By Zoey White
As many may know, the app that is in trend right now is Tik Tok. Tik Tok is an app where people of all ages can make comedic, heartfelt, informing videos for the whole world to see. The app is created by ByteDance, which is a company based in China. Out of concerns the China-based company was a security threat, on August 6th, President Trump signed an executive order for the company to sell the app in 45 days before it is banned in the country.
Here at Ukiah High, two Wildcats who have developed a significant Tik Tok following could lose their Tik Tok success if President Trump successfully bans the app. UHS News spoke with two of Wildcat Nation’s Tik Tok-ers about the potential shutdown of their platforms.
Ukiah High Sophomore Jadyn Diaz has a significant following on Tik Tok with over 28,000 followers. Diaz’s following blew up on December 21, 2019, and has grown ever since. Diaz’s highest viewed video has over 4.5 million views and over 750,000 likes. Diaz’s other videos also have over 20,000 likes. Diaz’s combined likes in total 792,000. With President Trump’s talk of shutting down the app, Diaz is concerned she won’t be able to regain her following on other apps.
Our other Wildcat that has a big following is incoming freshman McKenna Bird. Bird has grown over these few months on Tik Tok, just recently starting on June 5, 2020. She has over 17,000 followers and her account grows daily. Bird’s highest viewed video is 79.9K views and over 15,000 likes. Bird’s videos average 1,000 to 2,000 likes/video.
UHS News reached out to these Tik Tokers about the potential the platform they have gained a significant following on could shut down. Diaz said, “Tik Tok is a way for me to have fun, and although I am extremely thankful for all my followers, my follower count isn’t my biggest concern. Speaking to the possibility that President Trump could shut down Tik Tok, Diaz said, “If Trump did ban Tik Tok, I wouldn’t be super upset to lose my followers, but I would be upset to lose my opportunity to have fun and show a bit of my personality in a creative way. Diaz predicted that “that Trump won’t follow through with his plan because the platform has immensely impacted our generation, and he probably would lose a lot of his supporters.”
McKenna Bird said “ I am not too concerned about Trump banning Tik Tok because in the end it’s just an app and it’s something that I can do for fun. But, it would be kind of disappointing at the same time because it’s a way I can express myself.” She also predicted that President Trump would not ban Tik Tok because “there have been other times where Trump said he was banning the app and he didn’t follow through with his plan.”
