The TikTok tease: We’re so back?

It lasted 14 hours. For 14 hours I stared at the ceiling, opened Instagram reels once (#neveragain) and even debated watching YouTube again. For the half-day without access to TikTok you would’ve thought the end times were near. Well… they are, but this was a relatively anticlimactic start.

Leading up to Sunday night, everyone was saying their final goodbyes to TikTok. Beloved audios resurfaced one last time, Vinnie Hacker recreated fan-favorite thirst traps and Charli D’Amelio finally fessed up about her phony “anxiety stick” which was just a damn vape. Heartfelt compilations, love letters and links to other apps flooded the “For You” page before it went dark Saturday night. But, come Sunday morning, everything was back to usual? For some? 

Personally, I was kind of disappointed that the app came back. For starters, without TikTok to scroll through while I procrastinate my assignments, I could feel my GPA already start to soar to heights it’s never seen. I could maybe graduate “Sigma Cum Loud” or whatever it’s called.

Second, for someone as theatrical as Donald Trump, I would have thought he’d stretch the ban out for at least longer than a day to build suspense. For someone who hid away so many documents for so long, you think he could have at least kept the app in the dark for a whole day.

And lastly, I already started a streak on Duolingo in preparation for the migration to Rednote. For example, I learned how to say “raw next question” in Mandarin. I’m practically fluent!

Now, TikTok is a great tool to use to stay caught up on all things news and culture, and I’m definitely glad we didn’t lose it. But the last thing I want to do is be at my post-grad office job and start parroting whatever TikTok reference is currently stuck in my head. I have to look professional, and humming Zara Larson’s “Symphony” to myself isn’t going to help.

If we as a generation collectively crash out when we can’t drunkenly scroll on our phones after getting back from the club, real life is going to hit us like a truck. So, let’s try to focus on the bigger fish to fry. Between the fires, liars and town criers, TikTok might be a little bit messy for the time being. Whatever may follow the inauguration, we as a country have proven we can’t handle going cold turkey. 

Scroll while you can, stay up to date but try to stay vigilant… or watch some Liverking videos. Sure, he was canceled, but soon it’s going to be Mad Max times and you’re going to need to know what parts of a deer you can eat.

Just in case, follow me on Instagram. 😚