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How to Fill the TikTok Void
RIP to our favorite app?
Lara Buchar
January 15, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 16 minutes
JANUARY 15, 2025
Talking Points
If You’re Too Busy
By this time next week, there’s a good chance TikTok will officially be banned in the US… the horror!! 😱 If you’re anything like us, you spend a solid chunk of your day scrolling through the app in search of everything from easy dinner recipes to news updates.
Once the ban takes effect, it won’t be instant, but the app will gradually become more and more unusable as app and phone updates roll out, to the point that it’ll become obsolete for American users. And if you’re outside of the US and the app isn’t banned in your country, the vast number of American creators that you probably follow will be losing access, which means your FYP will still be impacted. 😨
TLDR: it’s undeniable that your daily routine will be disrupted by this change if and when the ban goes through, so we’ve brainstormed a few healthier, alternative ways to get your TikTok fix without the app. ✅
5 Ways to Spend Your Time if TikTok Shuts Down in the US
ICYMI, it’s looking more and more like the US will officially ban TikTok in four days. Naurrrr! 😩 Although we’re currently in denial, the cold hard truth is that the average American TikTok user spends roughly an hour on the app per day, which means that for a lot of us, we’re about to gain a whole lot of time back.
And while you could shift that screen time over to other apps, after Mark Zuckerberg’s recent icky updates to Meta’s content moderation policies across Instagram and Facebook, we don’t particularly want to spend our time there, either. 🙅♀️
And so, we’re turning these TikTok lemons into lemonade and thinking about different ways we can fill that TikTok void that would make the world feel a little less bleak. Join us, won’t you?
📚 Head to the library
Long before there was TikTok, there were libraries full of (free!) books that provided all the same information and resources the old-fashioned way. If you need cooking inspo, head to the cookbook section: you’ll probably be surprised by how many of your favorite cooking creators have books there, too (like Catherine Perez’s Peaceful Kitchen and Kristina Cho’s Chinese Enough). 👩🍳 If you rely on TikTok to fall asleep, try checking out a book from your favorite genre to read before bed, or even a digital download of an audiobook that will help you wind down. Not only is it a break from screen time, but it’s also a way of supporting your local community and taking advantage of the benefits that your taxes already pay for. 👏
🎧 Listen to a new podcast
Oh, how we love diving into a hot take or deeply personal story on TikTok (who could forget ‘Who TF Did I Marry’?!), and TBH that’s one of the things we’ll miss most about the app. 🥲 But thankfully, there’s a never-ending list of delightful gossip podcasts that scratch that same itch (Normal Gossip, Beyond the Blinds, and Celebrity Book Club, to name a few), and since they’re longer form, they’ll help undo that hyper short “TikTok brain” attention span we’ve all developed. Have these podcasts downloaded and queued up for your commute, before bedtime, or whenever you reach for TikTok the most to help ease the transition. 😘
📞 Phone a friend
Although we’ll miss opening up a delightfully unhinged TikTok from our bestie to cackle over, we all know that the key to maintaining strong and healthy friendships isn’t in the DMs—it’s in the real connections! 🫂 Dedicate a portion of your time each week (that previously would have been spent scrolling TikTok) to check in with friends. A text or FaceTime will go a long way—and it doesn’t always have to be a debrief on every single thing going on in your lives, it can be as simple as wishing them good luck on their big presentation or texting a pic of your dinner that you want to make for them next time they come over.
💪 Learn a new skill
We all love a good TikTok tutorial on something we’d never think to do ourselves (who among us hasn’t gone down a deep rabbit hole of power-washing videos?!), but that urge to learn deserves to be fed! Take stock of the tutorials you love watching the most and see if they’re guiding you towards a new skill: it could be crocheting, home decor DIYs, power-washing, or whatever calls to you. A lot of the time, the barrier to entry for these skills is relatively low (head to the dollar store for craft supplies, or to your local car wash for a power-washing session), and actually doing it yourself instead of watching nonstop videos is so much more satisfying.
📩 Subscribe to a trustworthy news outlet
The honest truth is that a lot of us have relied on TikTok to get to-the-minute updates on what’s going on in the world—it’s hard to think of the last time we received breaking news anywhere other than on the app. But for all its convenience, this also often leads to a lot of misinformation (after all, literally anyone can upload a TikTok!), and in the era of fake news, this feels like the official sign to subscribe to a trustworthy news outlet. It could be a local or national paper, a news magazine, or an online publication, but making this shift in how you receive news will keep you well-informed without all of that doom-scrolling.
January is the season of fresh starts and clear intentions—a time to pause, reflect, and ask yourself: What do I really want next out of this new year? But let’s be honest: finding that answer isn’t always easy. 😰
Whether you’re craving clarity, eyeing a big change, or simply ready to explore what’s possible, Designing the Next Chapter of Your Career is here to guide you. With eight thoughtful modules created by our favorite executive coach, Tori Lazar, this course fits seamlessly into your life. Tackle it at your own pace, whenever and wherever it works for you. 🦋
You'll gain the tools to redesign your lifestyle, enhance your professional value, and navigate career challenges like a boss, now 40% OFF with code NEWYEAR40 until this Sunday, January 19th. We even have a payment plan!
If reading books and listening to podcasts were enough to help you get your career mojo back, you’d have the results you deserve by now, right? 😉
Hey! Got a forward from a friend? Click here to make it official and subscribe to our next one.
Snacks
🪓 Meta is in the news (again!) for planning to lay off its lowest-performing employees.
🙄 It’s not you, it’s them: why is everybody so damn flaky lately?
☕️ Oh hell yes—your morning cup of coffee could literally keep you alive longer.
📖 If you’ve read a book in the past year, pat yourself on the back.
🤔 Are manifestations and vision boards just making us more delulu?
FOR YOUR LUNCH BREAK
ICYMI
A Feminist Dating Coach Sounds Off On Making the First Move
You never know where that first message, or first "hello" IRL, could go.
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 “I’ll Do It” by Heidi Montag | The Pop Song We All Need Right Now“Spencer Pratt is in his comeback era, and as a devoted fan of The Hills in my tweens, I am so here for it. ICYMI: Spencer and his iconic wife Heidi Montag lost their home in the LA wildfires, and Spencer has been diligently documenting the experience on TikTok, while also encouraging followers to stream Heidi’s 2010 single ‘I’ll Do It’ as a way of helping them out financially as they work to rebuild their lives. The single has shot to #1 on iTunes charts in multiple countries and continues to build momentum as Spencer taps on their famous friends to make TikToks with the song (Brody Jenner, Emily Ratajkowski, and Howie Mandel have all gotten in on the trend). Frankly, the song is a bop, but what warms my heart the most is seeing how Spencer is using this moment to unabashedly promote his wife’s career and creatively tap on the public for help without asking for money.” — Lara, contributor |
 Stubbornly Strong Sheer Rip-Resist Tights, Sheertex, $19.99 | The Nearly Indestructible Tights“The main reason why I don’t wear skirts or dresses in the winter is not because of the frigid temps (well, that too) but because I’m tired of constantly buying new pairs of tights. 🙄 My nail gets caught one time and boom… it’s ripped. Another $13 down the drain. But not with these bbs. I finally decided to buy a few pairs of Sheertex tights because I’ve heard nothing but good things—and no surprise, they live up to the hype. 😍 They’re the most resilient sheer tights on the market, made from the world’s strongest polymers. Every pair comes with a 90-day no-rip, snag, or tear guarantee. And they’re all 45% off right now. Bless!” — Victoria, executive editor |
 LEUCHTTURM1917 A5 Notebook in Lilac, Amazon, $25.48 | The Perfectly Designed Journal“New year, new me, new journal! I’ve been eyeing this journal ever since I saw it in every single journaling vlog on my TikTok feed: it’s generally acknowledged to be the ‘perfect’ journal because of its compact size, hardcover, gusseted pocket for storage, double bookmarks, and elastic that holds it all together. Not to dork out about notebooks, but she is it y’all. I always seem to lose interest in journaling a couple of months into the year, but I’m hoping the sheer usability of this one will encourage me to keep going until all the pages are overflowing.” — Lara |
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