Social media is omnipresent in our everyday lives. Whether it be posts from a friend or celebrity, a new song from a favorite artist, or funny videos circulating, media is an influential topic. And one platform that is highly debated is TikTok, one of the world’s most popular social media platforms ever, connecting content creators and audiences through recommendation algorithms.
TikTok is an active platform, presenting over one billion global active users each month. Demographics range from teenagers to adults, singular content creators to global businesses, and people of different nationalities, races, and ethnicities.
However, TikTok’s presence is highly debated politically. Politicians scrutinize TikTok for its possible violations of data privacy and false information, and now, its presence on devices is threatened.
On January 18, TikTok was banned as a part of an act by Congress banning apps that could be potentially “harmful” to the U.S. government. Shortly after, President Donald Trump postponed the ban for 75 days. Still, a question remains: how will this affect the nation’s population, especially teenagers and students?
The number of teenagers who use TikTok is staggering. As reported by the Pew Research Center in 2023, the percentage of teen users that use TikTok is a high 63%. 58% of teens use TikTok daily. But is the output positive or negative?
Like most social media, TikTok possesses a recommendation algorithm based on the videos that you watch and interact with, which can be helpful if you want to ingest new knowledge and watch funny videos. It can also be harmful, however, as videos can sometimes contain depressing and potentially harmful content, or provide false information.
Exposure to these short-form videos can highly affect a person’s view of their surroundings and their self-image.
Additionally, another topic arises—data privacy. TikTok mainly came under scrutiny for how they handled sensitive information of their users.
So what are students’ thoughts on TikTok, and how do they react to what they see?
Third Former Aidan Hinds thinks TikTok doesn’t affect his views much.
“I don’t really believe everything I see. It’s more something you joke on and have fun with. I don’t really see TikTok as something to be taken seriously,” Hinds said.
Hinds thinks a TikTok ban would “affect a lot of teenagers because it’s popular, everyone uses it. It’s addicting. You’re there for one second, and then you end up there for the rest of the night… If it doesn’t get banned, then I think it’s going to be more of an excuse for kids to be on their phone. If it does get banned, it teaches people how to focus better. I think TikTok should be used for right, not for wrong.”
For now, TikTok’s stance in the online world now depends on the very people who use and consume it.
On one hand, TikTok can be everything for a content creator. On the other hand, it can simply be an addicting viewing platform.
As a teacher and parent of a student who goes to Haverford, Latin teacher Dr. Andrew Fenton finds that TikTok isn’t any more negative than other social media platforms.
“I think that it is very easy to waste a lot of time on social media. I don’t think that’s exclusive to TikTok,” Dr. Fenton said.
Referencing Preston Swei’s reflection, Dr. Fenton stated that other platforms can be “at least as deleterious as TikTok would be.”
“I don’t see any reason to ban it in priority of digital use of social media. If I had the ability to snap my fingers and make all social media disappear, I would do that. [If it were banned] Haverford boys would find some other way to kill time on the internet, whether Snapchat or something else,” Dr. Fenton said.
For now, TikTok’s stance in the online world now depends on the very people who use and consume it.
