TikTok can be a controversial topic for many people, not just the United States government. With addicting qualities keeping you on the app for hours on end, some took the initiative to simply delete the app altogether. While a great action in theory, in practice it isn’t such a smooth transition. It is hard for a lot of people to wean off the app and get off of it cold turkey. For example, I have friends who deleted TikTok, but now use platforms like Instagram reels, Youtube shorts, and even Snapchat reels. These same friends that worried that their addiction to the platform was getting too strong, deleted it to lower their screen time but ended up raising it by splitting their time among three other apps. These same people even came to me after getting off the app and complaining that the algorithm was not the same and that they know it’s good for them to get off, but partially regret it. People even went the extra measure, and insisted that I keep sending them funny TikTok videos so they can keep up on trends, even years after getting off the platform.
On the other end of the spectrum there are people, who like my sister, constantly threaten to delete the app so they get off their phone more but never do. She regularly tells me that she’s deleting the app and to text her videos she would like, and then the next day the app is back on her phone. As much as she’s ashamed of her addiction, it’s a tough one to kick.
With the impending threat of a ban of the app in the United States, many users have been reflecting on their app usage and trying to find alternatives. People posted how they are worried and frightened by the ban since they have become so dependent on the app. Using it as a form of google, a way to learn about politics or other social matters, or as a way to find new stores or restaurants. A simple app meant to dance on became a lifeline of sorts for millions of people. Some have even gone the distance and compared the app being deleted to “quitting hard drugs cold turkey”.
During the temporary 12 hour ban in January, many users fled to other alternatives similar to TikTok to get a similar dopamine rush. Chinese apps like RedNote received an influx of American users looking to replicate the feeling TikTok gave them. Even with this alternative, many people I know, shamefully including myself, used a VPN and managed to get TikTok on my computer. It was a hard twelve hours being off an app I had used regularly for over five years. During this time period, I used my sister’s phone, my mom’s phone, and truthfully any device I could that did not have an account connected to an American server to get my daily dose.
From this experience, I learned that I desperately need new hobbies. I resonated with those who keep trying to kick the habit of re-downloading the app, as even when I knew I could not use it, I instinctually kept clicking on it to be met with the same screen saying it was banned. I, with millions of others, faced the dilemma of missing an app while also being grateful for such an eye opening experience. Currently, I am one of the people who keep trying to delete the app and trying to stop doom scrolling when I wake up and before I go to bed. Not having access to the app truly opened my eyes to how big my problem with the app was, and was truthfully embarrassing. Even though it is hard, I am trying to limit my screen time significantly and have already seen positive benefits. I will try to at least significantly lower my TikTok usage, but hope those still on the platform will send me videos I would like.
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