTok: a Casual User’s Lament Over the App's Potential Demise

by Maria Russinovich

In early July, The United States Announced that it would be considering a ban of the popular social media app, TikTok. As laid out by the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the app would be banned due to security threats associated with data collection via TikTok and other apps owned by Chinese businesses. While TikTok representatives have vehemently refuted the claim that data is shared with anyone outside of the company, specifically the Chinese Government, President Trump said he would sign an executive order to ban the app from the United States.

A few months ago, I wanted to write an article on the community, or communities, that exists within TikTok, from “alt TikTok” to “Wonka TikTok” (yes, there is a Willy Wonka side of TikTok). It seems that there’s a space for everyone on TikTok, and now with a threat of the app being taken away forever, many people are pushing for the platform to be “saved.”

To add fuel to the fire that is the banning of TikTok, a few days after Trump’s announcement a glitch occurred where across the world, TikTok users couldn’t see their views per video, likes, or recent activity. Along with this, TikTok’s For You Pages (home pages) were being reset. This incident showed just how huge of an impact TikTok has had on not only online culture, but real-life culture as well. Twitter was exploding with theories about what was happening, people were comparing it to the end of Vine, memes were being made, and real fear was being felt by creators and fans alike. Although all good things have to come to an end, and eventually the app will lose popularity, (much like Vine, R.I.P) and a new social media platform will take its place at the top.

Now, I’m not here to dwell on the “what ifs” and the nostalgia, but to bring awareness to the impact TikTok has on our society. Since I joined the app in mid-2018 (right after it transitioned from Musical.ly to TikTok) the app has undergone many changes, with the most notable being who is popular on the app and who has fallen from the spotlight. At the moment of writing this article, the most popular person on TikTok is 16-year-old Charli D’Amelio who makes content of her following dance trends and hanging out with her also-popular friends. Charli has amassed an incredible 82 Million followers, with the next most popular person being Addison Rae with 57 Million followers. (I need a bad, *bleep* Addison Rae.) But what makes TikTok so special aren’t just the creators at the top, but rather the communities that have formed through the app via smaller creators and the sharing of cultures.

For example, a common phrase you might hear on the app is “what side of TikTok are you on?” or “what TikTok are you on?” which basically means what kind of content do you get on your For You Page.Throughout 2020 it seems these “sides” of TikTok have become even stronger, and if you ask someone that question, they’ll be able to tell you pretty easily what “side” they’re on. For example, I’m on frog, cat, and gay TikTok which means most of the videos I get are of frogs, cats, and LGBTQ+ related. These sides of TikTok are interesting to think about, because while the For You Page, (think Instagram’s explore page) is extremely tailored to the individual, there are also thousands of others who are liking the same videos, using the same hashtags, and more.

To help explain TikTok culture from a popular creator’s point of view, I brought in some reinforcements to talk about the community that TikTok provides. Enter, Sticks (@sticksy617) and George (@deddingtonville), both TikTok creators with 660K and 388K followers, respectively. I was eager to hear their thoughts on the way TikTok has changed, and what their own experiences with the app have been.

When talking with George, who has now taken a break from the app, he noted that while TikTok is extremely popular right now, he thinks that the user base will eventually become less engaged, and the app could possibly die out much like Vine did. George didn’t notice the influx of users over quarantine until he saw “a large uptick in my followers, as well as the amount of active followers that were on at different times of the day.”

“I think this new base of people that have come onto the app are very temporary,” he stated “I think a lot of them are going to get ingrained in the app and get addicted, but I think for some of them- once quarantine is over and they begin the normal lives they were living-I have a feeling TikTok is going to become a little less relevant to them.”

George and I spoke in early May, before we knew we would still be battling COVID-19 into August, it can now be seen that his thoughts on users during quarantine is true, as countless other users are seeing their followers, active viewers and more drop.

When speaking to Sticks, we discussed the future of TikTok beyond quarantine, and the impending ban come September. He noted that, “despite its faults it gives people a chance to express their beliefs and creativity where places like Instagram and YouTube are oversaturated.” This sentiment can be seen through the rise of both now-verified users like Sticks, but also smaller users who grow to fame through certain videos becoming popular and growing a following through their content.

Emily McDonald ’21 (@whomsttryna) downloaded TikTok in late 2019, and has already amassed 14,000 followers through her use of clever editing, out-of-the-box jokes, and re-imagining of popular trends. When speaking to Emily about TikTok, she said the app, “provides a platform for smaller unknown creators to get their message out there. Unlike other social media platforms where Hollywood nepotism allows the same circles of elite and their children to continue to reign as influencers, TikTok has allowed so many new internet creators from all kinds of backgrounds to take the stage and provide refreshing new content.”

As Sami Pye ‘22 (@yikeskrispiess) puts it, “at the end of the day, TikTok is a silly app. I’m not going to say it changed my life or moved mountains, but it was a real distraction for me and others during the pandemic… it’s fun, it's made me feel less alone and isolated during this difficult time.”

For millions of users across the globe, this same sentiment is felt. TikTok is just like any other social media app, where you can watch content being created for everyone’s entertainment. Laugh a little bit, learn something new, watch careers blossom. For now, it seems TikTok is here to stay, and I think we should spend more time appreciating what it’s given us.