As of right now, the ban of TikTok has just happened before the law forces it to set in motion on Sunday, January 19.
On Friday morning, The Supreme Court released their opinions on the matter, upholding the ban that is set to take effect this Sunday Many things have happened over the past 48 hours for (better or worse) and I think to myself, “maybe the TikTok ban was supposed to happen.”
Now before you say ‘How dare you?’, I want to give you a short brief reason why I‘m leaning towards this opinion:
TikTok blew up at the right time, but in the most uncertain period of this decade.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we were all stuck in the house and it affected our daily lives, career choices, education, personal relationships, and mental health.
Then TikTok came along (which was already on the rise) and skyrocketed to become a global phenomenon. It really was a fun time during what I call the “prime years” on the platform. So many different creators made their impact and shaped what the future of social media was going to be.
Then, we eventually got out of the pandemic and while I know what this app has done for our country’s economy, livelihood, and how it has shaped the next generation, I ultimately think it’s a byproduct of the COVID era, between the “TikTokification” of music, the effect of doomscrolling for Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha, and the constant misinformation that the app provides. Maybe this is the sign that we should say goodbye to the platform? Maybe it was just our little distraction for when we needed it the most in 2020, but now we probably don’t need it anymore in 2025. I’m not sure, but here is the good that TikTok has provided.
The Good
The good parts about this app is its funny content, revolution of short-form video, and the boost it had on the creator economy. The way this app could make anyone go viral without fancy edits or an already established following is nothing short of revolutionary to the social media sphere. Not to mention what it’s done to the music industry, since they rely on this app for past, current, and future artists to gain relevancy.
Even generations before who’ve seen the birth of social media/its rise and falls, have never seen a platform bring a community of all different kinds of people together in such a powerful way. The app is so powerful that the likes of Meta and Google have tried to capitalize on its success and haven’t had the same impact.
President-elect Donald Trump has stated that he plans to “save” Tik-Tok with a 90-day extension when he takes office on Monday, but the TikTok as you know it will never be the same again. If ByteDance does sell or merge TikTok with the United States, it may be a different app than what we’re used to and that’s due to the potential changes in the algorithm that makes up the entire identity of the platform.
My final thoughts with his app now dark is some advice to the reader. If you’re a creator on TikTok and have been affected by this ban, always remember that these platforms are finite. I understand you and I feel for you. I know this is a weird time right now and all we can do is just wait honestly. It happened to MySpace, Tumblr, Vine, Twitter, and now TikTok. Social media is always changing and you can never predict what can happen.
Never put your eggs in one basket as a creator.

