Social media is one of the biggest places that we get our entertainment today. There are many different types of social media, and they know exactly how to hook us and keep us entertained. So which app do teenagers like the best to get their entertainment and why? 

It may seem obvious that the answer is Tik Tok and I’m here to tell you, you’re right. A survey put out in 2023 by the PEW research center proved this. The survey topic was % of US teens ages 13- 17 that say they have ever used the following apps or cites. The results showed that 63% of teens said they have used Tik Tok, 60% have used Snapchat, and 59% have used Instagram. Of the 63% who have used Tik Tok, 17% say they are on it constantly, that means 1 in 5 teens are on Tik Tok “constantly”.  But here’s the problem, isn’t Tik Tok being banned…again? 

In April 2024 Former president Biden signed a bill regarding the ban of Tik Tok in the US, according to Forbes, the law was supported by both parties. The bill gives TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, until January 19th to sell TikTok. If they don’t, TikTok will be banned from US app stores and from “internet hosting services” that support it.  

But to some American Tik Tok users, Tik Tok is much more than just an entertainment app. There are influencers who make their living off their platform and the videos they make. Also, there are people who use a Tik Tok platform to spread news of their small business, and they can use Tik Tok shop to sell their products too. If Tik Tok is banned, these people could lose their source of income.  

Junior Kylie Bricker uses Tik Tok the most out of all the social media apps and she expressed that she would be sad if Tik Tok is banned because it is something that she enjoys using in her free time. However, she understands that the ban could be good for teenagers because the constant use of social media seems to shorten our attention span. According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, 31% of teens said they lost focus in class because they were checking their cell phones, and 49% said using technology for reasons unrelated to class, or “off-task” use, was distracting to them. Also, according to research conducted by Microsoft, we have a shorter attention span than a goldfish. That is less than 9 seconds. 

So, there are pros and cons of losing Tik Tok, and it still isn’t clear if it will actually happen. But I’m sure that if Tik Tok is banned, teens will find a new app to keep them entertained.