I’m a Mom and I’m Upset About the TikTok Ban

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I’ll admit it, when I first heard about TikTok in early 2020, I thought it was a stupid app for tweens and teens who were doing trendy dancing videos. If you’ve ever met me, you know I can’t dance to save my life, so i had no intentions of downloading the app.

Fast forward a few months, a few of my mom friends had joined TikTok, and were telling me the good they found it in – mom tips, recipes, book recommendations, and more. After some convincing, I finally downloaded the app in November of 2020. The algorithm quickly figured out my interests, and the rest is history.

I’m not trying to be dramatic, but over the last four years, TikTok changed my life. I was shown the surface level things that everyone gets – cute animal videos, recipes, TV and movie recommendations, and of course the trendy dance videos. But I also quickly found myself watching videos that truly taught me new things, and challenged my ways of thinking.

I will forever be grateful to those creators of different races, nationalities, and social situations, taking the time to share their experiences in a way that really made me think about my actions, and how I interact in the world. From Indigenous creators, to formally incarcerated people, the LGBTQIA+ community, to immigrants, I have learned so, so much.

BookTalk gave me permission to read “smutty” books, and helped me fall in love with reading again. (And let’s be real, spiced up my relationship with my husband *wink wink*.)

MomTalk helped me figure out that I’m not alone in my child’s struggles, and gave me tips and tricks to try when things got tough. I can only imagine the community TikTok has given to new parents – something I wish I had when I was in the throws of poopy diapers and sleep deprivation.

I found a community of women diagnosed with ADHD as adults, and saw myself in them. Through that, I found that my “weird” habits, and ways of thinking aren’t weird at all, but just a different wiring of the brain. I’ve implemented systems that have helped my life immensely, that I probably would never have learned about if not for TikTok, because girls and women are severely under-diagnosed.

CBMC contributor Jenn also found out she has ADHD through TikTok!

I could go on and on about the good that TikTok has done for my life. I’ve been on some sort of social media for almost 20 years, and TikTok was the first that truly had a big impact on my life in more ways than just finding community. I know it sound silly, but I am truly saddened by the thought of it going away.

If you use TikTok, what are your thoughts on the ban? If you have any BookTalk recommendations, send them my way!

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