On Jan. 18, 2025, around 10 p.m. CST, Central High students found out how bad their addictions to TikTok really were.
Prior to the ban, most everyone knew the app was going to be banned. Students expressed both their concerns for those whose job is TikTok, and loss of information they have learned from the app, but also their hope that their time on their phones would decrease.
The short form video platform TikTok was banned in the United States out of concerns from the United States Supreme Court about national security threat from the Chinese parent company ByteDance. The ruling created the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act”. On Sunday Jan. 19, 2025, CNN mentions that “, [at the time president-elect Donald] Trump said he would issue an executive order following his inauguration on Monday to delay enforcement of the divest-or-ban law.” Following this message TikTok slowly became available for U.S citizens and Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social, “SAVE TIKTOK”.
“People have become so dependent on TikTok that they cannot break out of cycle,” said senior Lux Dahlke.
During the roughly 12 dead hours of TikTok, many Central students realized that their habits of clicking onto the app were uncontrollable. Junior Millie Jackson said, “I clicked onto the app at least 20 times and then ended up on Reels [the short form video platform on Instagram].”
Many Central students also switched to using the app Xiaohongshu, which translates to “little red book”, or “RedNote” in English. This app is the Chinese equivalent of Instagram, but also offers a short form video platform, much like TikTok. Jackson said, “I downloaded it as a joke, and it was funny for two seconds, but it was nothing in comparison to TikTok.”
I thought that it was interesting that people immediately wanted to fill the void that was created without TikTok. Even before TikTok was down, users were insisting everyone switch to RedNote, not even letting themselves live without social media. This event showed that society is constantly cradled by their phones and social media apps like TikTok, and we do not let ourselves be bored. Boredom is what sparks creativity and leads to a developed diverse culture, community and ideas. But at the same time, I do not think that many people know how to let themselves live without being bored. Our phones are killing this creativity that would have been created from boredom. Our phones are killing our communication skills because we can hide behind our devices. Our phones are killing our health, because why would you go for a walk when you can see a picture of a tree on your phone? Modern technology will be the death of individualism and health.
