MSU students and TikTok influencers react to recent changes

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – With the inauguration of Donald Trump today, January 20,  as the 47th president, significant developments have emerged regarding the popular social media app, TikTok.

The well-known app faced a nationwide ban in the U.S.

During his first presidency, Donald Trump targeted the popular social media app over national security concerns over its Chinese ownership calling for its ban in the U.S.

However, the new Trump administration provided a temporary extension.

Last year the Supreme Court upheld a law mandating ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to divest its US operations by January 19, 2025, or face a ban.

On January 18 the ban took effect and became inaccessible to its nearly 200 million American users.

The next day it was back up.

According to eMarketer, an average user spends over an hour on the app daily.

After it shut down, Mississippi State students said it felt unusual to pick up the phone.

“I was pretty upset about it being gone because that’s like normally when I’m in my room,” Amya Bowling said. “That’s what I used to take the time to just chill before I go to sleep and when it was gone I was like well I guess I have to go to Instagram and start watching Instagram Reels on there.”

“It was kind of like a little absent because when you scroll on TikTok a little bit every morning when you first wake up and or right before you go to bed,” Christian Kingdom said. “So I kind of did miss that.”

Beyond the entertainment, the app served as a source of income for some users.

TikTok has changed many people’s lives financially.

Some said that the opportunities the app brings will always be appreciated.

“Most teens do, college students and adults that’s how most of us make our money and that’s how most of us like we can go on there and be okay so we know people can relate to this situation and get opinions on this situation,” Mykayah Tate said. “So I was like wow, Instagram Reels is not going to be the same as TikTok and it’s not going to be as funny as TikTok.”

“It’s definitely a platform for people to learn about different problems and initiatives or programs in the U.S. or just in the world,” Liam Nicholason said. “Honestly just to have fun and scroll mindlessly if they want. Same time I think it’s potentially dangerous for younger people just being exposed to so much so early.”

While TikTok was banned for just a few hours, U.S. users can now enjoy the app until further notice, possibly just 90 days.

TikTok is still up and running however, the people who deleted the app cannot re-download it to their phones as it remains removed from major app stores pending further decisions.

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