I've been around long enough to remember the world BS.
In this case, BS refers to the era "before smartphones," although when it comes to 24/7 access to the internet and social media, I can forgive someone for thinking it's a reference to something else.
When the iPhone revolutionized communication, commerce, marketing and just about every other industry, there was a great deal of excitement for updates of every app, for the iPhone itself and for the introduction of new apps. It was like we were experiencing pure magic.
The technology was so new, every update brought mind-blowing new capabilities. Most everyone who'd become familiar with computers willingly consumed the smartphone society, and were willingly consumed by it. Social media turned smartphones into the most influential devices on the planet. Can an app, though, present a grave risk to national security?
That possibility is front and center in Washington, driven by the fact TikTok, a platform installed on the phones of 170 million Americans, is owned by a company based in Beijing, China. The app is particularly popular among those under 30 years old.
I'm not under 30. I don't use TikTok, largely because earlier adoption of social media platforms as they developed eventually wore me down. Facebook? Yes. Classmates.com? Sure. And remember MySpace, Six Degrees, Google+, Periscope, Meerkat? I'm still going on Twitter (now X), Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, NextDoor. I even tinkered with SnapChat. At some point, though, I asked myself how much more of the "next big thing" I really needed.
Apparently, I drew the line at TikTok. It just felt like keeping up was like trying to always be in the hottest nightclub in New York City. Just exhausting.
As a non-TikToker, I'm apparently among those most likely to freak out over China monitoring our kids and trying to influence them. There's apparently plenty of these types in Congress, too.
In Washington, lawmakers are talking about legislation to force TikTok's Beijing-based parent company ByteDance to sell the wildly popular social media app. TikTok is a U.S. company, but its roots in China stoke fears that the Chinese Communist Party can access Americans' data or to influence them, particularly with regard to elections.
What better way to infiltrate an enemy than by creating technology that makes them want to be infiltrated?
Proponents of the legislation say they want to wrest TikTok from foreign control. So far, it seems the concerns are based on fears, but not evidence of manipulative behaviors.
President Biden has said he would sign the TikTok bill if it passes Congress.
TikTok's young users are in revolt after the House of Representatives voted 352-65 in support of a ban on TikTok unless it's sold. The younger crowd is incredulous that TikTok is the issue apparently capable of uniting members of Congress. TikTok users suggested affordable housing, student debt, health care, gun violence and inflation might be better, more urgent matters for the nation's lawmakers.
Perhaps unintentionally fulfilling Washington's concerns, TikTok has used its platform, through pop-up messages, to encourage users to contact their lawmakers to oppose the legislation.
Some political analysts say lawmakers who thwart use of TikTok will forever lose the support of young Americans. That may not matter so much, since fewer than half of Americans under 29 plan to vote in 2024.
If TikTok is a national security threat, the grown-up decision is to put an end to it even if the "kids" complain. It's fair to wonder, though, whether social media in a broader context has an oversized capacity to manipulate users and whether that ought to be reigned in, too.
Greg Harton is editorial page editor for the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Contact him by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAGreg.
