The Future of TikTok
Photo via TikTok
Riley Howell | Contributing Writer
As the U.S. Supreme Court deliberates on TikTok’s fate following a high-stakes January hearing,
University of Dayton students and faculty are faced with a tough decision: keep the entertainment app or protect their data.
The legal battle began with 2024 legislation ordering TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app by Jan. 19, 2025, or be removed from U.S. app stores. Even though President Trump admitted to having a “warm spot” for the platform that helped him win over young voters, the app’s 170 million users are stuck in a digital waiting game.
For many UD students, the threat of personal data being collected has already changed their scrolling habits.
Kylee Nickel, a communications student, says she’s cut her screen time in half, going from four hours a day to just two.
“I do not think that TikTok has freedom of expression, press, or speech anymore,” she said. “I believe it is very monitored, and the government is very involved.”
However, national security concerns have done little to slow the thumb-swipe of the average student. Dr. Arthur Jipson, a sociology professor at UD, says students often live with a “diffusion risk” mindset.
“They assume their individual data is statistically insignificant, ” he said, “just one data point among millions or billions.”
A large number of users believe the social and cultural value of TikTok outweighs any abstract privacy concerns. Jipson argued that the app’s “For You” feed is so addictive that students would likely skip a “Private Mode” if it meant a worse experience. “In college culture, especially, belonging tends to win.”
Dr. Thomas Skill, an expert in communications technology, thinks those abstract risks are a lot more real than students realize. He notes that social media companies aren’t just for fun – they are in the business of “packaging and selling information about and access to their users.” From what you click on to how long you watch a clip, these apps build a profile of your personality to train their algorithms.
Skill’s reality check is simple: “If a service is free, you are the product.”
Despite the warnings, some people aren’t buying the “national security” scare.
Patrick Jones, a junior at UD, views the issue as more political than a matter of privacy. “I don’t think it’s a national security threat as much as I think it’s about our government flexing its muscles at China by not allowing them to be the home country of a massive international media and data company.”
As users wait for the court to rule, billionaire Frank McCourt has signaled he’s interested in buying TikTok’s U.S. side, but China continues to guard the app’s proprietary algorithm against international interests, with Pew Research reporting that nearly 60% are under 30.
Jipson says this generation is testing these privacy trade-offs in real time. “Ultimately, TikTok’s privacy updates are not just about one company’s policy. They are part of a larger story about how trust, transparency, surveillance, and participation intersect in contemporary popular culture.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Riley Howell, a first-year student, is enrolled in Reporting (CMM 338), a course in journalism offered through the Department of Communication, College of Arts and Sciences. The course, which aims to teach students real-world research, reporting and writing skills, is offered in the spring.