But I’ve never added a friend on TikTok, sent a direct message, or considered myself a “TikToker.” I don’t think I’m alone. For most people I know, TikTok is not a place to connect with other people. It’s a place to waste time, be numb, disconnect from reality, and float in your feed. This passive, disengaged quality, while great for engagement, also makes TikTok feel more fungible than other, more social networks. If it goes away, we’ll fix it somewhere else.
I was also convinced by Hana Kiros’ explanation in The Atlantic that TikTok is a victim of its own success. She believes TikTok’s popularity has led to many other social networks copying its features. Now, users who want to immerse themselves in an infinite wormhole of short and entertaining vertical videos can visit Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat or X, all of which have launched TikTok-style feeds in recent years. In a world where every app works like TikTok, perhaps TikTok itself feels less necessary.
I would add a more optimistic possibility: maybe we are ready for a change.
For me at least, spending time on TikTok represents a form of cognitive surrender, a willingness to stop actively directing my thoughts and feelings and let ByteDance’s algorithms entertain me for a while. This can be a pleasant experience, sometimes even gratifying. (Every few days, my wife will catch me laughing into my phone and ask, “What’s so funny?” The answer is always TikTok.)
But over the years, as I spent more and more time on TikTok, I also noticed how it began to rewire my brain—blurring my focus, shortening my attention span, and making me focus on non- The laser-targeted media is no longer interested. Others report that TikTok has become a harmful addiction for them — and they desperately want the government to ban the app because they can’t quit it on their own.
It may be wishful thinking to think that if the ban takes effect, millions of screen-addicted TikTok users will start reading Ulysses and taking long walks in their spare time. But maybe it’s reasonable to look at people’s shrugs at TikTok’s disappearance and wonder, after all our years of focusing on the app, whether we’re ready to invest elsewhere.
