The Joy of New Platforms and an Ode to Those We’ve Lost

With the looming deadline for the TikTok ban, many active users have been promoting and encouraging others to join another Chinese social media platform, Red Book. While the reasons driving this migration are worth analyzing, I find myself more drawn to the emotions behind the movement.

The #TikTokRefugees, as they call themselves, have been sharing videos that are nothing short of heartwarming. One common thread runs through them all, people being welcomed into a new community. Users of Red Book are posting welcoming comments, extending invitations for friendship, and embracing new members with open arms. They are even sharing videos teaching new users Mandarin to help them navigate the app.?

The keyword here is community. It’s not just about a platform, technology, or an app. It’s about people coming together and how they engage with each other. That’s the magic of social media, the thing that so many platforms have lost or struggle to maintain.

Looking back, every social media platform, even those that no longer exist, had its own sense of community, however small.

• MySpace: The OG of social media. I met some fascinating people there, bonding over an obscure Icelandic band that I couldn’t find fans for anywhere else.
• Google+: It was a haven for tech geeks, where news and discussions about the latest gadgets and innovations thrived.
• Path: A beautifully designed platform with the promise of creating and maintaining close connections with a small group of friends.
• Vine: A creative playground where many creators launched their careers through collaboration and a shared love of content creation.
• Yahoo Answers: Yes, I’m counting it as a social platform. While trolling was abundant, it also delivered real value when you needed an answer fast.

TikTok, however, won’t be gone anytime soon. Outside the U.S., it remains a major player, and time will tell if it can reenter the U.S. market and reconnect with its passionate users. But the emotional heart of this story isn’t just about TikTok. It’s about belonging.

At the end of the day, what everyone is chasing is the sense of belonging. A tribe to call their own. Social media, at its best, has always been about that. It’s not the algorithms, the features, or even the content, it’s the people. Platforms come and go, but the desire to belong never changes.

Orignally published on https://mohtab.com/the-joy-of-new-platforms-and-an-ode-to-those-weve-lost/