Erasing TikTok from Existence

The initial goal of social media was to facilitate communication and connect people in different parts of the world. It was a wonderful goal because it gave people the ability to interact with others whom they could not get to know under normal circumstances, like if not for Myspace, I would not have been introduced to metal music and would not have gotten to listen to bands that I still listen to this day as well as to interact other people that shares the same passion for music. And I know to this day, connecting people still remains one of the uses of social media, but it has become a cesspool of misinformation and toxic behavior that constantly promotes division among people. Add to the fact that social media platforms have consistently harvested our personal information, but like they say, *"if something you use is free, you are probably the product"*. Anyway, if I had the power to erase one social media platform to the point that no one can use it any longer, I would say my first choice would be TikTok, even though I never really use it. For those who don't know, TikTok is a social media platform for short-form content videos as its main feature, and while they are not the only platform with this kind of content, they are by far the biggest and are also one of the reasons why I do not like them. You see, there are studies that suggest how short-form content may have contributed to the declining attention span of its consumers. Maybe not when it's consumed in moderation, but when you are a platform whose bread and butter is short-form content, any semblance of moderation from its users was mostly nonexistent. And with shorter attention spans, people's ability to focus on things was reduced, making it harder for people to learn things and retain information. But despite its negative effects, people at the TikTok Headquarters do not care about it, as long as they can load their pockets with cash. Also, it seems like moderation has been very nonexistent on this platform. As I said earlier, misinformation and toxic behavior have been rampant on all of these social media sites, but the same goes for inappropriate content, such as violence, sexual posts, and sometimes, illegal activities on the platform where [25% of its users are said to be below the age of 18](https://www.dreamgrow.com/tiktok-statistics/#:~:text=TikTok%20user%20demographics,is%20overwhelmingly%20driven%20by%20mobile.). But occasionally, you will also see dangerous challenges in Tiktok goes trending on Tiktok like the [Dusting Challenge](https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-girl-19-dies-after-trying-viral-dusting-challenge-all-about-this-deadly-social-media-trend-8611317) that resulted to the death of a 19 year old girl or the 11-year old kid that was fatally shot after doing the [Ding Dong Ditch](https://edition.cnn.com/2025/09/04/us/ding-dong-ditch-shooting-texas#:~:text=A%20vivacious%2011%2Dyear%2Dold,is%20charged%20in%20his%20death&text=Mourners%20created%20a%20makeshift%20memorial,a%20doorbell%20prank%20in%20Houston.) prank that he saw on TikTok. If it is a super-niche video, one can argue that it will be difficult for the platform moderators to remove the content. But no! These were viral trends on TikTok, so what are the moderators doing, and what are the steps they are taking to stop these dangerous trends from happening? Basically nothing, and why would they? Everything that goes viral is good for their numbers.

^{[Pexels](https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-using-laptop-computer-during-daytime-196655/)}