The hashtag #SaveTikTok is trending on Twitter, giving TikTok users a chance to show appreciation for the app and its unique brand of entertainment. The origins of the hashtag come from growing concerns about the app being banned in the US, but an unexpected twist pushed the idea into the trending topics list when TikTok suffered an incredibly ill-timed outage. Experiencing both a threat to the platform’s existence in the US, followed immediately by a glimpse of life without it has fans rallying to show their appreciation.
That’s a lot of emotion to have about an app, but TikTok is such a unique thing that it can’t truly be replaced. Vine, the now-defunct, short-form video platform many would argue walked so that TikTok could run, shut down years ago and internet culture still references the jokes and memes it spawned. Vine compilation videos do six-figure view counts on YouTube, which is part of why TikTok’s propensity for short videos with clever, relatable comedy has helped that platform reach two billion downloads.
TikTok has its share of nonsense that may even be harmful, but there are TikTokers who post genuinely creative content that can’t really be replicated anywhere else. The platform’s mix of unique sharing tools like Duets, its brilliant use of licensed music, and its duration limitations mean without TikTok, this creative outlet essentially dies. The hashtag created a collective community appreciation moment that became an instance of mass panic once the platform’s servers went down, though. Many users quickly assumed that the US government’s potential TikTok ban had suddenly taken effect, and the name #SaveTikTok took on an entirely different tone. Now that service seems to be back to normal, the conversation around the hashtag has already begun to shift toward jokes about the panic.
Why TikTok Users Fear the Platform Will Go Away
If TikTok does get banned in the US, it won’t happen today, at least. Recent comments from the Trump administration and the president himself have exacerbated fears that America could ban the app. While it was difficult to imagine Twitter being shut down after all the times Trump threatened that platform, TikTok has already been banned in India, which was its largest market. The multi-faceted conflict between the US and China is real and while it’s debatable how important TikTok’s success is to the Chinese government, we know with certainty how significant the US is to the app itself. If Trump is able to stir up enough of an anti-China movement, he stands to gain a major political advantage in the 2020 election. For now, TikTok’s survival in the US might truly be decided over a political campaign.
