BLUEPRINT the Congress’ TikTok obsession turns blind eye to real problems

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The BluePrint Staff Editorial

Facebook scams, Twitter’s censorship, Instagram identity theft - every social media platform has problems, but Congress chooses to drag out a national hearing and hyper focus on TikTok.

Over 150 million Americans, specifically teens, have found a platform where they feel most comfortable— TikTok. As a space where people can express themselves, many teens have gravitated towards TikTok as their main social media app, even using it as a news source of important issues such as gun violence and environmental petitions.

However, Congress members do not see this side of TikTok. Throughout the five-hour trial of Congress grilling TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, Congress talked about content young users are exposed to. With over 150 million Americans using the platform, it is hard for TikTok to take down every questionable video that is posted. Chew and TikTok workers cannot be expected to closely monitor all content. Congress is trying to make TikTok into an evil superpower, especially when it’s the same as other social media. Plus, there are many more pressing issues.

In the hearing, congressmen addressed the issues of children’s death in relation to social media and mental health. One of the congressmen was trying to get Chew to admit how many children have died because of TikTok. But it is convenient how Congress suddenly cares about the children in this context—when it politically benefits the government. But when it comes to mass shootings in school, no hearings or new legislation is needed.

All Congress sees in TikTok is a Chinese spy weapon due to its Chinese-owned parent company, ByteDance. Congress claims they are collecting important personal data like location tracking and wants to ban TikTok because of its origin. The worry of spyware is not invalid for China’s reputation with the U.S.

Although Congress’ concerns are valid, they should be directed evenly at all social media, and not just TikTok and its Asian leaders. Their lack of respect for Chew does not reflect well on the leadership of America. Congress attacked Chew and humiliated him, never giving him a chance to defend himself. Meanwhile, Chew kept his patience with Congress members and made an effort to effectively answer their questions, but no matter how he answered, it never seemed good enough.

This is not the first time that data privacy has been discussed in the U.S. In 2021, Mark Zuckerberg stood before the Senate to testify about Facebook’s data policy and how it is used. But unlike Zuckerberg’s trial, Congress was unprofessional and mocked Chew.

The focus on TikTok ignores the hundreds of apps and websites that do the same but are American owned. Platforms that ask users to “accept all cookies” don’t tell users what that means, and many young people do not know before just aimlessly accepting.

Or how about the apps that ask to use locations? One may click “do not accept,” but the app continuously hounds users and tells them they must turn on their location to get the best use out of the app. Couldn’t those be possible traps too? Yes, they very much are, but no one is looking at those.

Florida colleges are already feeling the effects of this. On April 6, Florida state universities put a TikTok ban on campuses so school WiFi and school-owned devices cannot access the app. This isn’t about data privacy, it’s about satisfying their base. For Gov. Ron DeSantis, college campuses are too liberal and this is just a convenient addition to his political agenda.

There are more important things in the world the U.S. should be worrying about instead of a social media platform. School shootings and gun safety should be higher on the priorities list than TikTok. The whole hearing was a waste of time for everyone involved. Congress is not truly afraid of TikTok. They are simply using it as a scapegoat to score political points.

Although most social media discussions focus on a teen’s self-esteem, depression and anxiety, the loss of attention span is another major effect. Social media posts take between 15 seconds to one minute to view, and for teens, paying attention longer than that is getting harder. Reports have pointed out that 50% of social media users find longer videos too “stressful.” This decrease in attention span can lead to an increase in stress, performance errors and academic setbacks.

Senior Grace Elliott has struggled with managing her social media use since she was in middle school. Elliott got her first phone in fifth grade, and after realizing many of her friends were getting social media, she decided to get it too. Soon, Elliott started noticing social media had become a big distraction for her, and it only worsened during lock-down.

“During COVID, I decided to stay remote. And that was the worst decision because I just chose to be on my phone during class. That got me behind a lot and I just couldn’t catch up.,” Elliott said. “I was online, but that was my only excuse. I was literally on my phone the entire time during class not listening to anyone.”

Eliott recently moved from Connecticut, so social media had become the only way to keep in contact with friends. She finds herself scrolling through various social media apps to stay in contact and often has trouble managing her phone usage.

“When everyone is using their little devices, I want to do it too and I feel like that started the

Elliott is hardly alone. Senior Grace White has also found herself on her phone constantly, keeping up with many contacts she started during the

“When I was in middle school, there was a lot of social media, but I wasn’t that into it until freshman year. That’s when I started following a ton of people back because I had a lot more classes and friends,” White said. “After COVID, it was keeping up with all of them. And then my [phone usage] just took off from there. Now I constantly look to scroll through anything to keep my mind going.”

White believes that her phone usage has to do with the little sparks of dopamine people experience when they hear a notification, see likes or comments from their peers.

“It just makes you have that momentary feeling of gratification,” White said. “That is why people keep going back to social media—they want to feel that momentary pleasure.”

White has noticed that she needs to constantly long texts for her psychology and macroeconomics classes, usually diverting her gaze towards her phone.

In the last few months, various social media platforms have adopted this short-video format, with Instagram introducing “reels” and Snapchat adding a

“We went from long videos from YouTube to YouTube shorts. Things are decreasing and now we’re just watching mere seconds of things before scrolling to the next thing. We can barely focus for long periods of time,” White said.

This reduction of attention is not exclusively set on school work. Sophomore Valeria Romero has found herself getting distracted even when watching videos or shows.

“I can’t really watch TV without pausing and wanting to go on my phone because my attention span just got so bad,” Romero said. “I’m on my phone out of nowhere.”

Senior Tiffany Odimegwu experiences similar problems with keeping focus, especially when there are tasks that she does not feel engaged by.

“When I am doing homework and studying things I don’t really want to do, I end up going on my phone more often and just scrolling to avoid doing the assignment,” Odimegwu said.

Although shortening attention spans have become common, staying focused is not a lost hope. These students have found several ways to deal with their social media distractions. Romero uses noisecanceling headphones and puts her phone in another room when doing homework, Odimegwu sets locks on her social media apps and Elliott makes sure she is active and productive throughout the day.

“I’ve done a seven-day social media fast,” White said. “It was really enlightening, because you realize how much we rely on [social media].”

For this social media break White deleted both Instagram and Snapchat as a challenge brought forth by her church. During those seven days White focused heavily on spending time with family, going outside more frequently, and doing school work. Although that break was fulfilling for her, she does not believe she could be capable of doing it again, especially with the amount of people she wants to keep in touch with.

“ I re-downloaded Snapchat since I use the app to keep up with friends, but I didn’t get Instagram back until two years later,” White said. “I liked the way I felt without [social media], I didn’t have to worry about how addicting it had become.”

These are not the only alternatives for students, other alternatives include turning off notifications, setting a phone usage schedule or even deleting apps completely.

“There are many ways students can start managing their screen time, the only thing they need is their own motivation,” Elliott said.

Is your attention

Check the boxes that apply to your experiences

I instantly reach my phone when I hear a notification

If I am doing work I find boring, I go on my phone for “breaks”

I spend hours scrolling through social media without noticing I have to reread instruction more than once

I find myself spacing out often when doing work

When watching movies or long videos, I have to be scrolling on my phone

0-1 box: Amazing! Can you help us?

2-3 boxes: Not great, but about average 4+boxes: Time for some time off that phone!

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