In one day, I've become a 71 year-old TikTok addict

This isn't a cry for help, even though I'm addicted.

To TikTok, the video-sharing service that has aroused Trump's ire -- which led me to download the iPhone app this morning, in part because my default position is that whatever our Idiot-in-Chief is against, I'm for, since Trump is almost always wrong.

Last Thursday Trump signed an executive order aimed at TikTok. 

In the order, which takes effect in 45 days, any transactions between TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, and U.S. citizens will be outlawed for national security reasons.

In practice, experts told NPR the order likely will mean the viral video service could no longer receive advertising from American companies and the app could be removed from Apple and Google's app stores.

For the more than 100 million Americans who have downloaded TikTok, experts say the app may no longer be sent software updates, rendering TikTok unmanageable, and eventually nonfunctional, with time.

Sure seems like a dumb political move to threaten to take away an app that 100 million Americans have downloaded about three months before the November election. So I'm happy that unless Trump reverses course, the TikTok faithful, which now includes me, will unleash their righteous rage on an already unpopular president.

Reportedly TikTok collects the same sort of data Facebook and Google do, including location data and Internet search history. So what's the big deal?

There's no evidence TikTok is sharing that data with the Chinese government.

And even if it was, after spending a lot of time with TikTok today as my addiction quickly took hold, my attitude is that if the price I have to pay for seeing amazingly creative, funny, and entertaining short videos is having the Chinese government know that I'm a guy in Oregon who is a news junkie, I'll pay that price!

I heartily recommend downloading the TikTok app and giving it a try. I knew that my 13-year-old granddaughter liked TikTok, so I had the erroneous impression that it was geared toward young people. 

Which, I guess, it is.

But the never-ending stream of videos that you get after indicating what sort of things you're interested in is absolutely ageless. I kept showing my wife the newest must-see video that caught my eye, mostly of animals and their humans doing humorous stuff.

I haven't made a TikTok video yet, though likely this is just a matter of time.

It's clear that to really wow people with your video it helps to understand the editing options available via TikTok. But some videos are as simple as someone pointing their smartphone at something interesting and pressing record.

If you don't want to download an iPhone or Android app, TikTok has a web site. But I found that the videos are more appealing on my iPhone, maybe because it is so easy to just swipe up and see the next TikTok offering.

The sensation I got from watching TikTok videos was pleasant in a variety of ways. It felt good to get glimpses of so many lives, both human and animal. Most videos possess a simple joy that lifted my spirit in these COVID times. And the creativity/talent of TikTok users made me feel positive about our country's future, in a rather strange way.

So much more brings us together than drives us apart.

Like laughing at a video of a dog wanting to walk up the last few steps of a staircase to join its owner, but temporarily paralyzed by the sight of Cat of the House lying on the landing. Cajoled by the owner, the dog finally backed its way up those final steps, until it could sit side-by-side with the cat. 

Then it quickly turned toward the owner, which made the cat instantly reach out with its paw and take a swipe at the dog. This must be a recurring drama between the cat and dog, but it made a dramatic mini-video.

Anyway, it's good to see that TikTok plans to sue the Trump administration over the ban, perhaps as soon as next Tuesday. Like most things Trump does, likely the ban has little or no basis in facts and the law. Hopefully TikTok will prevail, so my addiction can blossom more fully.

Comments

[Skyline]

Maybe President Trump should tell liberals that they should avoid jumping off of the top of the Empire State Building.
What would you do then???
:-)
xoxoxoxoxo