A little backstory: I haven’t had TikTok since I was in the ninth grade and I will be a freshman in college in the fall. I thought I would have FOMO—be called weird or left out of conversations because I wasn’t educated on what was “trending.” But after 4 years of not having the app, I can assure you: I don’t feel left out. In fact, I think people with that app are the weird ones! 

     I deleted TikTok during COVID of my freshman year because, like many others during the pandemic, I was constantly on my phone. I didn’t like the vain and insecure person I was becoming. The final straw was when I saw the amount of screen time I averaged each day, with TikTok the leading culprit for screen time. I immediately deleted the app and haven’t looked back since.  

     However, I do have Instagram and I do watch instagram reels. I found that I don’t watch Instagram Reels to the extent I scrolled limitlessly on TikTok. I think having two main features in an app (e.g., reels and photos) is key to minimizing screen time altogether.  

     With the US government considering banning TikTok, I wonder if the best solution to make everyone happy is making Insta Reels the new TikTok. This compromise is what I see occurring in the next two years or so. Meet halfway: make Insta Reels the new TikTok.  

     The New York Times explained that “Governments have expressed concerns that TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, may endanger sensitive user data.” China is a communist country and, by law, the owners of TikTok are legally obligated to give any and all information to the Chinese Communist Party when asked. Yet, TikTok claims privacy to users. This privacy under false pretenses is what led US-based universities to block TikTok from their school Wifi. Several schools banning TikTok include Auburn University (war eagle), Boise State University, and the University of Texas at Austin.  

     The US isn’t the only country to consider banning the app, as India already banned the app in 2020 after China shared user information outside of India. Currently, the Biden administration has asked that the Chinese ownership of the TikTok app “…sell the app or face a possible ban.” 

     Given all the headwinds with TikTok’s viability in the US (and other Western markets), why wait for the US to ban it or create a new version? I challenge you to delete TikTok off your phone for a week and see how your life improves for the better!