The 17% who report using TikTok as a way to get their news, as listed in this Pew Research poll,  is generally upsetting and concerning. That doesn’t rule out TikTok as an acceptable social and multimedia way to get the news. Still, I do have a problem with this way of getting the news, yes most news publications like the Washington Post the New York Times/post Fox News CNN MSNBC ABC NBC CBS etc. are regularly known to pull their views into their news that doesn’t mean that TikTok is immune to this. I’d even call the people on TikTok a victim of said news publications and the news audience. Why did any of this start? I couldn’t tell you if I tried. The most upsetting thing about this is that because media-based news has a tight grip on the industry, most physical news publications have effectively “died.” A once flourishing industry little more than 50 years ago is now subjected to news-stands of 7/11s and grocery stores.

IS THERE ANYWAY TO STOP THIS: Unfortunately, there’s not, unless 16-year-olds start asking for copies of the Washington Post for Christmas or birthdays then it’s going to continue to be a dying industry. People will continue to digest news from TikTok as long as there is news to go around (usually every day, in case you haven’t noticed). TikTok has even become actual news more than the actual news, which is what I’ve wanted for the last 2 years and while the occasional non-news thing like a squirrel or a new lion cub being born is acceptable, sure not every other 20 minutes. An example: Walter Cronkite who was once called the most trusted man in America throughout his entire career would have preferred TikTok over the actual news, though I think he would have even more preferred… a physical newspaper or hearing it mouth-to-mouth.

CONCLUSION: TikTok is preferred (sadly) just for the simplicity and quickness of it.