I have stayed away from TikTok but people I respect, older people, btw, have told me that it has a very interesting algorithm that naturally wraps itself around your tastes. So if you like dancing teenagers, that's what you'll get. Also, as I understrand it, you don't have to "Like" them, all you have to do is keep watching them.

I suspect the reverse is true.

Maybe you like cooking. I've been told it's a great platform for that.

The appeal is that it is quick and easy.

There are even BookTokers, so it doesn't seem quite fair to say that TikTok is a big death star on reading.

When I was young, people bemoaned all the TV that people watched. Hours per day.

That was a legitimate concern, and the hours spent staring at the phone is, too. But I don't think the problem rests on one app.

What about Twitch and other streamers that show people dancing or just chatting endlessly about themselves?

As for the China link- maybe yes, maybe no.

I don't trust anything Trump says, for obvious reasons.