This graphic image shows a “t” for the TikTok app, being crossed out, resembling the ban. The app TikTok was banned from January 18th to January 19th, and is currently not available for download on the App Store. (Graphic Illustration by: Shae Killam)

Sophomore Abigail Weiner opened the TikTok app Saturday, Jan. 18 to save her drafts, when she received a message: the app would no longer be accessible. 

According to a CNN article, the Supreme Court originally set TikTok to be banned Jan. 19, but the app shut down Jan. 18, instead. When opening the app, viewers would see a message that read: “A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can not use the app for now.” However, the ban did not last long, as TikTok was available again the following day; the app was effectively banned for approximately 12 hours for all users in the United States.

While TikTok is now back for users, it is not available for download in the App Store, and will remain that way until further notice.

Weiner, a TikTok user since 2019, said she was initially devastated to hear about the ban, mostly because of all the memories she made on the app would be lost. She said that she used TikTok to remember important events in her life. 

“I feel like I’ve really grown up making videos with my friends and making videos at my Bat Mitzvah and each birthday, and I’ve just had so many memories on TikTok. Something that I like to do with my grandfather, is on Thanksgiving, when he comes over, I’ll teach him a dance [and] we’ll film TikToks together,” Weiner said. “I’ve just filmed so many videos and made so many memories. To think that I was going to lose all those memories on that platform, and I was not gonna be able to film another video.” 

In addition to the disappointment of losing her drafts, Weiner also said that she was sad to lose TikTok because it had become a major part of her day-to-day life. Weiner said she has always preferred TikTok to the other social media platforms because she feels it is more casual and a better platform to express oneself on. 

“I think Instagram is more for formal pictures, but on TikTok, you get to express yourself a little bit more through different audios with effects, and there’s so many opportunities for different things to post, like cooking videos [or] dancing lip syncs,” Weiner said. “There’s just so many trends that are created on that app that you cannot just find anywhere else.” 

Clara Cottrell (‘27) also said she feels TikTok has become an integral part of her daily routine. On average, she said she spent five hours a day on the TikTok app, but following the short-lived ban, her screen time decreased.

“TikTok was my main form of entertainment, since I’m not into TV or movies. It really provided me a lot of comfort when I was upset. [Going on TikTok] and seeing relatable videos to how I was feeling really helped me feel not alone,” Cottrell said. “TikTok really just provides a big community … I see videos of people across the United States, where without Tiktok, I would have never seen their face. I feel it really brings everybody together, and it really united the United States.”

While TikTok is still Cottrell’s main entertainment, Dakota Tooley (’26) said she deleted the app because she felt it did diminished her productivity and work ethic.

“I try to just finish all my work honestly, because I feel like with TikTok, I procrastinated a lot, so now I try to do my work, or read,” Tooley said.

The message notifying them that the app was going down read, “we are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!”

By crediting of the app’s restoration to the soon to be president, Cottrell said that she believes President Trump used TikTok as a political tool. 

“Trump is the person who initially wanted the Tiktok ban, but then he was saying that Chinese spies were spying on us, yet he used Tiktok. And he wasn’t being a good role model to get off TikTok by using TikTok as a way to gain voters from kids,” Cottrell said. “I feel that he used TikTok and saving Tiktok as a way to boost popularity and as a way to make the younger people like him, which I feel is not okay.”

Weiner also called the message out for using TikTok as a way to boost Trump’s popularity among young voters, which she said he has a hard time gaining the popularity of. 

“Youth hasn’t been won by the Republican Party, but this year, I think a lot of the election was advertised by TikTok, and I think that was what helped Trump win the election this year,” Weiner said. “And I think by him bringing TikTok back, it is securing more of a popular youth, more youth that support him more.”