PCMag editors select and review products independently. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing.

Survey: Nearly Half of America Hates TikTok

Despite TIkTok's rather large group of haters, is this really the time to turn our backs on laughter?

 & Chandra Steele Senior Features Writer

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

Our Expert
LOOK INSIDE PC LABS HOW WE TEST
65 EXPERTS
43 YEARS
41,500+ REVIEWS

Love it or hate it, TikTok may be here to stay. But it seems a lot of people hate it.

The clock had been running down on TikTok’s time in the United States. It looks like there’s a last-minute reprieve, with the social media platform's parent company, ByteDance, shifting its subsidiary into a wholly US-based entity that it and Oracle will have a stake in. Putting aside the shady dealings that have gone into this outcome, TikTok’s continued existence could irk about 40 percent of the country.

Reviews.org surveyed 500 people in July about their feelings toward the platform and found that 20.40 percent hate TikTok videos. Another 19.60 percent said they merely dislike them. While 500 people is a long way away from representing over 300 million people, one finding probably holds true for the majority: Respondents 45 and older were more likely to hold a particular antipathy to the platform. 

Were they not entertained? Some of the best comedy during quarantine has come from TikTok (often making it over to Twitter after its debut). 

Sara Cooper’s Trump lip syncs have turned tears into laughter and her social media stardom into a Netflix special

Rosa and Marlene (Adam Ray and Marlene Mendez) have found friendship while blessing us with their reaction videos

And while we discover there might be life on Venus, we have to be grateful for anything that makes us feel alive here. 


Further Reading

About Our Expert

Chandra Steele

Chandra Steele

Senior Features Writer

My Experience

My title is Senior Features Writer, which is a license to write about absolutely anything if I can connect it to technology (I can). I’ve been at PCMag since 2011 and have covered the surveillance state, vaccination cards, ghost guns, voting, ISIS, art, fashion, film, design, gender bias, and more. You might have seen me on TV talking about these topics or heard me on your commute home on the radio or a podcast. Or maybe you’ve just seen my Bernie meme

I strive to explain topics that you might come across in the news but not fully understand, such as NFTs and meme stocks. I’ve had the pleasure of talking tech with Jeff Goldblum, Ang Lee, and other celebrities who have brought a different perspective to it. I put great care into writing gift guides and am always touched by the notes I get from people who’ve used them to choose presents that have been well-received. Though I love that I get to write about the tech industry every day, it’s touched by gender, racial, and socioeconomic inequality and I try to bring these topics to light. 

Outside of PCMag, I write fiction, poetry, humor, and essays on culture.

My Areas of Expertise

  • Making incomprehensible tech news easy to understand
  • Expanding the boundaries of topics covered in the industry
  • Figuring out tips and tricks in apps and on devices and letting you know about them
  • Putting together gift guides for everyone in your life 

The Technology I Use

All that gadgets is gold for me: my iPhone 11 Pro, my fifth-generation iPad that I use only for streaming videos and music, my iPad mini 4 that I like to take with me whenever I carry a bag that can fit it, and my MacBook Pro. Why are they all different shades of gold, though? What’s going on, Apple? 

None of them quite live up to my two past loves: my LG Lotus LX600 phone and my Sony Walkman NW-E005 MP3 player. 

I've never given up wired earbuds so I was ahead of all those trend pieces. I use a Mangotek Lightning-to-3.5mm headphone jack adapter to connect them to my phone. 

I have had so many ebook readers, but I prefer paper to them all. Still, my Kindle Paperwhite is perfect for traveling or when I’m too impatient to wait for a book to be released in paperback.

Read full bio