The loss of the informal private life
The eventual impact of the TikTok ban, the absence of community in America, and pondering about what could have been.
Think of your favorite musical artist, your favorite TV show, your favorite movie, your favorite book. What provoked you to take the chance to watch that film? Listen to that song? Read the first page? For most of the average teenagers to young adults, at least 1/4 of these things came about as a result of a post, an online source, or a recommendation video, perhaps.
Within the lapsed period of rumors and eventual confirmation(I’m still in denial) of TikTok getting banned, I’ve come to realize through the time that I spend ranting about how physical community is just as important for humans as food, sunlight, and water, that also despite still causing a devoid social atmosphere for the average American, online community is just as important. And that most people don’t realize how much the content that comes from other people impacts them, and ties into who they are now, what their taste is, and how they go through their days.
We are all the things we’ve loved combined into one. If you take one thing away, like it never existed, who would you be now? Who would you be if you never met them? Who would you be if you never took the time to read those pages? Who would you be if you never saw that clip?
I’m not the #1 promoter of constantly using TikTok and doing things like doom-scrolling, and spending hours upon hours on it, but I do think that it is the strongest source of accurate algorithmic-induced content that we’ve seen in years. And as a result, it’s brought the most togetherness that an online community as a whole has seen in a very, long time. For example, you, reading this right now, I know you’ve wanted to try 2020-esque whipped coffee at leasttttt once. Or maybe you have, what do I know?
In a country like America that’s essentially built with infrastructure to do the opposite of bringing people together and instead keep us apart with the bridges and concrete to construct the necessity for capitalistic ideals, I think that TikTok as an app, in many ways, has done more good than harm (shockingly). And the United States’ methods of censorship, and sheltering community as a way to make their citizens more miserable are quite frankly stupid. With one of the most bustling and accurate sources of algorithmic content that has brought people the most togetherness that we’ve seen in years, how are we to find so many more things to love, and eventually be a part of us?
P.S. I’m still in denial about it but if it actually happens R.I.P to a real one ig…I’ll miss anything that bred creativity
P.S.S. I miss vine
“There is little sense of place and even less opportunity to put down roots.”
— Ray Oldenburg, The Great Good Place, 1989