By Aguo Wang
Boston University News Service
TikTok was shut down on Jan. 18. When users tried opening the app, they were confronted with the message, “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now.” The ban lasted 14 hours and ended the next day.
A recent case found that, as of Jan. 19, it will be unlawful for companies in the U.S. to distribute, maintain or update TikTok. The Court ruled that ByteDance Ltd., a Chinese company, could share U.S. user data and manipulate content.
Despite the government’s concern regarding data privacy, some Boston University students said they are not bothered to the same extent.
Ethan Palmersheim, a freshman at BU, said in an interview that he finds it ridiculous the government is pressuring TikTok to be sold to a U.S. company.
“Chinese spyware is bad, but I want good, proper American spyware,” Palmersheim said, criticizing the government’s reasoning for banning the app.
Other social media apps widely used by Americans are not receiving the same data-privacy scrutiny as TikTok. One reason for this particularity is the existence of Chinese laws that allow the Chinese government to demand data from Chinese companies and citizens for intelligence-gathering purposes.
While the government worries about information security, some citizens are concerned with how this ban could infringe on First Amendment rights.
Zoie Kirsten Calora, a sophomore at BU, said the data security problem is also prevalent in all other social media. She also said she doesn’t believe banning TikTok could address it.
“I was really angry that someone could silence an app because it feels really controlling and invasive,” said Isabella Hanif, another sophomore at BU.
According to the latest TikTok demographic data on Statista, college students (from ages 18-24) made up 30.3% of all users as the second largest age group, only 5 percentage points less than the largest group of 25 to 34.
It’s clear that young adults largely use TikTok. When asked about the specific appeal to the app, students responded diversely.
Hanif said she always learns new things on TikTok. “If you hear about something, you hear about it on TikTok,” she said. “It’s like the app of today.”
Calora said she admires the algorithm on TikTok. “All the videos are very catered towards you. I’m talking about one thing one day, and then it will show up on my explore page.”
Temilade Olateru-Olagbegi, a BU sophomore who has been using TikTok since 2019, said it’s more original than other platforms. Users create more content on TikTok than on other apps, she said.
Maddy O’Leary, another BU sophomore, shares a similar idea saying that other platforms tend to copy TikTok videos.
There is a psychological aspect to young adults and their attraction to the app. Catherine Caldwell-Harriss, associate professor of psychology at BU, said that being attached to TikTok is similar to joining a group. The more costly getting a group membership is, the more committed people are. This directly links to using the app incessantly as the cost of joining the TikTok community is spending a lot of time on it, she said.
“When you left the group, you would lose all the effort in becoming a member, making all the friends, and reading posts,” Caldwell-Harris said. “Then you realize, the vast time is the cost for the online space and showing your membership.”
When the TikTok unavailable reminder showed on people’s screens, a handful of angry comments emerged on social media.
“People should reflect on how much they rely on an app,” Calora said.
When asked about the ban’s aftermath, Hanif said it was opportunity to lean off from social media.
Caldwell-Harris said people who are able to view the ban positively, reflect their awareness and criticism of the high cost — time — of being a TikTok community member.
Even though social media migration might become an educational opportunity, Cadwell-Harris said she still appreciates students who decide to spend less time on social media.
Cadwell-Harris said: “The problem with the online world is how much time it takes and how much it keeps us away from other things that might actually be more meaningful.”
