Community School of Davidson (CSD) student, Madeline McKinley’s (‘25), alarm goes off at 6 a.m. every weekday. Before stepping out of bed to get dressed, pack her lunch and drive to school, she opens TikTok and spends a bit of time scrolling through the “For You” page which presents videos about topics from fashion to news. It is a habit that she has performed daily for years.
But for McKinley, as well as many other CSD Spartans high school students, the morning of January 19, 2025 was different. TikTok went silent.
McKinley was shocked.
“When I woke up on Sunday morning, I automatically clicked TikTok, but I forgot it was no longer there,” McKinley said. “I know it’s bad but the first thing I do when I wake up is scroll, so it was a rude awakening for me.”
The change in the app’s availability to users came as a result of a decision made by the outgoing Biden administration, upheld by the US Supreme Court.
As many news sites stated before January 19, the Supreme Court ruling and later upholding of the app’s ban was expected after 12:01 a.m. ET that Sunday.
It is no wonder that many CSD users found the early shut-down shocking.
“I was disappointed I didn’t have as much time as I thought I did to save some things I had on there, but also was like it is what it is,” Julia Vecchiarello (‘25) said.
Others saw it coming.
Jenni Lewman (‘25) deleted the app once the ban took effect on January 18, 2025.
“I was really distressed and my phone has no storage so I figured [the ban] was permanent, and I deleted the app,” Jenni Lewman said. “But low and behold it came back like an hour later. Now I can’t redownload it and it says ‘TikTok and ByteDance services are not available on the App Store’.”
Anna Liz Turner (‘25) deleted the app a long time ago.
“I’m just glad Instagram Reels got its time to shine. I think TikTok deserves to be banned. Just kidding, I don’t care. [TikTok] is boring. Also, I don’t like the doom scrolling. It makes me feel like I’m not in control when I’m stuck in a scroll,” Anna Liz Turner said.
Regardless, the process unfolded quickly. Roughly two hours before the ban was supposed to take effect, users became unable to access their posted, recommended, drafted and favorited videos.
A pop-up only provided two options in the app: “Learn more” or “Close app.”
(TikTok image sourced via Creative Commons)
But one day later, with a newly inaugurated president who says TikTok has a special place in his heart, the app became usable again.
The shared confusion over reasons for the app’s quick return was met with a variety of emotions from CSD users, some struggling to see pros or cons to the situation.
“It literally feels so empty,” McKinley (‘25) said. “Like I don’t know how to explain it but it feels different.”
Vecchiarello was relieved.
“I’m glad that I’m still able to access things like recipes and movie recommendations I have saved in my favorites. I’m also happy that I can still see the drafts that I’ve made over the years. A pro is that [the ban] would have helped a lot of people be more productive, a con is that it would have taken away something that makes people happy,” Vecchiarello said.
Nevertheless, the app’s early shut down and quick turnaround is leading audiences to question whether or not it’s here to stay this time.
Heather Auten, CSD’s AP Psychology teacher, sees the situation from various angles.
“I think overall, research-wise, it does show that a lot of these platforms are having a pretty negative effect on body image, anxiety, sort of this skewed reality of what people’s lives are actually like. You’re definitely getting the highlight reel when you look at somebody’s TikTok,” Heather Auten said. “But I also can see the point that people are putting out some good information, the problem is you don’t know what is misinformation or disinformation.”
Auten believes, like most anything that can be used for good, it could also be used for bad.
“But overall I think if it’s banned, it’s not going to break people, like we’ll be fine and there are probably better ways to get reliable information that isn’t necessarily manipulated,” Auten said.
After the app’s resurgence, CSD Spartan users have noticed a few things that are different or weren’t previously on the site. Facebook has their own TikTok account, their bio saying “We believe people can do more together, than alone.”
And users have also reported that they no longer receive advertisements on their “For You” page and some phrases are blocked from the search bar, encouraging them to instead “check [their] sources.”
While the possible dangers of the app were first discussed by then President Trump in 2020, he is the one now vying to save it.
A CNN article from Jan. 19, 2025, tells readers that the president is enforcing the idea that, for the app to stay unbanned, the Chinese technology and parent company of TikTok, “ByteDance,” must transfer to U.S. ownership.
However, the company has refused any offers they have received from U.S. companies so far.
Right now, TikTok is in a 90-day extension period, acting as a sort of “in limbo” app where users who kept their accounts can use it as they did before Jan. 18.
While it is too soon to know what the future of TikTok will hold, for McKinley and Vecchiarello plus other CSD TikTok users, the opportunity to scroll continues.
