- The Supreme Court upheld the deadline for a TikTok sale to a US company by January 19.
- TikTok users are mourning the potential app shutdown, sharing memories and viral moments.
- Reactions to TikTok’s fate have been spreading as users bid farewell.
Content creators and their audiences are sharing their disappointment that the Supreme Court has decided to uphold a January 19 deadline for TikTok to be sold to a US company or banned in the US.
Memes about TikTok’s looming Sunday shutdown haven’t stopped since the US government cranked up the heat on the platform, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, due to concerns about whether the app threatens national security. Without an extension to the deadline, the beloved short-form video app will be removed from app stores and likely face a full shutdown in the US.
The reality of the Supreme Court’s ruling is setting in for American TikToker users who had held out hope for a different resolution.
Offline, flyers for its unofficial funeral were posted in New York City for a “celebration of life” on Sunday.
Online, users are sharing the first viral moments they ever saved, participating in old trends “one last time,” and wishing each other well on new platforms.
Some say they’re getting in their last “doom scrolls” before the app potentially goes away for good.
“These last few days on TikTok have felt like the end of school,” one creator said, like “signing yearbooks and just goofing off.”
When the tiktok ban goes through my wife is gonna need a new hobby
— h index enjoyer (@BigwetRealism) January 17, 2025
TikTok probably won’t disappear from phones in the US immediately on Sunday. It won’t be able to update the app anymore, but it’s unclear if it will be fully shut down.
On X, a user reshared a video of a crying and dancing woman. The video has been a viral meme on TikTok for a while; they used it to illustrate TikTokers’ reactions to Friday’s ruling.
On TikTok itself, videos to the tunes of “American Pie” by Don McLean and “Good Riddance” by Green Day show compilations of users’ favorite moments.
Some users say that their “For You” page is taking them down memory lane with nostalgic sounds, dances, and some of the most talked-about moments.
“How am I going to share my reactions to the unhinged Mafia romance books I read?” user rachelsreading.rambles said on TikTok in a post captioned, “If I don’t laugh I will definitely cry.”
Another TikToker, kailebrodersen, said, “I have had to hold back tears because TikTok is my main source of income” and expressed anger at the US shutdown, saying TikTok “showed us the American Dream.”
Users have been flocking to alternative short-form video platforms, like China-based RedNote, to try to replace the app, but it’s unclear whether RedNote, YouTube, Instagram, or other apps will eventually act as alternatives to TikTok.
But for now, it looks like the era of TikTok is truly coming to an end in the US.
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