“Renegade, renegade.” It’s a popular dance on the app TikTok, an entertainment platform that hooks its user with short, 60-second original videos. According to The New York Times. TikTok has 18 million users aged 14 and under and 20 million users over 14. 

For the past few months, Donald Trump has tried to ban TikTok and remove it from app stores. In an article by Brookings, one of the reasons Trump tried to ban TikTok is due to national security concerns.

”I would be disappointed for a few days since I’ve been on it for so long, but eventually, I just wouldn’t care,” freshman Kyle Lee said. 

Ever since Covid-19 started, a lot of kids have been bored and needed something to do. Social media helps with that since most utilize TikTok on their phones. Students are now relying on TikTok to pass time and are using it for multiple hours a day. 

“I no longer use TikTok but I used to spend about six to seven hours a day on it,” freshman Dani Do said. 

Do has since deleted TikTok because of how much time she spent on it. 

TikTok has a variety of features that help draw in an audience. It allows users to create videos and view content that others have made.

“Personally, I think the pros of TikTok are being able to easily get a hold of new things that are happening in our world, another one being that we can be inspired by people’s posts,” Do said. “Another thing is we can see what our friends are up to.” 

TikTok also has downsides. As stated in Cyberbullying.org parents are concerned about the profanity on TikTok, and many teens on the app act in very sexually suggestive ways.

“Seeing attractive people makes me self conscious about my looks. Also seeing relationships on TikTok, makes me feel lonely,” Lee said. 

According to BBC.com, TikTok is being forced to sell itself to an American company or it will be banned. If TikTok were to be banned, students have other social media options.  

“If Tiktok were banned, I’d use Instagram and Snapchat,” Do said.