The loss of TikTok was mourned across the United States… for about 15 hours. It seems rather obvious to me that the entire situation was a publicity stunt to promote the presidency of Donald Trump, who, according to TikTok’s “Welcome Back” message, put a lot of effort into the reinstallation of the app.
Saturday, Jan. 18, content creators and users posted goodbye videos such as old drafts, promotions of their accounts on other platforms, confessions or secrets and viral audios to express their sadness at the ban. Later that evening, the app was not available to open, scroll through or post on. This led to posts on other platforms like Instagram that portrayed an uproar of sadness, anger, confusion and other reactions to the ban.
However, the morning of Sunday, Jan. 19, users who had not deleted the app were elated to see the message that popped up when opening the app again. It read, “Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!”
There is no doubt in my mind that this performance was a staged operation to increase the public interest in President-elect Trump’s position. It feels like a political play to gain the support of TikTok users who may have originally not voted in Trump’s favor. While the Supreme Court did agree to the removal of TikTok in the U.S. and the soon-to-be president most likely had a say in bringing it back, I have a feeling that the “efforts” that Trump took were part of a publicity stunt. And I can’t help but point out the fact that Trump is not even “President” yet, making the message that much weirder.
It does raise the question of whether President-elect Trump’s act to save TikTok actually did lead to more supporters around the country, since so many people have grown attached to the popular app. Users have joked about how awkward it was to open the app less than a day after losing their minds over the loss of something that seems like it should not have been worth the dramatic goodbye. I think the addiction to scrolling and posting as well as the reliance on the app for a career has made it so a lot of people felt a larger personal loss with its ban.
I hope people are not influenced super easily by this performance and maintain their political values and beliefs without looking only at the return of TikTok. As a rampant TikTok user myself, I am glad the app is back even though this seems like a political tactic to gain traction for the president-elect.
