YOUNG USERS, YOUNG VOTERS
TikTok plays a major role in the digital media industry and when it comes to marketing, particularly for small businesses, Espinoza reasoned.
Millions of people from politicians to teenagers and entrepreneurs would feel the blow if TikTok was shut down in the United States, agreed lifestyle content creator Steven King, whose ‘btypep’ account has 6.8 million followers.
“There is no sense of community on any other platform in comparison to what TikTok has created,” King said.
Summer Lucille, whose TikTok account dubbed Juicy Body Goddess has 1.4 million followers, described the platform as rich with raw information in real-time and having a recommendation algorithm “like gold”.
Espinoza, who recently turned 18 years old, also believes elected officials backing the bill will be in for a “big shock” with he and his TikTok-loving demographic express their ire at the ballot box.
“This is my first year voting and a lot of people my age are against this TikTok ban,” Espinoza said.
Some TikTok users, however, told AFP they are open to legislation that could protect them as well as defend national security.
“The addiction aspect of it is something we don’t really talk about,” Victor Pelatere, a 20-year-old Boston resident, told AFP.
“The whole TikTok brain rot idea – massive dopamine spikes and no attention span – those kinds of things are good for banning.”
Annmarie Fitzgerald, 22 of Boston, was among those who spoke of perhaps using TikTok too much.
“Think about a couple of years ago, we didn’t have it. It’ll be OK if we don’t have it again,” she said.
