I loathe to discuss a topic that so vehemently drains the life out of me, but since it has reentered the public consciousness recently, I figured I could bring my own gas to the bonfire. As a member of the indigenous online generation, I’ve seen social media platforms come and go. The relevance of a new social platform is as fleeting as it is unsolicited. No one knows where TikTok came from– especially not Congress– but it’s here nonetheless. After its mysterious genesis, there was no turning back. Suddenly American teenagers were no longer interested in the vapidity of Instagram, and instead found deeper, more personal meaning in the vapidity of TikTok.
Although I haven’t had TikTok installed on my phone for over a year, the insidious reach of its stupidity usually finds its way onto my phone somehow. My idea of a good day is one where I see no TikToks. When I first got the app, I would use it for hours every day, and I appreciated it for its ability to connect so many microcosmic communities together. Are you a Fiona Apple stan who likes Disney movies but hates Marvel movies, goes to school at Ole Miss and wants to move to Seattle after graduation? There’s at least one hundred people on TikTok who are making videos specifically about that. TikTok’s strength in that department is undoubted, but that’s what makes it so absurd. The disconnection of reality from the conscious young mind is portrayed almost stereotypically on TikTok. Its reach is ubiquitous among the youth, and its firm grip on my generation’s throat is like something out of a poorly written dystopian novel.
TikTok may not dominate the world in number of users, but it dominates the cultural conversation among young people. Nothing like TikTok gets Gen Z talking, as the latest trends on Instagram seem to be reserved for the older, less interesting crowd. The hyper accurate algorithm of TikTok gives users a way to never leave their echo chamber, never leave their bedroom, and never leave a brain cell unaltered. TikTok is home to plenty of mindless content, but the app’s main course is misinformation and brutal teenage bullying. Surely seeing a TikTok that uses words indecipherable to someone a year ago is a sign that we’re evolving faster than we should. While it might be fun to watch videos that delete your attention span and blast your synapses with blue light and serotonin, the joy is superficial.
While the U.S. government has sought to ban TikTok multiple times over the past few years, their thoughtless rhetoric makes me believe the app’s only crime is existing while Chinese. Should TikTok be banned for the good of the public? Yes. So should cigarettes and alcohol, but I wish you the best of luck in banning any of them. The vices-du-jour of American young people won’t cease because Big Brother says so, and if one vice is taken away, the Hydra of Minor Sins will sprout new ones immediately. The day that Americans give up social media, cigarettes and alcohol just because they’re told it’s bad is the same day that Jesus rises again to Renegade on water.
TikTok– as with anything bad for you– might have its negatives, but without it where would the cultural conversation be held? As Generation X is to Facebook, Millennials are to Instagram, and Gen Z is to TikTok. While Gen Z still uses Instagram, it’s becoming synonymous with something out of vogue. Just as Gen Z uses Facebook, Instagram will soon be used by the young only to interact with the elderly. If TikTok is restricted it will be for the wrong reasons.
While those elderly want to ban TikTok on the basis of national security, the war at home is being fought on the prefrontal cortexes of my generation. It’s less of a war and more of a battle for attention among a generation who could already benefit from an Adderall prescription. If TikTok is banned, America better be ready for Gen Z’s unfocused protests. To sign up and join the fight please visit www.myspace.com/bringbackTikTok.
So again, should daily vices be prohibited? Objectively yes, but without them there’d be no smoking sections, and that I just couldn’t forgive
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The Smoking Section is where I observe the world at large, and put a magnifying glass on a subject we all hold dear to our hearts. As a member of Gen Z, I think it’s important that we take a step back and remember that life is not that serious, and no topic is too good to ridicule. In the Smoking Section, we take a step outside of the party for a breath of less-fresh air. Here if you don’t have anything nice to say, pull up a chair next to me.
@schmidtconrad
