My first reaction (and pretty much everyone else's) when I found out that TikTok was getting banned was to make a stupid joke about it. It wasn’t shock or anger, but amusement. (1/n)
Thousands of creators are the cusp of losing their accounts, and the first reaction from us woke bois are jibes and wisecracks about tiktokers. The primary reason why we are apathetic is because we don’t have a single follower on any of those platforms. (2/n)
I would bet that our reaction wouldn’t have been pleasant if each of us had a significant number of followers on tiktok. If each of us painstaking created content regularly and snuffed out validation from that platform. Then we would have felt the pinch. (3/n)
We would have raked up conversations on free speech, freedom of expression and banning culture. (4/n)
It’s fascinating that we are the same set of folks who are fighting the Bollywood nepotism battle on social media, yet we don't give a shit about the most democratic entertainment platform in our country today. Anyone who can perform can become a star. Literally, anyone. (5/n)
It’s sad but actually TikTok provides more equal opportunity than the Indian constitution at this point. I think it is this democracy that bothers us. It’s too much democracy - so you have 12k followers on twitter? This account has 6 million followers on tiktok. (6/n)
And guess what, 6 million followers by being themselves, without the pressure to posture principles and/or peddle large scale hypocrisy to find acceptance within a community. Imagine being famous and not having to give a fuck. That bothers us. (7/n)
We look down on tiktok because we don’t have the self confidence to nail it. We look down on the tiktokers because we are abundantly self conscious to nail that platform. So we talk shit. (8/n)
But we forget that while our platforms are built on the art of critique and vanity, theirs is built on raw creativity. You have to be a creator in every sense of the word to kill it on Tiktok. (9/n)
The format is demanding. Sixty seconds. No budget. A mobile phone. And the world’s your stage. Now, create. And it’s insane that we don’t feel bad for these guys who will soon lose their platform, their followers, and some, even their livelihoods. (10/n)
No change.org petitions. No candlelight march for their rights. So let’s not kid ourselves here. (11/n)
Yes, we are the champions of free speech and activists for the freedom of expression and all that. But we will defend it with the last drop of our blood only when it is under threat for the sec A, educated urban Indians. For the rest, we are just trolls. #tiktokbanindia (12/12)
Full write up available here:
“Why Banning TikTok Should Bother Us, But Our Elitism Ensures It Won’t” by Devaiah Bopanna link.medium.com/rXT3XQ5vJ7
“Why Banning TikTok Should Bother Us, But Our Elitism Ensures It Won’t” by Devaiah Bopanna link.medium.com/rXT3XQ5vJ7
