#8- Predictions

 So if you are on TikTok or not President Biden has signed the law that is shutting down TikTok. There has always been talk about TikTok getting shut down for some time now but it never really got to this point in actually getting shut down. The Chinese-owned TikTok has a year to sell the app and if they don't then it will get ban forever. 

when people first heard about the social media platform TikTok, they were catching their heads. like it's just the newer version of vine in a way. It seems every brand has been flocking to TikTok to tap into its estimated 1 billion active users worldwide.  Just when it seemed like everyone was looking to TikTok for some much needed entertainment while stuck at home during coronavirus, the app is making headlines for potentially being banned in the U.S. So what exactly I the "threat" of TikTok ,and what does this mean for its estimated 100 million American TikTok users? 

Formerly known as Musical.ly , the app brought by Chinese tech giant ByteDance for $1billion in 2017. it was officially relaunched as TikTok in 2018. Since its reinvention, it's become a popular video app for its skits and dance challenges as well as a destination for young star and advertisers alike. According to research firm Marketing North, 41% fo the apps audience demographic is between the ages 16 and 24. Most of these users are outside of china, considering TikTok is banned in the country. Instead, TikTok has developed a Chinese version of the app called Douyin for its citizens. Marketing north also shared that many advertisers find TikTok to be an appealing means it's free market for brands. 

So where does the ban come in?

Secretary of state Mike Pompeo said the U.S. is looking at banning the app because TikTok puts American users’ “private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party." Some senators have been taking it upon themselves to encourage staff to delete the app, like Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, who also introduced legislation against. Some companies, including Wells Fargo, have told their staffers to delete TikTok from their work phones in light of surveillance or espionage concerns. 

While many of the privacy policies are not out of the ordinary for social media platforms, the app's connection to China seems to be the most worrying for government officials. India is also in motion to ban TikTok for its data policies in connection to China.

I truly think that TikTok will not get banned but who am I to say. TikTok has been nothing but a good app for me. I love TikTok and I know all of my friends do too. It is a great app for when I am bored or whenever I need to know something about the world and the times that are going on. TikTok is like my news. I don't watch the news so the place I go to for information is TikTok. I think they shouldn't banned TikTok but at the end of the day, I am glad that I got the experience to know what TikTok is and I am grateful for this wonderful app.