By Christopher Jordan Latiff

Social media has managed to wedge itself in the very center of our lives. I know I spend at least two hours of my day interacting with my social media accounts, especially in these last six months. Putting aside the fact that some of my usages come from managing my creative projects, I do spend a good chunk of time daily being distracted by ads, memes, you name it. Something I never got into, but has now become a significant player is TikTok. I've never made an account myself, but TikTok content still pops up on my device, even on other platforms. I don't understand the hype of most of the app's content; however, I comprehend how TikTok has turned into a social media giant almost overnight. 

TikTok is currently locked in a legal battle with the U.S. government over a strict ban proposed via executive order if they don't sell the company to an American tech giant. The main issue is that the Trump administration suspects that the Chinese company has been a Chinese government tool to amass data on American app users. The company denies all allegations leveraged against them. A judge denied the ban from moving forward after TikTok submitted a temporary injunction on the same day.

Apps such as Musical.ly, ByteDance, and Douyin (Chinese owned) all merged to create the algorithmic goliath known as TikTok. The app was posed as something fun to do, especially during the quarantine. Dance challenges, silly pranks, and viral videos all seem harmless on the surface, but what is TikTok (like many other social media platforms) as a tool for our society? Especially now that the app is trying the hardest to pivot their image after serious backlash from a public apology admitting to blocking hashtags that are connected to the BLM movement. Visit the new website, TikTok for good, and you will encounter basically a whole new brand. The new site has a banner displaying randomized videos posted on the platform all based on climate activism, health awareness, celebrations of diversity and travel. The old website displays clips of your typical TikTok creative content. 

Well, it depends on who you ask. If you ask me I think TikTok, like other social media platforms in the past, have proven that they have the capability of creating a space for amazing things to happen. TikTok activism has grown increasingly over the last few years especially during this historical election year. A massive wave of BIPOC content creators began strongly speaking out and mobilizing against racial injustice connected with the George Floyd and Brionna Taylor murders and the movement at large. Since TikTok lifted the block on #GeorgeFloyd and #BlackLivesMatter hashtags, the message of these activists are reaching users in the millions. Content posted on the app with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter had more than 6 million views this summer and counting. 

On the flip side, I also think there is no escaping the underlying truth that social media including TikTok are also becoming weaponized by big corporations who are out to target new and old customers to keep them shopping. It is creating gaps of division across both young and older generations. 

A prime example of this is the proposed deal retail, now also digital retail giant, Walmart. The retail giant is reportedly brokering a deal with TikTok Global to own 7.5% of its operations. Reports that Walmart already uses TikTok as a market research point for a part of their targeted audiences. The platform's primary audience is generation z. Put two and two together, and now we have a worldwide retail giant with access to sensitive data on an entire generation of young people. 

As we have learned from recent docs like “The Great Hack” and “The Social Dilemma”, social media platforms are puppets of parent companies that are in the business of our attention. Today's world runs on what is being called a data economy. In this economy, data about the consumer is the most valuable asset. They gather our information, and a digital clone of sorts is created of us. This clone is uniquely designed to anticipate what we are most likely to look at next, meaning, what next video/post would be the best fit to keep you watching. That means if I were to search in google "domestic terrorism" depending on where I was, the number of similar profiles like me there are nearby, and what content I've been consuming lately — my results would be different than someone else's. Now that the system is exposed to the public, we now see how these algorithms have shaped the way we all individually see the world differently.

This has some catastrophic effects on young people's well-being and accelerated division amongst generations. We have already seen its potential to spread misinformation on a massive scale. Let's remember the famous Gen Z tattoo trend that became viral via TikTok. A TikTok posted by an American user promoting a positive movement reading "Lets make things happen. Together" and in the background, you see the big Z design graphic. Later on, reports of the symbol is congruent with that of a white supremacist group. 

Older generations may have a hard time understanding the newest technology wave. This causes a disconnect of how the three generations communicate and interact altogether. There is a different language used and different perspectives on the world because of that technology or lack there-of. As a result, and as we now know, the three different generations are all getting their information about the world around them from algorithms that perfectly tailor content to what they want to see. This clashes with reality and the very openly expressed views of educated adults and young people worldwide.

TikTok has somewhere around 800 million users. Instagram has somewhere around 1 billion. Where Instagram started, TikTok is on the brink overtaking them and is enabling an entire shift in youth culture. With the courts blocking the ban, TikTok will still be in business. Influencers will still be posting sponsored content, and ad companies will always race to catch our attention. Misinformation will still spread, and we will all have to continue to be aware of what we are looking at and make sure what we consume isn't leading us to create even larger divides. Tomorrow's minds will all grow up with TikTok in their pocket moving forward and who says that the next big app isn't just around the corner. I hope that everyone can notice how social media, especially TikTok, has already cemented an imprint on basic human life and how quickly it has been turned into a tool by big ad companies and organizations with bad intentions. 

Christopher is a culture writer for La Tonique.