When the TikTok ban went into effect on Jan. 19, blocking app service to American users, I was excited. Not because I enjoy being a contrarian — in fact, I like a lot of Taylor Swift’s music — but because I believe TikTok is setting our generation back.

Putting the issue of national security aside, a topic that deserves an entire column in and of itself, I have a few qualms with the app from personal experience. To me, TikTok is reminiscent of pandemic escapism, a time when the inability to socialize in public was replaced by seemingly never-ending free time. And it serves as just that: a time waste and a distraction from real-world interaction and community building.

First of all, I despise how humor is becoming increasingly referential. Instead of creative jokes, young adults are relying more and more on joke trends, which follow a pre-existing format to farm cheap laughs (and clicks). While there are certainly novel creators getting their start through cultivating channels of loyal viewers whom I commend, I can’t help but feel that overall, TikTok homogenizes humor in a way that reduces independent thought. A formative part of my adolescence was coming up with little inside jokes with my friends and using my imagination. I worry that the replacement of entertainment with video content at early ages will completely stifle youthful creativity and independent thought.

And it’s not just humor that has become standardized; the micro-trends circulating TikTok make everyone dress the same as well as talk the same. Ultimately,........

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