It feels like an eternity ago, when the world was a completely different place following the shutdowns of schools and public places for Covid-19. What was supposed to be just two weeks turned into months of disrupted life and a new culture emerged. TikTok came into prominence, along with the habit of “doom scrolling”.
I’ve come to love TikTok. I think the pace at which content picks up virility is unlike any other platform. And the algorithm is completely on point (which might be part of the problem).
With the shutdown looming, I have made my peace with taking back a part of my life that has been lost to TikTok.
Initially, there wasn’t much else to do. In the early days of the pandemic, I was spending 30 hours each week volunteering at a Covid-19 testing site. Then I would do about another 20 hours each week of work. The rest of the time, I was left with idle hands.
I cooked. I watched Netflix. I read. But TikTok provided a pathway to creative expression that I couldn’t find anywhere else. Over time, I learned new things that I can’t imagine I would want to learn. In fact, I distinctly remember telling my therapist that the night before I had seen a video of a veterinarian showing how to x-ray an owl. A long conversation ensued about whether or not TikTok qualified as a productive hobby, and she eventually started her own account so I consider that battle a victory.
Later on, I began feeling like an insider, even with videos that had been viewed by millions of others. Olympians offered a whole new look into the village and life competing that was far different from anything Bob Costas could offer on TV. Celebrities showed how different, yet similar their lives were to ours. And politicians offered a level of fallibility in dances and trends that wasn’t seen on other social platforms.
On TikTok, it was okay to be silly and have fun, as long as you were on trend.
To date, I’ve never posted a single video on my own account (full disclosure — I’ve produced and posted hundreds on client accounts). I’ve bookmarked dozens of trend videos that I intended to someday post with my own version, but I never got around to it.
On Sunday, I’ll lose that opportunity. But that’s okay.
Over the past year, I’ve been spending less and less time scrolling. What used to be six hours each week on the app has turned into less than one. Now, I’m going to get that little bit of time back.
And as that happens, a piece of the digital space that was synonymous with the Covid-19 world will disappear.
I Love TikTok. And I’m Okay with it Ending. was originally published in Thoughts? for Jersey on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.