Devotees of TikTok protest passage of House bill that would ban the popular video app if its China-based owner doesn’t sell it to a U.S. company.
Two years ago, I decided to start a social media account with a medical school classmate to answer common questions we got from our patients. “Is my back pain from kidney disease? Should I worry about my cold lasting more than a week?” Our patients were finding medical information websites like WebMD more confusing and anxiety-provoking, often needlessly spending hours in waiting rooms to see us.
TikTok quickly became our platform of choice. It was by far the easiest to record, edit and share our content. The video format enabled us to talk to people as we often do to our patients, rather than condense complex information into texts or pictures. On TikTok, we felt we could be our authentic selves rather than idealized versions while having the most impact; more people watched our videos and followed us on the platform than on YouTube, Instagram or Facebook — combined.
When I heard that the House had passed legislation a few weeks ago that could potentially ban TikTok, it surprised me that my immediate reaction was not anger like many content creators and users but rather deep ambivalence.
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I know firsthand that TikTok is an effective way for people to amplify their voices. Although TikTok started in 2016 as........