The TikTok Revolution

And the Death of Democracy

The original Red Book brought back from China in 1973 when my father was one of the first journalists to visit communist China.

A hundred years ago, when I was a lowly assistant circulation manager for Prevention magazine, I used to get mail — real mail with stamps — from readers begging us to put “regular people” on the covers and inside the magazine. I would take the message to the editor and publisher and get a laugh and snort. Both men didn’t really like our readers and would make fun of them at meetings. They cared more about selling ads, and advertisers wanted pretty pictures of pretty women. And to be fair, weight loss was always our best-selling cover line, and showing skinny, pretty women helped to inspire sales of a promise that was often unrealistic. That was in the late 1980s, and there is no question that now we are all fatter than ever.

Then along came Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Suddenly, there were no gatekeepers preventing real people from putting themselves out there. But Facebook, who purchased Instagram, quickly became a place of division and danger. Let’s be clear: Facebook didn’t create more racism, bullying, and propaganda; it just made it more visible to more people. The disgusting sexism and bigotry I see on Facebook from public high school friends were exactly the things they said around the keg at backwoods parties in 10th grade. And the toxic masculinity I see now I also often saw in the halls of Men’s Health Magazine. Not much has changed.

Twitter, at first, was a revelation. Instantaneous breaking news from around the world. Direct connections with scientists and journalists. Strangers helping strangers. But then the bots arrived. And while the platform was better than Facebook for learning and connecting, it wasn’t profitable and needed to be sold. The process of selling to Elon Musk was not a happy one for either party, and the vibe changed quickly, and not for the better. (My son-in-law worked at Twitter when Elon bought it, so I will limit my insights. But just know I have them, and they are true.)

Then I discovered TikTok, which many people loved to disdain and disparage. Half the time, it was because they couldn’t stop watching it once they got on. And half because they were afraid to get on it in the first place. I am, at my core, an explorer, so I went. And there they were! All the regular people in all their weird glory. Lots of talking in cars, reporting from bed while lying down, dancing in messy kitchens. Nerds, the “neuro-spicy,” the artists, the sex workers, ex-evangelicals, the weirdos like me. People of color share their feelings and fears. Women connect and realize that they are not alone in their frustrations with men. Men connect and share their vulnerabilities. Gardeners share tips and techniques! The advertising was clearly marked and easily skippable. Sure, there was lots of junk and probably lots of propaganda. But it also became a place of learning — learning how to discern truth from lies. Suddenly, the things I had thought that I was alone in thinking had thousands of likes. Sometimes, hundreds of thousands of likes. I was able to watch breaking news and protests around the world before the mainstream news reported it in sanitized snippets. We were on the front lines in Ukraine, Gaza, and Iran. In Asheville for the floods. In LA for the fires. The truth slipped out before governments could squash it.

And now our government is squashing it here. The TikTok ban was slipped through the government attached to a foreign aid bill to Ukraine and Israel. It was supported by a group of male politicians who a) have never been on TikTok or any social media themselves and b) were funded by lobbying groups in whose interest (Zionism) it was to ban the fastest growing means of people around the world to communicate to each other unfiltered. They blamed it on China (even though it was disconnected from Chinese management). They blamed it on harming children (even though most children are harmed by the adults in their own homes and guns at school).

TikTok is not perfect. And TikTok probably had a lot of negative influence in our recent elections. But so did Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The problem is not the platform but the way ALL the platforms enable misuse. I do not believe in censorship. But I do believe in responsible ownership. As we are on the eve of the shutdown and the inauguration, where Zuckerberg, Musk, Bezos, Cook, and even the CEO of TikTok will be sitting right up front in their warm, cozy seats, I’m here to report from the front lines that a revolution is beginning.

The complete irony is that instead of TikTok users going back to the old platforms, they downloaded RedNote, the actual Chinese app much like TikTok, in record numbers. The Chinese name translates to RedBook, which refers to Chairman Mao’s Communist Manifesto. But the revolution is happening because, first of all, millions of TikTok’ers are now seeing firsthand that China is actually pretty cool. It’s more advanced socially and technologically than us. It’s more affordable. Public transportation is outstanding and cool. Everyone has healthcare and plenty of food for cheap. This is primarily because we “outsourced” all our manufacturing and expertise to China in the past, and they created a culture of learning and excellence, whereas we created a culture of laziness and entitlement without actually giving people a liveable wage and a safe environment. How’s that for Chinese propaganda? China is over 4,000 years old. It’s going to be just fine with or without us. However, it is suspicious that they have been allowed to buy hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland in the US and our biggest pork producer, Smithfield. Perhaps they are planning to outsource all their shit work to us?

In just the last few days, people have realized from the comfort of their phones what many of us who have traveled the world know — the USA is rapidly becoming a lagging third-world country. And the “broligarchs” have sucked out all the profits from the country to fund their boy toy competitions and games, to the detriment and death of Democracy. If they can’t actually live on Mars, they are determined to make Earth into Mars: Dead, red, and devoid of life.

But the beauty of what I am seeing is that while TikTok is still alive, people are organizing and strategizing. Planning resistance in multiple, educated ways. One of my favorites is a guy who has 10.5 million followers, mostly because he splits logs with his shirt off. He’s hot! But he’s also super smart. He is updating and guiding us every day with strategies and plans of action. (I’m not naming names because I don’t want to alert the authorities).

Meanwhile, the greedy oligarchs are circling TikTok like vultures. All sorts of billionaires are hoping to get their carrion-stained claws on what is left of it. Honestly, I hope it goes dark and stays dark. I’d rather that than see it get into the wrong hands. But I am not one of the many who make any money from the site. I’m just a lurker, and honestly, I only recently figured out how to repost things. But I am also not the only older woman on TikTok. There are many of us, and we have nothing to lose and no fucks left to give. If an undesirable broligarch buys TikTok, I know many people will not return on principle. At least I won’t.

Last weekend, while in Boston, I literally drank tea in the Boston Harbor (my daughter and her boyfriend have a sailboat moored there in the winter because it’s cheaper to live on a boat than get an apartment in the city — he’s a student). As I sat in the cozy interior, after having just visited the US Constitution warship next door, I thought about our country’s original revolution. I was not about to throw a cup of delicious and warm organic tea overboard. But I was wondering what it will take for people to wake up, rise up, and begin to demand accountability and fairness in our government. This might be the moment.

The winds of change are coming. I have no idea what they will bring. But I know that when the history books write about this time, the TikTok ban will probably be like the “Boston Tea Party” — that moment when the regular people got mad and said they’ve had it.

Here is what I will miss: The scientists, the psychologists, the people dancing in their living rooms, the women who are putting beard filters on their faces and asking themselves if they would date their male selves (their answers are hysterical and usually no). The indigenous people who are sharing their wisdom. The 4 AM club (IYKYK). I am not afraid because I know there are a lot of allies out there. It’s beyond red or blue at this point.

This weekend, as the shutdown and inauguration loom, I’m going to hunker down and celebrate that finally, FINALLY, President Biden declared the Equal Rights Amendment is law. Margaret Fuller would be thrilled. And so is my daughter Maya, who has fought long and hard for this moment. Congratulations to all of us!

Now what?

It’s Friday night. I’m going to have a mocktail. I will not be watching any of the events unless something surprising happens, in which case I will turn to Bluesky, which is independent and run by a woman. But you can always find me here, on Substack.

I’ll see you on the other side!