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American TikTokers managed to do something very few people in history have ever achieved this weekend: they were able to witness what people said about them at their own funeral.
When the U.S. ban went into effect on Sunday, Jan. 19, after a long, laborious legal battle, the world assumed that was it for American-made content on the app for good — or, at the very least, for a few weeks. As it turned out, Donald Trump turned the big TikTok switch in the White House back on before he was even inaugurated. The result was a ban that lasted a matter of hours.
And yet we didn’t realize it was going to be such a short goodbye, so there was an intense outpouring of emotion on both sides. American users flocked to other platforms like X to plead with their international friends to screenshare TikTok content with them so they could get their fix. But what about those left on TikTok itself? How did they react to those few hours without any U.S. users on the site? Well, in true TikTok style, the results were… varied, to say the least.
For starters, some paid homage to their fallen star-spangled brethren by keeping the American spirit alive.
On the other hand, some were ecstatic about the American exodus and celebrated by welcoming back the long-oppressed letter U.
Others treated it like a good ol’-fashioned looting spree and encouraged remaining TikTok users to steal American trends.
For some, though, the sudden loss of every U.S. user was traumatic. We’re so glad everyone was back on the app by bedtime otherwise this poor guy, who lost contact with his friends mid-stream, might’ve never slept again.
Meanwhile, one Brit took the opportunity to snack on some classic English cuisine free of scorn… Just nobody tell her the Americans are back so soon.
As Americans found when they were briefly cut off, it’s not just the videos that make TikTok, though, it’s the comments — and the replies during this strange Uncle Sam-less period were something to behold. Many were horrified and mourned their banned buddies. “Someone said it feels like thanos snapped his finger,” shared one, while another stressed, “This feels like an apocalypse and we were the only ones to survive.”
Some missed their ‘Murican moms and dads: “Having to go to rednote to see them makes me feel like a child of divorce visiting their dad on the weekends.” Or maybe the class clown: “This feels like they took the annoyingly loud kid out of class and we’re all just sitting quietly.”
And yet many seemed ready to adjust to this new, gentler TikTok. “Y’all notice how there’s no weird comments too,” one comment asked. “It feels like a secret gc away from the main one,” said another, suddenly feeling like a cool kid. “Why is it kinda peaceful,” admitted someone else. Others quickly went mad with power: “this app… is ours.”
Thankfully — or maybe, alas – this social media Snap didn’t last long and, just like at the end of Avengers: Endgame, the Americans came back in full force lickety-split. The U.S. TikTok ban — aka the Yank yank — will be reviewed in 90 days, so we might be back here before we know it. The U may still be freed, people, the U may still be freed!