Social Media App TikTok logo Pictured on smart phone before the US flag. A law banning TikTok in the US unless it is sold by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, is set to come into force on 19 January. Credit: Taidgh Barron via TNS
The popular video-sharing app TikTok experienced a brief blackout the night of Jan. 18, which left many U.S. users in the dark and fueled questions about the social media platform’s stability going forward.
The shutdown has raised concerns about the app’s overall user security, the American government’s priorities and the future of social media in general, said Jesse Fox, an associate professor in Ohio State’s School of Communication.
“Instead of focusing on a TikTok ban, our [energy] as a country could have been focused on a data privacy initiative to help protect [users’] own information and how any social media company can use it,” Fox said.
How the ban happened
According to a Jan. 19 Associated Press article, TikTok users were first notified of a ban Jan. 17, prompting many to prepare for the app’s restriction. The ban, according to the same Associated Press article, stemmed from a federal law that aimed to address security concerns related to TikTok and its China-based parent company, ByteDance.
The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the law Jan. 17, determining that TikTok’s threat to U.S. national security overshadowed American users’ claims that disabling the app would infringe upon their free speech rights.
The following evening, Jan. 18, users attempting to watch videos on the app were met with a message stating, “A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.”
In a fairly rapid turn of events, access to content was restored the next day, leaving many users confused about the ban’s validity. This was due to an executive order President Donald Trump signed Jan. 20, which halted enforcement of the TikTok ban until April, according to a Jan. 21 article from the Associated Press.
TikTok’s future and a changing social media landscape
When discussing TikTok and other modern social media platforms, Fox said many scholars believe that online privacy might become a “luxury item” in the future — not a right, but a privilege.
“Essentially, only rich people will have privacy, which is terrifying,” Fox said.
Kami Kortokrax, a fourth-year in communications and social media influencer who documents her life as an Ohio State softball player, said she always had faith the app would return.
“I enjoy how effective and efficient Trump was in getting it back,” Kortokrax said. “People are quick to say that politics plays a role within TikTok, but I think it’s because everyone gets too involved within politics.”
In contrast, Fox said she feels the TikTok blackout was directly connected to American politics. Since the app features highly personalized algorithms that are micro-tailored to users, she said it can be easily used as a tool of propaganda.
“That easily can be weaponized to feed someone triggering content to get them to support a political issue a certain way,” Fox said.
Joseph Bayer, an associate professor of communications and social media researcher at Ohio State, said he’s studied technology habits and addictions for years. In his opinion, TikTok’s engaging algorithm and ability to amplify influencers’ reach make the app highly immersive, allowing users to become digitally dependent on its never-ending stream of content.
“People have this greater affiliation, this greater intensity of connection to this app because the bigger influencers have a platform that allows them, in a lot of cases, to move with the changing nature of the social media ecosystem,” Bayer said.
Kortokrax said for better or for worse, all social media platforms — depending on who’s using them and how they are using them — can spread positivity or negativity online. TikTok, with its wide reach and viral content, is no exception, as it often amplifies both creative expression and controversial ideas.
“I think that there’s still a lot of amazing people trying to use the social media world to share their faith, inspire other people to follow their dreams and spread positivity,” Kortokrax said. “There’s more to life than just making money on social media, and the more people we can get to understand that, then the chances of actually impacting and inspiring people through content increases.”
Bayer said even considering the existence of competing social media platforms with similar features to TikTok, like Instagram Reels, many people still believe TikTok provides a distinct user experience that is difficult to fully replicate.
“It doesn’t have the same kind of content stream that feels natural or produced efficiently, even as reels have popped up in popularity, in the sense that at least it’s gathering a lot of traction and it is a big part of Instagram’s overall usage,” Bayer said.
Bayer said the future of social media remains largely uncertain due to technology’s swift evolution, but even if one app is banned, another competitor can always take its place. Even so, he said TikTok still has a strong grip on pop culture, especially for younger generations.
“Because each generation tends to want to build its own identity, TikTok thus far is still the platform of the youth,” Bayer said.
