U.S. TikTok Fans Celebrate App’s Return, Hoping for the ‘Magic’ to Reignite

For the first time in five years, millions of TikTok users in the United States received a surprise notification on Saturday night that their favorite app had been shut down and banned.

Following the announcement by President-elect Donald Trump, who assumes office on Monday, that he would restore U.S. access, the restriction was lifted on Sunday after less than twenty-four hours.

However, since TikTok has captured the attention of over half of all Americans, many users had already begun to think about life without it by the time the app went back online.

Upon their return, some users took to social networking platform X to praise Trump or share heartfelt farewells in response to the sudden shutdown. Some wondered if the TikTok experience would ever be the same again.

“We’ve returned, but at what price?” On the platform, one person pondered.

Trump’s decision to save ByteDance-owned TikTok is a reversal of his first term in office.

He sought to outlaw the short-video app in 2020 due to worries that the business might provide the Chinese government access to Americans’ private information.

Trump has recently claimed to have “a warm spot in my heart for TikTok,” attributing his success in the 2024 election to the app’s role in attracting younger people.

Late on Saturday, TikTok ceased operations for American users, and on Sunday, a statute that shut it down for national security reasons went into effect.

In order to reach an agreement to safeguard our national security, Trump promised to “extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect.”

On his Truth Social platform, he posted, “I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture.”

Despite their relief, some users question whether the TikTok experience would ultimately change as a result of the company’s ownership structure change.

“I recall how Elon’s acquisition of Twitter fundamentally changed public opinion and user behavior on the platform.

“So that gives me a lot of concern,” said Kelly Sites, 38, referring to billionaire Elon Musk’s purchase of the social media site now known as X.

“I don’t want the magic of the algorithm to change,” said Sites, a part-time content creator based in Kansas City, Kansas.

The algorithms TikTok relies on for its operations are deemed core to the overall operations of ByteDance, which would make a sale of the app with algorithms highly unlikely, Reuters reported in April.

Even if there are still concerns about TikTok’s future, some users, especially those who make a career off of it, complain that their faith in the government will never be the same.

“I think that this is a very sad time in history,” said Richard “Chuck” Fasulo, 37, a mechanic and auto-influencer from Duchess County, New York.

Fasulo told Reuters that the app helped him dig his way out of debt, more than double his income and take his family on vacation for the first time last summer.

It was unpleasant to face the possibility of losing the business potential the app offered.

“I think that myself, like many others, have gained a lot of disdain for the U.S. government,” said Fasulo, who has about 400,000 followers.

For others, however, relief is the important thing, no matter its source.

“I would choose a political stunt over losing TikTok forever,” Charlotte Warren, 31, a dating and relationships content creator based in Austin, Texas, told Reuters.

Without TikTok, she said she could lose up to 60,000 dollars in annual income, over 200,000 followers and was unsure if she would continue posting content to other platforms.

“I just wanted my app back.”