By Claire Goodyear | LTVN Reporter/Anchor
We’ve all heard of the potential ban on TikTok and what that might mean for us Generation Z’ers. What will we do during our free time? How will we know what to wear? When will us girls know the right time to change our aesthetic from clean girl to mob wife to coastal mermaid? If you have no idea what any of that means, you’re in the clear. But for most of us, it’s time to think for ourselves for once: Maybe banning TikTok wouldn’t be so bad.
Our generation loves to hate on iPad kids, when in reality, we’re all just iPhone adults. How many times a week do you sit down on the couch, open TikTok and start scrolling? When you finally snap back into consciousness, three hours have passed — and you haven’t moved a muscle besides your thumbs. It’s an endless cycle known as “doom scrolling,” and I believe this phenomenon is killing not only our time but also our creativity.
American writer and philosopher Robert M. Pirsig once said, “Boredom always precedes a period of great creativity.” But what if we are never bored? It is a common feeling for people to never want to feel bored, which is fair, because boredom is, well, boring. TikTok, along with all other forms of social media, completely solves this issue for us. Feeling bored? Open TikTok. It’s as easy as that. But this completely shuts the door to creativity in our minds. We can’t form any original ideas because we’re constantly taking in someone else’s.
Instead of going out into the world and taking in the beauty of life, we watch others do that from the comfort of our own couch through a small screen. Think about how many more experiences we would have if the internet didn’t exist. TikTok is addicting, but I assure you that actually living and making memories will fulfill you 100 times more.
Although I’ve been talking down on it, TikTok, along with many other forms of social media, is a great outlet for anyone on the planet to share their creativity and for viewers to see the world from millions of different angles. The app has the distinct power to open people’s minds beyond the bubble they live in and to show different people’s realities. In addition, there are so many talented creators who put so much time and effort into the content they make for their followers. I believe there is a very fine line between occasionally going on TikTok for a couple of laughs and making it a primary hobby.
So, if TikTok is banned, is it really the end of the world? The answer is no. Let’s be bored and become creative in the real world. If you’re chronically online, try living a life just as stimulating as the one on your phone.
