TikTok is well-known by all. It’s a popular social media app that allows people from all over to create and share short videos. TikTok allowed people to express themselves and launched some of them into popularity. This has allowed many people to create their livelihoods from TikTok. However, many are aware, that in the U.S., TikTok was facing being banned by the government. These were due to concerns that ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, was giving data about its users to China. However, 11 hours after the app was banned in the U.S., TikTok was reinstated. There were many among the Chamblee populace affected by the ban, where most of whom were left with a general disdain for the ban.
“I think that the ban was dumb in general. I think them bringing it back was dumber,” said Tarannum Ahmed (‘27).
“I was a little excited because then there’s not gonna be so many screenagers,” said Ava Gainer (‘27).
Other students noted the extreme reactions from some of their peers.
“I kind of think other people’s reactions that I saw on Tiktok were really extreme, like I saw a lot of people crying. And I feel like that was really excessive.” said Rafa Johnson (‘28).
Leading up the ban, some students wanted to make the most of what time they had left.
“I saved some edits, and I was on TikTok for about 32 hours that week,” said Ahmed.
“I saved a lot of TikToks on my camera roll,” said Johnson.
While some students took their time saving the best parts of TikTok, others went to find alternatives.
“I said I didn’t really mind it that much, because I could also just use Instagram reels if I wanted,” said Lucas Frankel (‘26).
“It was so bad. I was on Instagram reels and installed RedNote, but it wasn’t the same,” said Ahmed.
RedNote is another Chinese app similar to TikTok. It allows users to share videos and posts similar to other social media apps. The app saw a steep rise in popularity in China, and many Americans had downloaded it recently because of the TikTok ban.
TikTok was back just 11 hours later, and many users celebrated its return.
“[I was] really happy. Like, really, really happy, so chilled that I spent even more time on it,” said Ahmed.
Overall, it seems that the ban and the decision to bring it back, was controversial. However, for some, TikTok is an important place of entertainment and a way to connect with others. One student noted on this perspective.
“I feel like a lot of people’s reactions are pretty justified,” said Frankel, “TikTok is a place where people can have their voices be heard, and it’s not nice to have that voice be taken away, that platform be taken away from you”.
