We all have that one social media app that we were once obsessed with and couldn’t fathom living without—until one day, it suddenly stopped working.
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Millennials may fondly remember the nostalgic MySpace, which launched in 2003 and reached peak popularity from 2005 to 2008. Unfortunately, the app eventually died off due to its inability to keep up with trends and failure to compete against emerging social media platforms like Facebook, as it lacked user experience knowledge.
The younger generations may also remember the beloved Vine, an American short-form video app founded in 2012. Only a few months later, it was bought by Twitter, now known as X, which eventually led to the app’s unfortunate shutdown in 2017.
Related: US states accuse TikTok of targeting children in disturbing lawsuit
Although there may have been a few unsuccessful social media platforms that reached their expiration date, others managed to keep the hype and popularity going by constantly updating their software to adapt to users’ wants and needs. These include YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and X, which continue to gain users and stay relevant.
However, no one expected a social media monster to skyrocket in popularity during one of the most devastating pandemics of all time, growing faster and gaining users quicker than any others before.
Three teenage boys looks at their smartphone screens.
TikTok goes viral and gains millions of users across the U.S.
TikTok is a short-form video app owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. Despite being created in 2016, it quickly rose to popularity after merging with Musical.ly, which expanded its presence internationally. By 2018, it had become one of the most downloaded apps in the U.S.
Related: TikTok to get its viral 15 minutes in ban trial
Maybe it was due to the COVID-19 pandemic or people’s desire for a new and innovative social media platform. Nonetheless, its highly personalized algorithm, its short-form content that allows for easy engagement, and its ability for virality definitely contributed to this app’s immense worldwide success.
Other prominent social media apps in the U.S. have tried adding video features similar to those on TikTok, but none have yet to achieve its popularity.
TikTok faces a potential ban due to a national security threat
In 2020, President Donald Trump proposed the first ban on TikTok in the U.S., claiming that it posed a threat to national security. Since then, the U.S. government has had an ongoing feud with ByteDance, signing multiple proposals and laws into action in hopes of banishing TikTok nationwide.
In April, then-President Joe Biden signed legislation requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok to a U.S. company or else the app would be shut down by Jan. 19.
On Jan. 18, hours before the ban was supposed to go into effect, millions of TikTok users across the U.S. lost access to the app and instead were presented with a message that read, “A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S.”
However, only a few hours later, TikTok restored its service in the U.S., allowing its users to access the app once again and now featuring a message that read, “As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!”
Instagram announces the development of a new editing app
Most people were aware of TikTok’s potential U.S. ban. However, most were incredibly shocked to find out that CapCut had also gone completely dark, restricting access to U.S. users.
CapCut is a free video editing software, also owned by ByteDance. It allows users to easily edit videos and post them directly to other social media platforms.
Although it might have been an unexpected surprise to some, the Meta-owned social media platform Instagram (META) was well aware of CapCut’s potential ban inclusion because on Jan. 19, the same day the TikTok ban was to go into effect, it announced the release of its new video editing app, Edits.
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According to Instagram head Adam Mosseri, Edits is a “full suite of creative tools” for those passionate about making videos on their phones. It aims to become the main editing app for sharing, as it has a higher-quality camera and integrates artificial intelligence to make editing easier through auto-generated captions, filters, animations, overlays, text, music, sound, voice-overs, and more.
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Edits is set to be released in February but has been exclusively available for pre-order download on the iOS App Store since Sunday, and will soon become available to Android users.
“There’s a lot going on right now, but no matter what happens, it’s our job to provide the best possible tools for creators,” said Mosseri.
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