The days of endlessly scrolling on TikTok for too much time and hours that are spent trying to learn the newest dance might soon come to end. Recently, Alabama’s Auburn University aligned with their Governor, Kay Ivey, who put a ban on TikTok for all government agencies and networks. The University followed with the Governor by banning TikTok for both students and faculty on the college campus. It’s possible that this nightmare can start a domino effect with many other states and colleges doing the same for what they are calling “protection” and “privacy.” Congress has even tossed around the idea of banning the app in the US altogether, due to the government’s concerns about the possible security risk that TikTok poses to its users.Â
Auburn University, the University of Oklahoma, Northeastern State University, and the University System of Georgia are just the start of the TikTok ban on college campuses. No student or employee of the school can access the app or website on any university equipment, with some colleges even including the wifi. Tiktok is popular among college students and this change is gonna be huge. In addition, colleges have been using TikTok more recently to reach new and potential students. This action will cause conversation between Gen Z and the adults who maybe don’t understand the attachment that has been built to the platform and the community built between users.Â
Wait… How Can Colleges Even Do This?
You’re probably wondering how colleges can do this. Well, certain institutions can block and ban TikTok on their campus by blocking the website from their wifi, which means that trying to gain access to the app or website will be denied. This is a pretty new development, which means that many college students may have to shift to finding a new way to use other social media in place of TikTok. Not to be dramatic, but this feels like a heartbreak— many of us used TikTok to connect and cope throughout the pandemic, which makes it even harder to let go of the app. Â
College students make up a big chunk of TikTok users with many of us using the app for more than just fun, like as a search engine, a helpful tool for school, and a way to connect to people with similar interests. There is also a large group of creators who make a living from the video app, many of which are college students themselves.
With harsher bans on TikTok looming, I think that this calls for getting creative and finding a new app to spend hours scrolling through, for now at least. Maybe it’s time to go beast mode and make as many TikToks as you can and enjoy the memory while it lasts. Is this how millennials feel about MySpace?